Isaiah 58: dependency, responsibility, self-interest& church versus the-good. Relief?

 

Isaiah 58: dependency, responsibility, self-interest& church versus the-good. Relief?

[Events before February 19, 2023 brought me to new apprehension in the pursuit of the-ineluctable-truth. There are three hints in the literature: the mystery of Jesus’ influence on Genesis 1:26-28 NIV, John 1:1's claim that Jesus is God, and Mathew 5:48's "Be [as] perfect". The living Jesus may have advocated the-good rather than claimed to be “anointed one& king”. Human-beings can& may accept the-good, continually pursue the-good, and continuously practice the-good. If asked how humankind discovered self-interest in the-good, we can express appreciation to Jesus. Also, see my essay about human duty, from Genesis 1, at the end of this study.]

58 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob [the 12 tribes of Israel] their sins [perhaps Jacob’s promiscuity and that of his 4 mates; see Jacob.jpg (1165×727) (wp.com)].
² For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord? [The catalogue of dependency and accusing the Lord of neglect.]

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? [A responsibility list.]
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. [The list of rewards.]

¹³ “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, [Imposing the church into the equation.]
¹⁴ then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. [So says the church. However, Jesus seems to present opposition to the church’s laws; see, for example, Matthew 19:3-8. Would the-God constrain self through a church or other institution? I don’t think so.]

 

The importance of Genesis 1, a 5,500 year old Mesopotamian political philosophy:

[I apply Genesis-1-NIV perspective to Bible interpretation. I think Genesis 1:26-28 NIV, in the-civic-Jesus-messages (CJM), given each 1) mysterious-Jesus, offering appreciation to human being (verb) and 2) Jesus’s “my peace”, suggests the following:  Human male unites-to female human-being (noun) and their spouse-hood can& may pursue comprehensive-safety& security to the living species and to the earth (SECURITY). Every person can& may accept personal duty to SECURITY. Some persons neglect, partially or wholly, mysterious-Jesus-appreciation, Jesus-peace& SECURITY-duty.

I call Genesis-1-NIV’s message, “responsible-human-independence” or RHI. Some human-beings throughout history practice, facilitate& encourage RHI; for example, Jesus exemplified RHI. From the past, RHI-individuals guide us and non-RHI-persons warn of error. I think the-civic-Jesus practiced, facilitated& encouraged RHI. “Civic” means reliable in human connections and transactions. Perhaps Jesus advocated the-good.

But I don’t know – IDK - the-ineluctable-truth. “Ineluctable” means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, or resisted: I can& may choose either RHI or dependency, such as religious arrogance.

Persons appreciating contemporary human being (verb), during each generation, develop the CJM I advocate. In other words, I attribute to CJM the civic-appreciation that human being (verb) applied “before Abraham was born” and since then. Given the question, “Was Jesus a man?”, my response -- “IDK, yet value CJM”, seems sufficient& complete to my person. I advocate the-civic-Jesus and admit that could be the-good.

Perhaps CJM always was the-good human being (verb). That potential was present at the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. There’s joy in accepting IDK, seeking ineluctable-evidence, and reserving humility to RHI. Joy may facilitate happiness.

It seems the-laws-of-physics& progeny (PHYSICS) constrains the consequences of each person’s choices. That is, the laws of forces, mathematics, chemistries, biology, psychology, imagination, and their subsets. I choose to accept mysterious-Jesus and pursue Jesus’ “my-peace”, in-order-to commit-to and trust-in PHYSICS. For example, I work for food& shelter rather than accept what a bureaucrat might provide. I work to aid SECURITY rather than pray for an entity to usurp RHI. Make no mistake: if one of my loved ones seems threatened beyond my action, I pray.

Admitting I could be wrong, I accept that Genesis 1:26-28 NIV urges me to constrain chaos in my way of living, or to the-good.]