The beginning of the prophecy is quoted by the apostle Paul, speaking about God’s Providence in relation to the Israelites. In general, the words about God’s salvation for the faithful (in the image of Israel), about the fact that people will be able to live righteously (in Christ now, and in the Kingdom of God in the end), and sins and the evil one will be defeated.
Christ also quotes the words of the beginning when he spoke to the Pharisees and scribes, who tried to catch Him at His word and accuse Him.
Isaiah emphasizes that the Lord is Higher than human, the Most High, therefore it is wrong to build faith on some purely human reasoning, experience, traditions.
It is wrong to reduce faith only to a human religion (one of), a tradition, a collection of rules, because God is the Most High over all of them (together and in particular).
It can also be understood that if a person’s faith does not lead him / her to renewal, then this person still understands and perceives his / her faith as a certain tradition. In such a case, the human heart is really not close to God, although God is close to every person.
The prophecy speaks of people who are not only not close to God at heart, but have lost faith in the Living God, are used to their distance from Him and are therefore easily prone to sin.
The beginning of the readings about (Abram)
Abraham, the father of all believers
, the first among the patriarchs.
Three religions — Christianity, Islam, and Judaism — consider him a
great righteous man, and they emphasise his importance among all the Old
Testament.
Suffice it to say that for the Jews, he is truly an impeccable
righteous person in the Old Testament and their progenitor, father. For
Muslim he is a prophet and the greatest Muslim holiday is in honour of
the event from his life (the sacrifice of Isaac). And for Christians -
the father of all believers
. Religious scholars call these three
monotheistic religions Abrahamic
in his honor.
Returning to the story of Abram (Abraham), I will say that he was rich and lived in one of the big cities of that time – Ur of the Chaldees. But at God’s call, he left his homeland and moved to the Promised Land together with his family, nephew Lot (with his family) and servants and slaves.
At this beginning of Abraham’s story (and beyond) the most difficult
question is how did Abram know God
in His Revelation? How was he
really not wrong?
The entire Scripture does not speak directly, but the topic is one of the keys.
After all, if Abram had made a mistake, and not the Lord appeared to him, but the evil one (and the appearance of demons is known from history, as well as from the experience of some people), then Abram’s actions would have ended in a completely different result – in fact, the exact opposite.
So, in order to understand more deeply, it is necessary to understand
at least a little how Abram recognized God
in His appearances, in His
appeals?
There is a widespread opinion among the Orthodox that only a
pure-hearted person (with a purified heart) can recognize God
in
reality, which is why the Lord does not appear to everyone, but to some
people. And it cannot be described verbally, in words, well.
But it is necessary to understand that such a description in practice
leads only
to a humble opinion about oneself’s unworthiness
to have
a Revelation from God. And in the case of some manifestation
it does
not give an answer to the question of its source and whether it is true.
Therefore, one can think that such an approach is still
insufficient.
There are many examples that the manifestation of demons is
accompanied by a certain anxiety that arises in a person and that does
not disappear, confusion, e. g. confusion of thoughts and feelings, that
is, it carries a negative shade
. But in many passages of Scripture
that speak of the temptation of the evil one, nothing is said about the
anxiety and restlessness that his presence causes. For example, for Eve
in Paradise, for Jesus in the desert, for many other known stories.
Moreover, the appearance of angels can also cause some fear, at least
at first, which is why they often say Fear not!
; the light of the
Transfiguration, being pleasant and joyful, causing real delight, also
caused the apostles reverent fear and exaltation of feelings, and
therefore purely sensual criteria are also insufficient.
Then you can think that you should try to perceive everything
holistically, through the prism of all knowledge, experience, faith,
feelings, thoughts, will, values, etc.
And also the thought that one
should not rush to conclusions if something unusual happens. Because by
hastily accepting a lie, you can fall into the temptation of the evil
one, and by hastily rejecting a true miracle, you can sin against the
Holy Spirit.
How was it with Abram? How did he believe God
?
Scripture doesn’t give an answer, but maybe because different people have it coming to trust and entrusting oneself to God happened in different ways, so the story of Abram does not reveal this, so as not to limit others?
But the fact is the fact – Abram believed God and did as He told him.
The Greek and Hebrew texts differ greatly (as they apparently do for almost the entire book of Proverbs).
The construction is similar to the previous one.
Teaches critical thinking, the ability to find, cleverness (smartness), prudence.
Again motivates to righteousness and wisdom.
Talks about the goodness of mercy and almsgiving, loyalty and diligence.
The fear of God is a support. There is more about the fear of God in
the work at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!