Isaiah

“Is it really so that God has said you must not eat from every tree of the garden?”

With that seemingly innocuous question the father of the lie – the original manslayer – slyly implied that mankind’s Creator was untrustworthy. Ever since then the slanderer has heaped up a mountain of lies to cause mankind to distrust God. However, on the very day the Devil tricked Eve into tempting her husbandly head into disobeying God, Jehovah announced his far-reaching purpose to provide a forthcoming seed of the woman who would be bruised in the heel and ultimately crush the skull of the serpent.

In furtherance of that purpose God organized the nation of Israel, which ultimately produced the promised messianic seed. The tribe of Judah was specifically selected for that privilege.

With the appearance of Jesus, “the lion of the tribe of Judah,” the first aspect of the edenic prophecy was fulfilled when Satan maneuvered to have Jesus executed. Jesus’ trust in God was tested to the limit when he submitted himself to the torturous death the original serpent inflicted upon him. But his trust was not misplaced. As promised, God resurrected Jesus from the grave. Hence, the wound the serpent had inflicted upon Jesus proved to be temporary – as if a mere bruise upon his heel.

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One of the underlying sub-themes of the book of Isaiah is the intractable blindness of the leaders of God’s people as regards the meaning of the prophecy of Isaiah itself. The Watchtower’s inability to comprehend the judgments of Jehovah – as contained in Isaiah – and all the prophets for that matter, is on full display in the volumes of commentary the Watchtower Society has published over the decades. Even outsiders who parrot the accusation that the Watchtower is a “false prophet” do not realize the full extent of Bethel’s error. But, of course, neither do outsiders (nor Jehovah's Witnesses) understand the judgments of Jehovah.

Happily for all, though, understanding prophecy is not a requirement for salvation – at least not now anyway.

Consider the contrast between the apostles and the Pharisees. Both groups were blind, to an extent. The apostles and other disciples simply could not comprehend the fact that Jesus was going to die and be taken from them. Jesus told them repeatedly the fate that awaited him, yet they simply could not grasp it. In fact, the scripture says it was hidden from them that they might not see through it. (Luke 9:45) But at least the apostles accepted Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah. That was crucial. They had faith.

ehovah’s counsel against Tyre in the 23rd chapter of Isaiah is immediately followed by the execution of his judgments against his own people and the very city where Jehovah had placed his holy name. The prophecy of Ezekiel follows the very same pattern, in that, Jehovah’s appointed watchman first decrees the downfall of Tyre and Egypt and then he is commanded to speak God’s judgments against the shepherds of Israel. And in that setting the prophet also situates the coming of “David” – a prophetic reference to the Christ.

As has been already been detailed in Jehovah Himself Has Become King, Tyre and Egypt foreshadow the London-centered global empire and the United States of America, respectively. What, though, does the doomed city of Jerusalem foreshadow in the grand fulfillment? And to be certain, the prophecy in the 24th chapter of Isaiah speaks to a much grander event than merely the fall of Jerusalem 2,500 centuries ago. That is apparent from the obvious cryptic, pre-Revelation reference to the judgment of the demonic kings and their earthly counterparts, and their being locked in a prison for 1,000 years and the ultimate fulfillment of God’s purpose to rule in the midst of 144,000 kings upon heavenly Mount Zion.

One of the great cities of the ancient world was Tyre. It is believed to have been in existence as far back as the time when Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt in the great exodus, approximately 3,500 years ago. Several Hebrew prophets wrote about Tyre – including Isaiah, Joel, Zechariah and Ezekiel most extensively. This article will primarily focus on Isaiah.

Situated on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon, Tyre became the most prominent of a confederation of Phoenician cities, not the least of which was Sidon. But unlike the great plundering powers, Tyre did not set out to conquer other peoples militarily. It became dominant through commerce and by serving as an international port and terminal for overland trades routes. And because its seacoast craftsmen mastered the science of shipbuilding and navigation, Tyre was able to establish trading posts and colonies throughout the Mediterranean. It is believed the Phoenicians may have circumnavigated the continent of Africa and even crossed the Atlantic in their galleys. Because of her renowned seafaring prowess and business acumen over the centuries the city-kingdom of Tyre became fabulously wealthy. It could be said that the Tyrians were the first globalists.

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This is a revised article that originally appeared on the Watchman's Post in January 2012 Over the centuries there have been countless demon-inspired deceptions perpetrated in the name of God and Christ. The nonsensical doctrine of the Trinity is undoubtedly the most common and pervasive. But surely the Watchtower Society’s 1914 parousia doctrine will eventually be accounted as one of the greatest hoaxes of recent [...]

This article was originally published in 2011 and has been slightly edited and updated.  As the Watchtower’s commentary on Isaiah notes, although Jerusalem was situated on a hill it was also surrounded by higher hills, making the city itself a valley in comparison. And because Jerusalem is the focus of prophecy, much of which was originally conveyed to the prophets by means of inspired visions, [...]

This article was originally posted in December 2011. It has been slightly expanded. The overthrow of tyrannical Babylon is the subject of the 21st chapter of Isaiah. God assured his prophet that the treacherous destroyer of nations and the persecutor of his people was going to be violently thrown down. The fall of ancient Babylon must have shocked the world back then. How could this incredible [...]

In 1492 Christopher Columbus led an expedition made up of three wooden sailing ships across the vast Atlantic Ocean in search of a way to the land of the East by sailing in the direction of the setting sun. But instead of the Orient Columbus “discovered” a new world, so-called. At least it was new from the perspective of the centuries-old European civilization. (The Vikings did not make permanent settlements.) Columbus’ initial discovery of Hispaniola launched the age of global exploration. In a short time newly discovered lands began to be colonized by the Spanish, French, English, Irish and others.

Revised repost from November 2011 Other than Israel and Judah no other nation is featured so prominently in the Bible as Egypt. Before God even founded Israel Egypt existed as a great nation. The father of all those with faith, Abram, along with Sari his beautiful wife, once sought relief from the famine in Canaan by going down to Egypt. Abraham’s offspring did too. In [...]

The 18th chapter of Isaiah opens with these words: “Ha for the land of the whirring insects with wings, which is in the region of the rivers of Ethiopia! It is the one sending forth envoys by means of the sea, and by means of vessels of papyrus upon the surface of the waters, saying: ‘Go, you swift messengers, to a nation drawn out and scoured, to a people fear-inspiring everywhere, a nation of tensile strength and of treading down, whose land the rivers have washed away.’”

What is the land of the whirring insects with wings and what is the message of the envoys God commands them to send forth? And who are the fear-inspiring people and the nation of tensile strength to whom the messengers are sent?

Over the years that I have studied prophecy I have revisited the 18th chapter of Isaiah many times to ponder it’s possible meaning. It remains maddeningly inscrutable. What seems clear, though, is that, the prophecy is intended to apply to the ultimate success of God’s purpose at the conclusion of the present system of things.

And what is God’s purpose?

As all of Jehovah’s Witnesses know, God’s grand, over-arching purpose is to bring forth a new creation composed of 144,001 humans that will ultimately be reborn into immortal, incorruptible spirits. Jesus is, of course, “the firstborn among many brothers,” as Paul described the Christ.