Isaiah chapter 57 - Philemon

Here are four statements from the text of the fifty-seventh chapter of Isaiah.

“I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.”
(Isaiah 57:12)

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15)

“For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.” (Isaiah 57:16)

“I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.” (Isaiah 57:18)

What do the above statements have to do with the story of Paul, Philemon and Onesimus? The letter from Paul to Philemon concerns a slave named Onesimus, who had run away from his legal master and who had found shelter in the person of Paul.

The letter we know as Philemon was written by Paul and sent with Onesimus to Philemon, and the plea of the letter is that Philemon would forgive the capital offense of a slave running away. Paul tells Philemon that he (Paul) has led Onisimus to saving faith in Jesus. We learn that Philemon had also been led to the LORD by Paul. Now, some specifics are in order.

Paul declares that Onisimus is a changed man from what he had been before. This is parallel to Isaiah 57:12 where Isaiah says; “I will declare thy righteousness”.

Paul was esteemed as the high man on the totem pole so to speak. The speaker in Isaiah 57:15 is none other than God, who is called there; “the high and lofty One.”

We see that Onesimus is humble and contrite, which idea is also part of Isaiah 57:12. Paul has been involved as God has “revive[d] the spirit of the humble”.

Paul atti tude toward Philemon as the rightful master of Onesimus is one of contrition. He is not trying to argue the point that Onesimus has done something very wrong, but he pleads with Philemon to forgive.

One thing that we learn in Philemon is that Paul considers both Onesimus and Philemon to be his ‘sons’ in Christ a parallel idea to Isaiah 57:16b; “and the souls I have made.”
What Isaiah says in verse eighteen, Paul did with Onesimus in the book of Philemon.

Chapter fifty-seven of Isaiah is connected to the fifty-seventh book of the Bible here.