A Compassionate Father

Isaiah prays to Jehovah: "Look from heaven and see out of your lofty abode of holiness and beauty."  The prophet is speaking of the spiritual heavens, where Jehovah and his invisible spirit creatures dwell. Expressing the thoughts of the Jews in exile, Isaiah continues:  "Where are your zeal and your full might, the commotion of your inward  parts, and your mercies?  Toward me they have restrained themselves." (Isaiah 63:15) Jehovah has held back his power and controlled his deep feelings-"the commotion of [his] inward parts, and [his] mercies"-toward his people.  Yet, Jehovah is the "Father" of the Jewish nation. Abraham and Israel  (Jacob) were their natural forefathers, but if these were restored to life, they might be inclined to reject their apostate offspring.  Jehovah has greater compassion.  (Psalm 27:10) Isaiah gratefully says:  "You, O Jehovah, are our Father. Our Repurchaser of long ago is your name." -Isaiah 63:16.

  Isaiah  continues with a heartfelt expression:  "Why do you, O Jehovah, keep making us wander from your ways? Why, do you make our heart hard against the fear of you? Come back for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your hereditary possession."  (Isaiah 63:17) Yes, Isaiah prays that Jehovah will again turn his attention  to his servants.  In what sense, though, does Jehovah make the Jews wander from his ways?  Is Jehovah responsible for the hardness of their hearts that leads them to have no fear of him?  No, but he does allow it, and in their despair the Jews lament that Jehovah gave them such freedom.  (Exodus 4:21; Nehemiah 9:16) They wish that Jehovah had stepped in to prevent them from doing wrong.

Of course, God does not deal with humans in that way. We are free moral agents, and Jehovah allows us to decide for ourselves whether to obey him or not.  (Deuteronomy 30:15-19)  Jehovah wants worship that stems from hearts and minds that are motivated  by genuine love.  Hence, he has allowed the Jews to exercise their free will, even though this has permitted them to rebel against him.  It is in this way that he has made their hearts hard. -2 Chronicles 36:14-21.

What is the result? Isaiah prophetically says:  "For a little while your holy people had possession. Our own adversaries have stamped down your sanctuary. We have for a long time become as those over who you did not rule, as those upon whom your name had not been called."  (Isaiah 63:18, 19)  Jehovah's people had possession of his sanctuary for a while.  then Jehovah allowed it to be destroyed and his nation to be taken into exile. When that happened, it was as if there has been no covenant between him and the offspring of Abraham and as if his name had not been called upon them. Now captive in Babylon, the Jews cry out in their hopelessness:  "O if only you had ripped the heavens apart, that you had come down, that on account of you the very mountains had quaked, as when a fire ignites the brushwood, and the fire makes the very water boil up, in order to make your name known to your adversaries, that on account of you the nations might be agitated!:  (Isaiah 64:1, 2) Jehovah does indeed have the power to save. He certainly could have come down and fought for his people, ripping apart heaven like governmental systems and made his name known  by showing his fiery zeal in behalf of his people.

Jehovah had done such things in the past. Isaiah recounts:  "When you did fear-inspiring things for which we could not hope, you came down. On account of you the mountains themselves quaked."  (Isaiah 64:3)  Such great acts demonstrated Jehovah's power and Godship.  However, the unfaithful Jews of Isaiah's time have no right to expect Jehovah to act in such a way for their benefit.

Next time: Only Jehovah Can Save

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001