An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 145: Musing on Free Will (Isaiah 46-50)

Isaiah 46-50
Musing on Free Will.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT

For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Isaiah 46

“And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

A fairly short chapter, but its brevity works well. God offers hope to the remnant, that the time of salvation is near and that He will call a man from the east to do His bidding, as a “ravenous bird”. At the same time He takes the opportunity to remind the Israelites that He is the only God “for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me”, able to see from the start to the end of time. He also has another go at the idol-makers, this time making statues of gold. A god made of gold cannot move, and is a burden to the worshipper, says God, so people who fashion them are foolish.

I like it when chapters are brief and manage to get their messages across without any unnecessary repetition; being easier reading I think they are more effective for it.

Isaiah 47

“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.”

This chapter is a warning, or a threat, aimed at the noble women of Babylon, who live in luxury and believe that their life of ease will last forever. They put their faith in astrologers and sorcery, but also think of themselves as the last authority. These things are not popular with God, and so He promises their downfall – widowed, childless, reduced to rags and hard labour, because they have used the Israelites as slaves. God even talks around possible accusations of double standards, admitting that He was “wroth with my people”, but condemning the Babylonian women of treating them with a ”hard yoke”. “They’re mine to punish, not yours,” seems to be the message.

Is this aimed specifically at the Babylonian noble women? I think, despite the direct address of the quoted verse above, there’s a veiled threat to anyone, man or woman, who might be thinking of using astrologers and soothsayers, of putting their own luxury above the needs of others.

Isaiah 48

“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”

This is an intriguing chapter, with some interesting theological points in it. It’s addressed to the Israelites, and says that although they have been obstinate and liable to idol worship, nevertheless God is going to forgive them; this return from exile is their redemption, having been “refined in the furnace of affliction”. As with a lot of this section of Isaiah, God uses the opportunity to reference his power, how He wields heaven and earth, and knew all that was going to happen from the very beginning. This raises a point of free will – God knows that the Israelites are going to mess up right, presumably from before the time He appears to Abram, yet still selects them over all others as His chosen people, but at the same time sets it up so that generations in the future they will be carried off into slavery, and then freed again. It ... seems an elaborate gambit to play, and we’re left with the vaguely unsatisfying “explanation” of a shrug of the shoulders and “well, God is higher than our understanding”.

On the other hand, it’s interesting that it’s at this point in the bible narrative that notions of God the redeemer appear as I’d always assumed that was a more NT concept. I can see how the notion of a God that cares about you even if you do mess up can be appealing – and actually here God moves from a close parent, dishing out reward and punishment directly, to a more remote one; the Israelites have grown up, God no longer needs to lead them by the hand all the time but is still there as a force for comfort should they wish to turn to Him. I can see the appeal in that; what comes across to me here is that this attitude is in a much more general sense; God is dealing with people as a mass, not individuals, and perhaps that more personal notion is something that is introduced in the NT.

So, some very fundamental concepts for Christianity in this chapter, more so than any others so far, I think. Tagged on the end is the verse “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked”, i.e no rest for the wicked, as will be said by at least one person following a workplace break somewhere today. Which is fine, but doesn’t follow on from the rest of the chapter which, for a change, isn’t about punishing bad people, but about helping the good. The preceding verses are about how the return to exile, the second Exodus, will be an easy one with plentiful food and water.

Isaiah 49

“And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.”

This chapter is from the point of view of one who has been chosen as God’s representative. I don’t know if we are meant to assume that this is Isaiah, or another one speaking; the role is quite messianic and Isaiah from earlier chapters would not, I don’t think, have assumed the role for himself.

Whomever it is, God tells them to lead the tribes of Israel to freedom, but also the remit seems to be broader, as the quote above suggests, bringing light to the Gentiles as well, freeing the oppressed, causing kings and queens to bow down before God. Once again I can see why Isaiah is so prominent in Christian mythology; this seems to be as much a source for religious poetry and music as anything in the NT.

Isaiah 50

“I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

Again it’s not clear who’s speaking in this chapter. The first verse is God, but afterwards it appears to be the prophet/messiah figure from before. This is mostly about exhorting the reader to put faith in God to help with adversity or, to return to my musings for chapter 48, perhaps to use the faith in God as strength in times of trouble. The quoted line is very much a “turn the other cheek” idea, quite removed from the vengeful smiting of earlier times, such as a lot of the psalms where the psalmist is calling on God to destroy his enemies. The last verse speaks of those who light a fire and walk in the light of “the sparks that ye have kindled”. I can see two possible interpretations of this. One is direct, perhaps an attack on fire worshippers along the lines of those who make idols of wood or gold. The other is metaphorical, an attack on those who put faith in themselves rather than wholly in God. Probably both are meant.

I’m not so sure that this total surrender of self is necessarily a good thing. It’s probably a healthy thing to allow to happen, but perhaps not good as a permanent state of mind; better, perhaps, to use this to gain understanding of the self, allowing greater self-reliance and understanding, continuing surrender and realisation as a learning circle. Hm. I wonder if I can package that up and sell it...