 Joined: 6/9/2009(UTC)
Posts: 106
Location: Pflugerville, Texas
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Shalom,
I hope everyone is having a good Shabat today. May you be blessed by Yahweh.
So, I have a quick question. First off, today is my first Sabbath, and as I was reading Isaiah, I came upon Isaiah 2:5-9
"A Warning of Judgment
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD!
6 For the LORD has rejected his people,
the descendants of Jacob,
because they have filled their land with practices from the East
and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do.
They have made alliances with pagans.
7 Israel is full of silver and gold;
there is no end to its treasures.
Their land is full of warhorses;
there is no end to its chariots.
8 Their land is full of idols;
the people worship things they have made
with their own hands.
9 So now they will be humbled,
and all will be brought low—
do not forgive them.
10 Crawl into caves in the rocks.
Hide in the dust
from the terror of the LORD
and the glory of his majesty.
11 Human pride will be brought down,
and human arrogance will be humbled.
Only the LORD will be exalted
on that day of judgment."
Who is this talking about? Judah in Isaiah's day, or is this a prophecy about our day? The Verses right before this in Isaiah 2 are about when Yahushua returns, so I am assuming this is about the people in our day (I can definitely see the modern church in this, RCC and Orthodox with the man-made idols and grasping hands with pagans, and the protestant church too). Or is it both?
Also, it says to "not forgive them." But I thought we were to be merciful? I thought we were to forgive infinitely(i.e. seven times seventy) and turn the other cheek?
Or is this saying not to forgive those who purposely choose to ignore and actively go against Yahweh and lead others astray as well, like righteous anger, UNLESS they repent? Or is this referring to commercial/spiritual Babylon in general in these days, not with a specific person? Like the system in general (and I guess also to Satan)? |
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 Joined: 6/28/2007(UTC)
Posts: 1,030
Location: Palmyra, VA
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Here's my take on it, for what it's worth, Robert...
As you noted, vs 1-4 (as well as those following this passage, 12 onward) are "last days" passages. But what's in between is a description of Israel in Isaiah's day: they were steeped in Babylonian religious practice like the Philistines, they were rich and well armed and placed their trust in their own defense, and they worshiped "gods" of their own manufacture (an offense Isaiah is heard asking Yahweh not to forgive---gasp! How intolerant and narrow minded of him!). Vs 10-11 describe the outcome of the kind of self-trust of which Israel was guilty: the proud would be humbled, and Yahweh would in the end be exalted. It all happened just like he said, and for the reasons he stated.
But sandwiched in there like that between sections that are identified as "In the latter days" and during "the day of Yahweh of Hosts," I'd say the point is that just as Israel would be punished, humbled, and brought low for its idolatry, pride and self-sufficiency (something that happened to the Northern Kingdom during Isaiah's lifetime, and to Judah not too long afterward) the rest of the world too would be confronted for its pride and arrogance during the latter days. Our tolerance for "Eastern religions" from Babylonian sun-god worship to Hindu and Buddhist philosophies to communistic self-slavery will not be forgiven today's world. Our arrogance will be proven to be folly, and our self-sufficiency---the worship of man---will be (as he describes it in vs18) "utterly abolished."
In other words, just as in the Torah, Israel is placed in the unenviable position of being the world's teacher. As goes Israel, so goes the world. As they fail, we will fail, for the same reasons and in the same ways. It's not like we weren't warned.
kp
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