{"id":64799,"date":"2019-10-26T11:45:58","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T08:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64799"},"modified":"2023-05-21T15:32:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T12:32:03","slug":"isaiahs-universal-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/isaiahs-universal-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaiah\u2019s Universal Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[418,837,409,403],"acf":{"old_id":"64799","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64460,"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"War may be part of current reality, but it is not part of redemption","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second chapter of Isaiah contains the first eschatological vision to be found in the Hebrew Bible. Its opening verses \u2014 which speak of a time when \u201cinstruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem\u201d; of a day in which universal justice reigns; and finally of the moment in which \u201cNation shall not take up sword against nation\u201d and we \u201cshall never again know war\u201d \u2014 are, justly, among the most famous uttered by any of Israel\u2019s prophets (Isaiah 2:3-4). In order to better understand the depth and power of this prophecy, there are two sources to which it will be helpful to turn: the promises which God made to Abraham in Genesis, and the conquest narratives from the Book of Judges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Genesis, God\u2019s promise to Abraham was twofold. One side concerned the unique, eternal bond between God and Abraham\u2019s progeny, who are to be numerous as the stars in the sky. But the other, no less central, was the pledge that Abraham would be the \u201cfather of a multitude of nations\u201d (Genesis 17:5) \u2014 that one day \u201call the families of the earth will bless themselves by you\u201d (Genesis 12:3). Isaiah\u2019s startling universalism, then, is not an innovation but gives new detail to the ancient promise of God to Abraham, and firmly grounds the particular covenantal life of the Jews in the context of the family of nations. Although the Torah is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob, it was for the sake of the salvation of the whole world that it was given to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More troubling, but no less crucial, for understanding this prophecy is Judges. In the third chapter of that book, we read of \u201cthe nations that the LORD left so that he might test by them all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars of Canaan, so that succeeding generations of Israelites might <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>be made to experience war<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026 to learn whether they would obey the commandments which the LORD had enjoined upon their fathers through Moses\u201d (Judges 3:1-4) The italicized language here closely parallels that of Isaiah \u2014compare Judges\u2019 <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lelamdam mil\u1e25ama<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (literally \u201cto teach them war\u201d) to Isaiah\u2019s <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lo yilmedu od mil\u1e25ama<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (\u201cthey shall never again know war\u201d) \u2014 and it is reasonable to suppose that the literary connection is not accidental.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The passage from Judges suggests that, despite the universalistic <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">telos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> discussed above, there may be times when division, conflict, and even war may be necessary to further the cause of Torah. Isaiah\u2019s prophecy does not necessarily reject this idea as such \u2014 but it does insist that such dynamics have no place in the act of redemption. There may be times which are right for war, but we can never forget that the very presence of division and conflict provide proof that we are not living in \u201cthe days to come\u201d (Isaiah 2:2).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Swords Into Plowshares, Lee Lawrie, gilded intaglio carving, Rockefeller Center (19 West 50th Street entrance of 630 Fifth Avenue), 1937.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64800,"id":64800,"title":"is2-rockefeller","filename":"is2-rockefeller.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/isaiahs-universal-vision\/is2-rockefeller\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is2-rockefeller","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64799,"date":"2019-10-26 08:45:38","modified":"2019-10-26 08:45:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":445,"height":298,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","medium_large-width":445,"medium_large-height":298,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","large-width":445,"large-height":298,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","1536x1536-width":445,"1536x1536-height":298,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","2048x2048-width":445,"2048x2048-height":298,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","post_full_size-width":445,"post_full_size-height":298,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","home_baner-width":445,"home_baner-height":298}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Isaiah\u2019s 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