Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Isaiah chapter 46 - 1st Corinthians

From verse one to verse seven of Isaiah chapter forty-six, God speaks of idolatry, the idolatry of Israel, condemning it, of course. Of all of the things that Israel did to provoke God, it was their periodic idolatry that offended Him the most.

He considered Israel’s turning to idols as a man would consider his wife turning to the arms of another man. God considered idolatry as infidelity to Him, and of course, it was. Then, beginning in verse eight, God stakes His claim.

“Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.” (Isaiah 46:8-13)

The focal point of this passage is Isaiah 46:9b & c:

“I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me”

And, God’s truth never changes. What was true of God in Isaiah’s day was still true in Paul’s day, and it is still true in our day, and it will still be true for eternity. Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says:

“As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

And the focal verse here that connects to Isaiah’s passage is:

“there is none other God but one.”

There are other places where God tells us the truth about His unique status as God, but nowhere in the New Testament is it more strongly stated than in 1st Corinthians. The forty-sixth chapter of Isaiah is connected to 1st Corinthians, the forty-sixth book of the Bible.

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