Year 9, Day 30: Isaiah 46

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Isaiah 46 is a hidden gem of a chapter.  At first, it seems like a simple chapter against Babylon.  It seems like a small chapter bemoaning the Babylonian love for their false gods and their inability to know God.  There’s more to this chapter, however.

This is a chapter where God is fighting for His people.  He knows that the Hebrew people are captive and in a foreign land.  They are presented with all kinds of different thinking.  They are tempted into false worship.  They are tempted to think that God has abandoned them.  In this chapter, God presents a case against all of these things.

The neat part about this chapter, though, is how God goes about the task.  God doesn’t use His power to force the people to obey.  God doesn’t snap His fingers and make the people obey.  God doesn’t remove their free will.  He doesn’t even impinge upon their free will.  God doesn’t use His incredible power against His people.

What God does is to appeal to their rational nature.  He argues His case.  He gives reasons why they should worship Him. He reminds them of how He carries them through life.  He talks about what He can do for them in their times of need.  He appeals to them rather than forces them.

I think this is one of the most profound attributes of God that many people in the world get wrong.  People think of God’s omnipotence, but they don’t often credit God with how often He doesn’t use His omnipotence and instead allows people to have free will.  People attribute all kinds of things to His power without also crediting Him with the times that He lets us be ourselves.  God doesn’t want to force us into relationship, He wants us to choose it for himself.

I love this aspect of God and to be honest I believe that I could benefit from emulating it more.  In many places in my life I have power over others.  Life is best lived, however, when instead of using my power over others I mentor and teach people into good decisions instead of force them into the right way.  God understands this, I should employ this tactic as much as possible, too.

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