Isaiah 45:7 – Does God create evil?

Problem: Does God create evil? Isaiah 45:7 and Amos 3:6.  No, God does not create ontological evil.  He creates calamity which is sometimes translated as ‘evil.’
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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching

Isaiah 45:7 – Does God create evil?

Problem: Isaiah writes that God is the one who “[causes] well-being and creating calamity” (Isa. 45:7). Older translations render this Hebrew ra’ as “evil” (ASV). Is God the author of evil?
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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching

Isaiah 44:28-45:1 – How could Isaiah predict King Cyrus?

Problem: If Isaiah really wrote from Israel before the Exile (739-681 BC), then he would have predicted King Cyrus by name—over two hundred years in advance. Cyrus didn’t reign until roughly the 500’s BC (Ezra 1:1-5; 6:1-5). Critics claim that this is evidence against the single authorship of Isaiah, because a singular author could not predict such a thing in the 8th century BC. Rather, it makes more sense to conclude that a post-exilic prophet added chapters to Isaiah’s original work. Is this the case?
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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching

Isaiah 38:8 – Did God turn back time?

Problem: Isaiah said, “‘I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.’ So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down” (Isa. 38:8). Did God turn back time?
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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching

Isaiah – 35:4-6 – Did Jesus fulfill this passage?

Problem: In Matthew 11:4-5, Jesus claimed to fulfill Isaiah 35:4-6. This passage states, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.” How did Jesus fulfill this passage?
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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching