{"id":67663,"date":"2019-12-24T13:29:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T11:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=67663"},"modified":"2023-07-20T12:16:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T09:16:34","slug":"how-does-god-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-does-god-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does God Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/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":[537,500,458,752,403,818],"acf":{"old_id":"67663","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":67068,"related_cahpter":"379","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Why was Cyrus the Chosen One - should not the redeemer of the Jewish people come from the Jewish people?\u00a0\r\n","content":"

In chapter 45, God opens with a perplexing statement. He proclaims Cyrus, the king of Persia, to be \u201c<\/span>meshicho<\/span><\/em>,\u201d his anointed one. In conquering the Babylonians, it appears that Cyrus has become a heroic, even redemptive figure. He liberates the Jewish people from their oppressors and gives them permission to return to the Land of Israel. Nevertheless, to see him described as God\u2019s anointed one is jarring, for should not the redeemer of the Jewish people come from the Jewish people? Was this not the case with Moses and the many others God chose over the generations to save the Jewish people from their enemies? The traditional commentators do their best to downplay the significance of this description, arguing that in fact all kings are to be called anointed for that is how they are appointed to the kingship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, one is still left with the question as to why Cyrus would be singled out by God and called his anointed one.<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is that we find it profoundly difficult to see God act in a way that we cannot understand, and therefore, there will always be an allure to remake God according to our expectations. God, however, is aware of this danger and later on in the book of Isaiah makes clear that human beings will never fully understand God\u2019s ways, (55:8) \u2018For My plans are not your plans, Nor are My ways your ways.\u2019 God\u2019s inscrutability and otherness is an essential part of God\u2019s existence, and no matter how much we may want to comprehend God\u2019s actions, there will always remain aspects that defy human understanding. For reasons we cannot fully apprehend, God chose Cyrus to be his anointed one and performed miracles through him that led to the salvation of the Jewish people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on in the chapter, God\u2019s inscrutability and otherness is emphasized once more when God says to the Jewish people (45:7), \u201cI form light and create darkness, I make peace <\/span>and<\/b> create evil\u2014 I the LORD do all these things.\u201d In our personal theology, most of us are dualists. We ascribe only the good to God and relegate evil to the actions of human beings. Isaiah, however, challenges us to recognize that the same God who brings goodness into our lives also creates a world in which evil abounds. We may find it difficult to accept God\u2019s inscrutability and otherness, but in failing to do so, we make an idol out of God no different from those of our ancestors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":67664,"id":67664,"title":"is45-why","filename":"is45-why.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-does-god-work\/is45-why\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is45-why","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67663,"date":"2019-12-24 11:29:00","modified":"2022-03-27 20:45:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-why-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"How Does God Work?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Why was Cyrus the Chosen One - 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