Isaiah 55:11-12 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
As we continue into the historical and prophetic significance of the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, I take you back to 1948. Professor Eleazar Sukenik discovered that Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem purchased several of the Dead Sea scrolls. So Professor Sukenik visited the archbishop and took several photos of the scrolls which were then sent to William Albright, a Biblical archaeologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Albright’s reply arrived on May 15, 1948: “My heartiest congratulations on the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times! There is no doubt in my mind that the script is more archaic than that of the Nash papyrus…I should prefer a date around 100 B.C.!…What an absolutely incredible find!…”
Notice the date of Albright’s reply! On May 14, 1948, the British mandate ended at midnight. Earlier that day, David Ben-Gurion who would later become Israel’s first prime minister, announced Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
Professor Sukenik failed to purchase the scrolls from the archbishop at the time, as the cleric believed he would get a better price. Later, we discover that Sukenik wrote in his journal, “Thus the Jewish people have lost a precious heritage.” Sukenik passed away in 1953.
Later in 1949, archbishop Samuel traveled to the United States with the scrolls to find a buyer. They went on display at the Library of Congress, and then at other museums and art galleries in the West. However, interest in the scrolls waned and there were no interested buyers for the ancient documents.
Years passed until an ad was placed in the Wall Street Journal in 1954.
“The Four Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical manuscripts dating back to at least 200 BCE are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group. Box F 206, The Wall Street Journal.” Eleazar Sukenik had already passed away, but his son, Yigael Yadin just happened to be in the United States on a lecture tour at the time. Through a series of events, Yadin was able to purchase the scrolls his father failed to obtain.
In an ironic twist, archbishop Samuel was selling the scrolls to raise money for his church. Because of the wording of the sale, the IRS taxed Samuel for the proceeds from the Dead Sea Scrolls … so, even the IRS received a substantial sum of money from the Dead Sea Scrolls!
The purchase included the entire book of Isaiah known as the Isaiah scroll. Until this time the oldest extant Isaiah text was the Aleppo Codex, one of the Masoretic texts, which was written in the 10th century A.D. The Qumran Isaiah scroll was 1000 years OLDER than the Aleppo Codex. The book of Isaiah was written in 700 B.C. and very well may have been used for 500 years, meaning that this copy from the Dead Sea may have been made directly from the original!
The discovery of the Isaiah scroll proved the authenticity of the present Biblical text, as it had remained nearly identical for a thousand years.
The veracity of the Word of God is primarily demonstrated by its authority, revelation, and power to change lives; yet God has also providentially reaffirmed its textual accuracy through these remarkable recent discoveries. Isaiah himself declares by the Holy Spirit: “My Word shall not return empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” This has proven true in our own lives. Read the beautiful and powerful prophecy of Isaiah. You will be blessed, changed, and equipped to communicate the Lord’s truth with His confidence. And thank Him for His faithful and detailed preservation of the texts themselves.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Elul is unlike any other month. As we mentioned yesterday, it is the 12th month on the civil calendar and the 6th on the prophetic calendar. This dual position gives Elul a unique character — it both closes a cycle and prepares for a new one. That is why the shofar sounds each day during Elul: it is a wake-up call, reminding us to reflect, repent, and return to the Lord before the great and awesome days of the Fall Feasts.
This begins a very special season on God’s calendar — the month of preparation before the Fall Feasts. The month of Elul is unique: it is the 12th month on the civil calendar and the 6th month on the prophetic/biblical calendar. Each day of Elul is marked by the blowing of the shofar, a trumpet call that awakens the soul. These daily blasts prepare our hearts for Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah) and ultimately for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
We have come to the final meditation in this journey through the Z’roah, the Arm of the LORD. From the Arm that redeemed Israel out of Egypt, to the Arm that pierced the dragon, to the Arm that is coming with reward — all of these revelations lead us here: the Arm that brings His people into rest.
Isaiah’s vision looks ahead — not only to the Arm of the LORD revealed in the Exodus or even in the cross, but to the day when that same Arm will come again in glory. This is not a picture of brute force but of purposeful arrival. The Z’roah — the Arm of the LORD — comes clothed with strength to establish His rule, and He does not come empty-handed. His reward is with Him, and His work is before Him. The promise is sure: He is coming, and He is rewarding.
Isaiah recalls the Exodus as the supreme display of God’s Z’roah, His Arm of glory. Though the people saw Moses raise his staff over the Red Sea, it was not Moses’ power that split the waters. Behind the prophet’s hand was the Arm of the LORD — majestic, glorious, and unstoppable. The sea parted not to honor Moses, but to exalt the Name of the God who sent him. The Red Sea became a stage for God to reveal His glory, so that His Name would echo through generations as the Deliverer of His people.
Jeremiah uttered these words when everything around him looked hopeless. Babylon’s armies surrounded Jerusalem, the city was on the brink of destruction, and yet God told Jeremiah to buy a field as a prophetic sign that restoration would come. The prophet responded in awe: the God who created the heavens and the earth by His outstretched arm (bizroa netuyah) is not bound by human circumstances. The same God who set galaxies in place and boundaries for the seas is the God who still moves to redeem His people. Truly, nothing is too hard for Him.
Isaiah’s words summon one of the most dramatic images of God’s saving power: the Z’roah — the Arm of the LORD — cutting Rahab in pieces and piercing the dragon.
Here, Rahab is not the woman of Jericho but a poetic name for Egypt (Psalm 87:4), often symbolizing arrogant nations and the dark spiritual powers behind them. In Hebrew poetry, Rahab also evokes the sea monster of chaos, a stand-in for the forces that oppose God’s order. To say the Arm “cut Rahab in pieces” is to recall how God shattered Egypt’s pride and broke the grip of the powers that enslaved His people.