He was Cut Off Out of the Land of the Living

• He was Taken from Prison - When was Jesus “in prison”? It is true that He was in custody as He appeared before the high priest, and later before Pilate to be judged, and He was mocked and beaten by the Praetorian guard, but He was never in prison. So, to what is this referring? However, this not talking about Christ being in prison; rather, it is speaking of the believers, who prior to salvation are held captive by Satan, their spiritual father, in his prison and are enslaved to sin. Those who remain in Satan’s dominion are likened to prisoners, according to 2 Tim 2:26b, “… who are taken captive by him at his will”. Isa 14:16-17 gives further information regarding Satan: “They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?”. Let’s consider Exo 13:14, which speaks historically of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt: “And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage”. Spiritually this “house of bondage” refers to unsaved man’s enslavement to sin, and subsequent punishment of eternal damnation. However, in order to save His people from eternal damnation the Lord Himself had to become sin; and, as such, He was liable for the penalty of sin, which is eternal Hell. Thus, He was spiritually in prison on behalf of each Christian, as He bore the infinite wrath of God in their place.

Isa 53:8 “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”

Isa 42:1-7 “Behold my servant [God the Son], whom I [God the Father] uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”

Isa 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me [Lord Jesus Christ]; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

Col 1:12-14 “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”

• Who Shall Declare His Generation? -  In Isa 53:8 the question is asked, “…who shall declare his generation?” What generation is in view here? His generation is “Righteous” as opposed to the evil generation mentioned in Luke 11:29.  Psa 95:10 refers to the Israelites in the wilderness: “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err [go astray] in their heart, and they have not known my ways”. Messianic Psalm 22, describes the agony that was inflicted upon the Lord, by which he was able to attain and impute Righteousness on His Elect. Although Christ was laden with and suffered for the sins of His people, God “defended” His cause “against an ungodly nation” (which refers to Satan’s ungodly kingdom) because He was absolutely righteous in Himself; and that is why He was not consumed by God’s wrath. We see the battle between Christ and Satan for the souls of the elect depicted in Isa 49:25: “But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives [the elect] of the mighty [Satan] shall be taken away, and the prey [the elect] of the terrible [Satan] shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth [Satan] with thee [Jesus Christ], and I will save thy children [the elect]”. The Lord Jesus Christ was victorious in the Atonement – the proof of which was His physical resurrection from the dead. It indicated that God’s righteous judgment was satisfied, or propitiated, by Christ’s sacrifice, as we read in Rom 3:23-25. Notice that one of the purposes of the “propitiation” was to declare – that is, to “demonstrate” or to “prove” – the righteousness of Christ for His glory and honor. In the New Testament the believer, who is covered with Christ's Robe of Righteousness, is called to be an “ambassador for Christ” to “declare his righteousness”.

Isa 53:8 “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”

Luke 11:29-32 “And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 30For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. 31The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”

Psa 22:30-31 “A seed [God the Son] shall serve him [God the Father]; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.”

Rom 3:23-25 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

2 Cor 5:20 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

• He was Cut Off Out of the Land of the Living - Num 15:31 warns, “Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him”. All who have broken even one of God’s commandments, or laws, are guilty of breaking them all, as Jam 2:10 warns: “For whosoever
  shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all”. Furthermore, since this is the lot of all mankind, who are conceived in sin and born in iniquity according to Psa 51:5 – they will be cut off. To be “cut off” is language that speaks of being cast into Hell – the penalty you and I deserve for the transgressions we commit. Psa 52:1-7 paints a similar picture of human depravity. That is also why Christ, Who was laden with the iniquity of His people, had to be “cut off”, or separated from God,  out of the “land of the living” (referring to heaven). Dan 9:26, speaking of the Messiah – the Lord Jesus proclaims: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: ...” . In other words, He had to endure the eternal wrath of God for those He came to save. Circumcision, or the cutting away of the flesh, was a sign that could never save anyone, but it served to point to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus who was spiritually “cut off” by having to endure Hell for His people. Messianic Psalm Psa 88:1-8 paints the picture of Christ being cut off on behalf of his children. For whom Jesus was “cut off” will be preserved and the other unsaved will be “cut off” as Psa 37:28 teaches, “For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off”. Psa 116:9 speaks of those who have been granted entrance into the “land of the living” - kingdom of God, by the sacrifice of Christ: “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living”.

Isa 53:8 “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”

Psa 52:1-7 “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. 2Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. 3Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. 4Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. 5God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. 6The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: 7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

Psa 88:1-8 [Messianic] “O LORD God of my salvation, I [Lord Jesus Christ] have cried day and night before thee: Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.”

Lam 3:1, 5, 15, 19, 53, 55 “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath… 5He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail ... 15He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood… 19Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall … 53They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 55I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.”

• For the Transgression of My People was He Stricken - Isa 1:3-6 paints a despicable, but very accurate, portrayal of those who were identified as the people of God. But, lest we despair, it is also a stupendous illustration of God’s magnificent salvation by grace alone that he laid these transgressions on His Son to grant us entrance into the “land of the living”. God alone has provided the only escape from the damnation of Hell. The reality is that only God could provide such an escape. Man is incapable of providing a solution for his sin problem because he is spiritually dead. When the disciples asked the Lord Jesus Christ, “Who then can be saved?”, the Lord declared in Mark 10:26-27, “… With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible”. But what does that actually signify? It means that God had to become a man, had to become sin, and had to suffer the equivalent of eternity in Hell for the sins of all His people. Which is why Acts 4:12 declares, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”. Wonderfully, the Bible declares in Jon 2:9, “Salvation is of the Lord”. We cannot understand or imagine that a Holy, Righteous God would show such love, such compassion, and such mercy to fallen human beings who hated God and were in rebellion against Him, that He would suffer the wrath of God on their behalf in order to declare them righteous, or holy, like God Himself. These people are God’s elect – His sheep, the true Christians, the spiritual Jews – that the Bible talks about. And do they deserve such salvation? Absolutely not. It is all of grace – it is all of mercy – in order that God may alone receive all glory, honor, and praise for His gift of salvation (Tit 3:5-7, Eph 2:8-9, 1 Cor1:26-31). We see this truth dramatically illustrated in Eze 37:1-4 and 12-14, where God speaks of His elect, the Israel of God, whom He saves.  Mat 1:21 explains this very mission of the Lord Jesus in coming to earth: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people [His Elect] from their sins”.

Isa 53:8 “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”

Isa 1:3-6 “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel [typifying His Elect] doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”

Eze 37:12-14 “Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel [typifying the land of the living]. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live…”

Isa 32:17-18 “And the work of righteousness [Lord Jesus Christ atoning work] shall be peace [peace between God and man]; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places [land of the living].”

Acts 4:10-12 “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”