Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Isaiah Chapter 10 Essay -- Religion, God

The pericope of that I choose for this reflection paper is Isaiah 11:1-9. The preceding literature unit of this pericope focuses on the topic how God uses Assyria for His redemptive purpose. In Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah explains the role of Assyria in God’s plan. Assyria is the rod of God’s anger. He uses it to punish Israel and Judah because they are two godless nations but full of idols (Isaiah 10:6,11). After God’s angers are poured out on two countries, the heart of Assyria becomes boastful. God turns His anger on His rod and punishes Assyria. In Isaiah 10:12-19, Assyria is depicted as a mighty forest and the judgment of God is portrayed as an axe will swing and chop down this mighty forest. Assyria will be destroyed and reduced to a very small number that a child can count (Isaiah 10:19). After the section about the destruction of Assyria, the text turns to the proclamation of the return of the remnant of Israel. The focal point of the text zooms out in the last v erse of Isaiah chapter 10 to bring forth the final scene in which the remnant of Israel will return to their land while in the background Assyria is destroyed. The once mighty forest is no more. After God abandons Assyria as His rod at the end of Isaiah chapter 10, in the beginning of Isaiah chapter 11, God will raise up a shoot from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). This shoot from the stump of Jesse is personified as He and this Person is endowed with the Spirit of the Lord in Isaiah 11:2. He will provide justice for all. His reign will be characterized with righteousness and faithfulness (Isaiah 11:3-5). This reign of righteousness and faithfulness leads to many profound impacts and drastic changes to the whole creation. The hostilities between predators and preys, b... ...ath had shown all its power at the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The resurrection of Jesus Christ presented the power of the Holy Spirit who would transform and brought forth a new life out of the dead body, dead spirit, and dead mind of human. This theme, God will bring forth new life out of the death, will have its final in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. For all who are faithful unto their death, they will be risen up again with the new heavenly, imperishable body (1 Corinthians 15:35-49). Death is not an absolute ending of human life anymore. In the opposite, death is a requisite for entering a new life with Jesus Christ when he comes back to this earth the second time. At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, all who are faithful until death will be risen up. They will live forever in the glory of God and worship Him for eternity (Revelation 7:9-17).

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