God’s Sovereignty - Part 2
On Monday, I pointed out that sometimes our desire to get our own way interferes with our ability to interpret scripture. Here’s an example. There is a verse in the King James Version of the Bible that goes like this: “Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.”
I can’t tell you how many sermons I’ve heard on this particular verse, almost always quoted out of context. This verse is Isaiah 45:11, and I believe that not only is it often quoted out of context, I believe it is almost always quoted from a very poor translation of this passage. The KJV is one of my favorite Bible translations, but I believe the KJV got it wrong on this one. No matter what certain preachers say, it is not our place to command God to do anything.
So let’s read this verse in context, still in the King James. I’m going to start in Isaiah 45:6, where it says: 6b I am the Lord, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
I would like to pause right here and point out that verse 7 is another poor translation. God doesn’t create evil. Other translations do a better job here. I like the JPS Tanakh, which says God makes weal and creates woe, or the NASB, which says God causes well-being and creates calamity, or the NIV, which says God brings prosperity and creates disaster.
Moving on, in the KJV this passage continues:
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.
9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
Now let’s read that last verse in the ESV, which is a more modern -- and I believe a better -- translation of this passage:
11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
The 1985 Jewish Publication Society Tanach says:
11 Thus said the LORD,
Israel's Holy One and Maker:
Will you question Me on the destiny of My children,
Will you instruct Me about the work of My hands?
In context, this passage is talking about the sovereignty of God. It’s telling us not only that God is sovereign, but also that it’s not our place to question what He does. People who quote Isaiah 45:11 out of context or who read it in the KJV are ignoring the fact that in context, and especially when you read it in Hebrew or in most other English translations, this passage is all about the impropriety of a creation talking back to its Creator, rather than commanding Him to do something.
Margot Armer
