isaiah 55;10,11 does anyone understand this scripture in regards to Jehovah being the god of purpose
jehovah the god of purpose
by ezra 3 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Rook
Chapter 55 is the Servant invitation to all the world to enter his kingdom and share his blessings.
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moggy lover
Hi, ezra - despite the WTS which uses this text only retrospectively [ie looking backwards to a distant past as in Eden] - the text at Isa 55 is full of anticipation and is best understood as a future hope for those who are in some sort of bondage as the immediate readers of Isaiah would have read the text.
According to the WTS, the "purpose" of Yahweh as seen in Isa 55:11 can only be seen in the context of the ''purpose'' that Yahweh evidently made in Eden, that is that man was to live on earth forever. That man was indeed made for earth existence is accepted by most evangelical believers, but whether this was to be extended to all eternity with one generation continuously occupying the earth is disputed. This is disputed because the further revelation of Scripture as disclosed in the NT, especially Eph Ch 1, shows otherwise. The WTS in applying this chapter only to the "annointed" makes a mockery of the clear intent of Paul.
The immediate context of Isa 55:10, 11, is a message of hope to the two divisions of the Jewish people. Israel, the northern kingdom had gone into Assyrian captivity and the looming menace of Babylon was on the horizon for the southern Kingdom of Judah. But the exile of the Jewish people was not the end of them. Yahweh would regather them back on the land, which was to bloom again. Vss 12 and 13 are a beautiful picture of the realized fulfillment of a promise of God. Those who were in bondage and those anticipating it would have been reassured by these words. But- how were those in this bondage to be reassured? Yahweh in Vs 10 uses the illustration of natural events like rain and snow and the fertility of the earth to press home the point. Just as thes are inevitable, because they have been decreed by the unimpeachble Word of Yahweh, so release from captivity is assured.
There is suffient reason to believe that those great words of Yahweh continue to echo in our day because we are all still in bondage. To the enemies of sin, and death. We can even be in some sort of literal bondage, a tyrannical marriage, an enslaving religion like the WTS , even a dictatorial government that forbids the right of religious freedom. All those caught up in these cicumstances can take hope from those words.
Some evangelicals also see in those words a concrete realization for a future Millenium of peace ruled by the Messiah that Isaiah awaited.
Hope this helps
Cheers
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peacefulpete
The the name of the anonymous 6th century author of this beautiful piece is lost to history but somewhere along the line his work was appended to the 8th century Isaiah's collection. He is using the "Word" of God as if it were an entity (or force) separate but directed by God to create and destroy. This concept continued to be developed so that Jewish writers like Philo saw easy parallels between this personification with Greek conceptions of Logos. The Word was seen as unfailing in his assignments like rain had predictible results, he never came crawling back to God as a failure. Personally I think the anonymous author's writing style far outshines Isaiah's.