{"id":66334,"date":"2019-12-01T00:51:22","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T22:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=66334"},"modified":"2023-06-23T07:38:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T04:38:36","slug":"leaving-retribution-up-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/leaving-retribution-up-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Retribution Up To God"},"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":[953,375,940,982],"acf":{"old_id":"66334","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":66049,"related_cahpter":"361","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Isaiah\u2019s prophecies here lack oracles of vengeance against Judah\u2019s enemies","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to Isaiah as a single book is misleading, since the book of Isaiah is actually composed of three distinct literary units. Isaiah 1-39 generally contains prophecies of the Prophet Isaiah about the historical events of the second half of the 8th century BCE. During this period, the Assyrian Empire grew more powerful and threatened small kingdoms such as Israel and Judah. Sometimes these small kingdoms would accept Assyrian power, and sometimes they would revolt. These events led the Prophet Isaiah to a crucial question: To what extent could the Judeans rely on God\u2019s protection against the Assyrians and to what extent did they need to get involved themselves by employing militaristic or diplomatic means?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Isaiah 27, Isaiah demonstrates confidence that God will punish scornful enemies at an apocalyptic end of days. He refers to a Leviathan serpent that God will destroy. Isaiah 27:1 reads: \u201cIn that day Adonai will punish, with Adonai\u2019s great, cruel, mighty sword Leviathan the Elusive Serpent\u2014 Leviathan the Twisting Serpent; Adonai will slay the Dragon of the sea.\u201d According to the JPS commentary, the Leviathan physically embodies the chaos that stands for forces of evil in the world. Similarly, Ibn Ezra explains that some are of the opinion that the Leviathan figuratively represents oppressive kings, princes, and nobles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From ancient times to today, people have tried desperately to find answers to confusing and terrifying situations. Fearing political destruction, Isaiah places his concerns onto the Leviathan. While Isaiah is clearly anxious, his prophecies are unique in that they lack oracles of vengeance against Judah\u2019s enemies. Isaiah operates on the assumption that God has a divine plan that will dole out justice for Israel and Judah. Furthermore, this divine plan is more likely to be realized than anything humans can devise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In First Isaiah, Isaiah essentially leaves retribution up to God, and the people are not held responsible for destroying Assyria themselves. In trusting God to take action, Isaiah sets an example of how people can have faith in God even when things make no sense. We cannot control everything, no matter what unrealistic explanations we develop. We cannot always take action to make things better. Instead, we can have faith and be our best selves. Perhaps God has a plan that will make sense in time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: by Ben Schachter<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":66335,"id":66335,"title":"IsaiahProphet","filename":"IsaiahProphet.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/leaving-retribution-up-to-god\/isaiahprophet\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isaiahprophet","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":66334,"date":"2019-11-30 22:50:47","modified":"2023-05-17 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