A profound statement of Scripture is found in the prophecy of Messiah as suffering servant:
Isaiah 53:10
“And it pleased YHVH to crush him”
The root word here for “crush” is דכא and is the same as “bruise” in:
Isaiah 53:5
“And he was pierced for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.”
How could it be the will of God to crush or bruise the soul of His righteous servant?
The Messiah’s soul was to be made a “guilt offering” (verse 10) and be “poured out to death” (v. 12). He suffered anguish in the process of redeeming us of our sins.
His pure soul had to absorb and feel the negativity, betrayal and hatred of our sins. The crushing and pain of his soul enabled our souls to be forgiven and purified. He allowed his soul to be crushed. His emotions were crushed because of us. His feelings were bruised because of his contact with us.
This “crushing” of the soul and becoming a “guilt offering” is a mystery. The “crushing” of a righteous person has redeeming influence. Yet when one is crushed, there is nothing to do but be crushed. It makes no sense. It is unfathomable.
Yeshua had to trust his heavenly Father while he was being crushed. He had to believe that his suffering would do good for others. We see this phenomenon in great heroes of the faith: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul, John, and many others.
A crushed soul is free from pride and lust. A crushed soul seems to be totally ineffective. Yet God can work through a crushed soul as the person holds on to his faith and love.
It is encouraging here to know that the Lord is “pleased.” God is not sadistic. If He is pleased, it means that He knows that much greater good will be the result. It is a comfort to know that the Lord can be pleased with us even at the time when everything seems wrong and all we can feel is pain. We can trust God that somehow a greater good will come out of what we are going through.
If God is pleased to crush us, then we can be pleased to be crushed. In this way we are becoming “conformed to the image of” Yeshua in the process.
Asher serves as president of Tikkun Global family of ministries and congregations, dedicated to the dual restoration of Israel and the Church. He is founder of the Revive Israel five-fold ministry team, and oversees both Ahavat Yeshua and Tiferet Yeshua congregations in Israel.
He and his wife Betty share a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew, and unity of the Body of believers worldwide.
Asher was raised in a conservative Jewish home and holds degrees from Harvard University, Baltimore Hebrew College and Messiah Biblical Institute. He has authored numerous books, tracts and articles.