Hell is a Christian Hoax 4
WHO WILL BELIEVE OUR REPORT
(Isa 53:1)?
Over twenty-seven centuries ago the prophet Isaiah made the statement now recorded in Isa. 53:1, "Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?" Good question. Yes, who has "believed" the report of Isaiah? Let's quickly check whether or not YOU believe his report. This will be simple and fast. We will look at a couple of Verses in Isa. 26 and a few in Isa. 53.
First, Isaiah 26:9 where Isaiah gives us a marvelous declaration:
"With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early: for when ( No, not now, but 'WHEN') Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."
One of the most difficult and sometimes frustrating things that I encounter as a teacher is trying to get people to "believe the Scriptures." As Isaiah stated: "Who has believed our report?" (Isaiah 53:1). When I quote from Isaiah's "report" I often am met with detractors who think they have a Scripture which contradicts my quotation from one of Isaiah's reports. Pretty silly, huh?
I have quoted Isaiah 26:9 hundreds of times in my teachings: "...for when Thy ( God's) judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." Few Christians even know that Scripture is in the Bible, and fewer yet believe it. Often I quote only verse 9, seeing that it is a complete thought and statement that can stand on its own merits. But Christians have suggested that I am wrong, that the whole world of sinners will not learn righteousness, and for proof of that they tell me to please read the next verse - verse 10. Okay, let's read it:
"Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet will he NOT learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD" (Isaiah 26:10).
So there, I guess they've shown me a thing or two! They always say something like this: "This verse plainly states that even if favor is shown to the wicked, nonetheless, they will NOT learn righteousness, which contradicts your teaching, Ray, that all humanity will learn righteousness, and ultimately be saved."
Oh really? So Isaiah 26:9 is "MY teaching," but Isaiah 26:10 is "GOD'S teaching?" Let's learn something very profound regarding God and His Word. I did not write Isaiah 26:9. It is not MY teaching, but rather GOD'S teaching. Of course favor can and is being shown to the "wicked" of the world, and they are NOT learning to be righteous in spite of those many favors. Does that prove Verse 9 is not true and therefore will never happen?
Even Jesus acknowledged that His Father causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. And that huge favor does not cause carnal-minded, God-rejecting farmers to "learn righteousness." Many unjust farmers grow some beautiful crops through God's favors, but that does not by itself cause the wicked to "learn righteousness."
Learn to pay close attention to all of the words, and to also believe all of the words. There is no contradiction here. Isaiah didn't say that "if favor is shown to the wicked, they will learn righteousness," did he? No, He did not, so why state