08 April 2015

EJ&T Isaiah: Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth and suck the breasts of kings

In the Every Jot and Tittle project, I am listing all of the Bible's commandments from Genesis to Revelation, in accordance with Jesus's words in Matthew 5:18-19. I have no idea how many commandments I'll find, but Jewish tradition claims there are 613. See here for a list of those that I've found so far.

There's a lot of crazy stuff in Isaiah, and some of it is written in the form of commands. Here are a few examples:
Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers. Isaiah 14:21

Loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. Isaiah 20:2

Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. Isaiah 30:22

Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. Isaiah 32:11

Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground ... Make bare the leg, uncover the thigh ... Thy nakedness shall be uncovered. Isaiah 47:2-3

Neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. Isaiah 56:3

Draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Isaiah 57:3

Thou shalt ... suck the breast of kings. Isaiah 60:16

These are commands from God, but are they commandments? Probably not. Some are directed at Isaiah, some to Babylonians, some to Israelites, some to eunuchs, sons of sorceresses, adulterers, and whores, And some of these commands are just trash talk directed at no one in particular. So I left them off the list.

I'll probably have to eliminate some of the crazier commands from the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. I don't know what "Cast thy bread upon the waters" means, but it seems more like a suggestion than a commandment.

When I finish the list, I'll group them by topic and decide which to include or exclude. I'd appreciate any advice that you might have on this. I want to get the Bible's commandments right -- every jot and tittle!


Here are commands in Isaiah that I've included in the commandments.

  1. Don't bring God any more vain oblations.
  2. Bring no more vain oblations. Isaiah 1:13

  3. Wash yourself.
  4. Wash you, make you clean. Isaiah 1:16

    Cleanse your hands, ye sinners. James 4:8

  5. Seek judgment.
  6. Seek judgment. Isaiah 1:17

  7. Relieve the oppressed.
  8. Relieve the oppressed. Isaiah 1:17

  9. Judge the fatherless.
  10. Judge the fatherless. Isaiah 1:17

  11. Plead for the widow.
  12. Plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17

  13. Don't value human life.
  14. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? Isaiah 2:22

  15. Tell the righteous people that everything will be OK for them.
  16. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Isaiah 3:10

  17. Make God holy.
  18. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself. Isaiah 8:13

    Sanctify the Lord God in you hearts. 1 Peter 3:15

  19. Bind up Isaiah's testimony and seal the law among his disciples.
  20. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Isaiah 8:16

  21. Say to those who are afraid, "Be strong."
  22. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Isaiah 35:4

  23. Look at God and be saved.
  24. Look unto me, and be ye saved. Isaiah 45:22

  25. Remember things that happened a long time ago.
  26. Remember the former things of old. Isaiah 46:9

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Here's an Easter egg for you:

In Luke 23:43, on the day he dies, Jesus tells one of his co-crucifixioners "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

I thought he descended into Hell for 3 days and returned? So Hell is Paradise? Or did he go to Paradise for 3 days and return? Or was he just trying to cheer up the other guy?

Stephen said...

Probably just one of his three parts went to Hades. That's the best thing about being a trinity!
Steve Weeks

Unknown said...

Actually, after doing some research, it appears that there is no clear indication where he was for 3 days any where in the Bible. The reference of going to Hell is only from the Apostle's Creed.

The things you learn when you take the time to read and research..........

Unknown said...

And while we are at it:

I would like to challenge others to provide clear, unambiguous descriptions of what life in Heaven is like, based solely on biblical text, preferably using a direct quote from God or Jesus.

There are multiple references to what Hell is like, but did you ever stop to think that the Bible does not provide any indication that Heaven is any better? It seems to me that various employees of the variety of Christian churches are selling the idea that Heaven is a great place to go, but the Bible does not appear to support this concept.