DOES ISAIAH WARN AGAINST CHRISTIANITY?
We've all seen missionaries try to support their religion by quoting the Tannach. This page turns the tables and quotes the Tannach to debunk Christianity by comparing passages from the prophet Isaiah with passages in the so called New Testament.
Personally, I don't think the Tannach says anything, good or bad, about Jesus, but it is interesting to note how differently the quotes can be interpreted.
I have not checked all the quotes for accuracy. so if you find errors, please let me know.
My thanks to Alex, who sent me this material.
24:1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. 24:2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; ... 24:3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. 24:4 The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
Then he says WHY this will happen:
24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, ...
The so called New Testament advocates all three of these things -- i.e. that people transgress the laws, change the ordinance, and break the everlasting covenants.
1. Transgressing the Law:
Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.
Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Hebrews 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, [was] not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law [be] heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, [there is] no transgression. 16 Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
2. Changing the Ordinances:
Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, ...
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, ...
Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
3. Breaking the Everlasting Covenant -- presumably the Sabbath, the Brit Milah, or the everlasting priesthood.
Sabbath (as specified in 1 Chronicles 16:17, Leviticus 24:8)
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath [days]:
Brit melah: (as specified in Genesis 17:13)
Galatians 5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Everlasting priesthood. (as specified in Numbers 25:13)
Hebrews 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
In summary, the New Testament recommends what Isaiah says will bring chaos.
One aspect of the coming hard times, says Isaiah in a later chapter, will be a "covenant with death, an agreement with the grave."
28:14 ... hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, ... 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell(the grave) are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
That is, the scornful say they will make a bargain with death so as to escape the bad times.
The so called New Testament does talk about an agreement with death:
Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament(covenant), that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
This is just what Isaiah is warning against -- people who plot an agreement with death so as to avoid their own personal misfortune. Isaiah says, however, that it won't work:
Isaiah 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Isaiah 24:16-17 warns against treachery:
16 ... woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously;... 17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, [are] upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. 18 And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
Could this be Christianity:
FEAR:
Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
THE PIT:
Revelation 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Revelation 9:11 And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.
THE SNARE:
Mark 1:16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
Luke 5:10 And so [was] also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
Far fetched? No more so than the quotes missionaries use to support their ideas.
Here is another end of times prediction:
Isaiah 24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, ... 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones [that are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
HIGH ONES IN HIGH PLACES:
Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Again, Isaiah does not bode will for these:
Isaiah 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Isaiah talks about pride:
Isaiah 28:1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty [is] a fading flower, which [are] on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
Who gets to wear such a crown?
28:5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
But the so called New Testament says:
1 Peter 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Who does Isaiah say is able to learn?
Isaiah 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts.
But the so called New Testament says the opposite:
1 Corinthians 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat[see also Is28:10,13]: for hitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now are ye able.
So what to make of all this? Is Isaiah really warning against Christians and Christianity?
You decide.
Yes, when these nations and their kings hear what they have not been told, they will shut their mouths and try to understand it and say "Who would have believed this report?" [Isaiah 52-15-53:1]
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1 Chronicles 16:17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, [and] to Israel [for] an everlasting covenant,
Leviticus 24:8 Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, [being taken] from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
Genesis 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
Numbers 25:13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, [even] the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.