Well, I understand you completely, and agree with what you are saying -abijah wrote: ↑February 5th, 2023, 11:13 amthere's lots of truth out there for those who can discern. TBMs are trapped in the mind prison that the only legitimate truth that can be relied upon is from one solitary source (the Church leadership - as opposed to the Spirit), and that nowhere else can one learn or gain anything.Being There wrote: ↑February 3rd, 2023, 8:36 pmactually, it's the only place to camp out - which is the best thing to do;abijah wrote: ↑January 25th, 2023, 1:18 pmGileadi is a starting point. No use camping out there.Being There wrote: ↑January 23rd, 2023, 8:39 pm
The Lord HAS been preparing him, but has not revealed him;
but he may not even know who he is yet until the Lord empowers him;
and "when my God became my strength— " Isaiah 49:5
after the "trials he endures have served their purpose to purify, perfect, and sanctify him to a higher spiritual level,
thereby qualifying him for a new commission.
Jacob/Israel’s restoration, to which task he was foreordained (v 1), Jehovah augments with a mission
to serve as a light to the “nations” or “Gentiles”
you may want to take a look at this translation
https://www.isaiahexplained.com/commentary/49
Isaiah 49
Jehovah empowers his servant after he is rejected to restore his people and to implement their new exodus.
1 Hear me, O isles; listen, you distant peoples:Jehovah called me before I was in the belly;before I was in my mother’s womb,he mentioned me by name.
Jehovah having spoken of his servant (cf. Isaiah 41:1-3, 25-27; 42:1-7; 44:26-28; 45:1-6, 13; 46:11-13; 48:14-15), the servant speaks of himself, asserting Jehovah foreordained him before his mother conceived him. Jehovah’s “naming” him and “calling” him to an international mission—to “the isles” and “distant people”—signify ascent to the seraph category. Jehovah had likewise called Jeremiah to an international mission before his birth: “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5, 10).
2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword—in the shadow of his hand he hid me. He has made me into a polished arrow—in his quiver he kept me secret.
Jehovah’s “hiding” and “secreting” his servant suggests that the world knows nothing of his calling until the time Jehovah empowers him.
Even Jehovah’s people don’t know him or are ignorant of him until he fulfills his mission:
“You will summon a nation that you did not know; a nation that did not know you will hasten to you” (Isaiah 55:5).
He himself, therefore, is one of the “new things” Jehovah does suddenly that test the loyalty of his people (Isaiah 42:9; 48:6-8; 51:4-11).
The terms mouth, sword, hand, and arrow designate Jehovah’s servant metaphorically (Isaiah 31:8; 51:16; 62:2-3).
3 He said to me, You are my servant,Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 I had thought, I have labored in vain,I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose!
Yet my cause rested with Jehovah,my recompense with my God.
Jehovah’s calling his servant “Israel” parallels Jehovah’s calling his people’s ancestor Jacob by his new name Israel after Jacob had proven loyal to him (Genesis 32:28). The servant’s receiving a new name, in other words—which the name Israel here symbolizes—attests to his ascent to a higher spiritual level after he has proven loyal to Jehovah. It also implies that he—Jehovah’s individual servant—serves as a surrogate of and as an exemplar to Jehovah’s collective servant; that is, to Jehovah’s people in the Jacob/Israel category to whom Jehovah sends him (vv 5-9; Isaiah 41:27; 42:6-7; 48:16).
One way the servant proves loyal is to continue laboring in Jehovah’s cause even in the face of few positive results. By all appearances, he at first spends a great deal of energy “in vain” and “for nothing and to no purpose.” And yet, desiring to serve Jehovah even under the most adversarial conditions (v 7; Isaiah 50:6-9; 52:13-14), he submits to Jehovah’s will:
“My Lord Jehovah has endowed me with a learned tongue, that I may know how to preach to those grown weary a word to wake them up” (Isaiah 50:4).
Before ascending to Isaiah’s seraph level, he descends through trials that consume him.
5 For now Jehovah has said—he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to restore Jacob to him,Israel having been gathered to him; for I won honor in the eyes of Jehovah when my God became my strength—
6 he said: It is too small thing for you to be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore those preserved of Israel.
I will also appoint you to be a light to the nations, that my salvation may be to the end of the earth.
A reversal of circumstances takes place for Jehovah’s servant when the trials he endures have served their purpose to purify, perfect, and sanctify him to a higher spiritual level, thereby qualifying him for a new commission.
Jacob/Israel’s restoration, to which task he was foreordained (v 1), Jehovah augments with a mission to serve as a light to the “nations” or “Gentiles” (goyim) “to the end of the earth.” From there, Jehovah’s people are to return (Isaiah 41:8-9; 43:5-6), so that all who desire it might participate in Jehovah’s salvation and prepare for Jehovah’s coming as salvation (Isaiah 52:7; 62:11).
Jehovah “appoints” his servant when he “wins honor” in Jehovah’s eyes by proving faithful through trials (v 4), at which time his God becomes his “strength.”
The servant’s physical exploits that follow—subduing nations, releasing captives, leading the new exodus, and rebuilding ruins (Isaiah 9:2-5; 11:10-16; 41:2-3, 25; 45:1-3, 13; 48:14; 61:1-4)—should thus be seen in the context of an ascent phase of divine empowerment that follows his descent phase through afflictions as he fulfills his role of proxy savior to the Jacob/Israel category of Jehovah’s people under the terms of the Davidic Covenant.
7 Thus says Jehovah,the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel,to him who is despised as a person,who is abhorred by his nation,a servant to those in authority:Kings shall rise up when they see you, princes shall prostrate themselves,because Jehovah keeps faith with you,because the Holy One of Israel has chosen you.
Although Jehovah’s servant is at first “despised as a person” and “abhorred by his nation” as his own reject him,
Jehovah exalts him in the eyes of those who see him as a threat to their authority.
Jehovah rewards his servant’s faithfulness toward him in the face of opposition with his own acts of faithfulness toward his servant.
Henceforth, as the servant begins the temporal phase of Jacob/Israel’s restoration, he becomes prominent worldwide (Isaiah 11:10-12; 52:15; 55:5). Kings and princes now honor him who was dishonored and assist in the restoration of Jehovah’s people (vv 22-23; Isaiah 60:3-11).
You are in the same mind prison, except you've switched the Brethren for Gileadi.
It's TBM conditioning to make people think there's only ever one Source™ for actual Truth®
as to not relying on someone else, but being led to truth, by the spirit - the testifier of truth.
But sorry, because I'm really not how you think I am;
just because I believe Gileadi is the most correct translation and interpretation and try to learn from him.
I mean come on, here we have Isaiah, who the Lord said his words were great,
and gave a commandment to search his words diligently, and what -
1 percent or something even care about that enough to try to study Isaiah,
much less that can in some way understand it; without any help from others.
So ya, like I said, Gileadi is the only place to camp out - which is the best thing to do;
until you think you know more than he does.
Gileadi's books and website https://www.isaiahexplained.com/commentary/1
are of great help to the small number of people
that even care about searching Isaiah trying to understand it.
Because before Gileadi, just about no one knew or had any idea that
1. Isaiah’s Prophecy Relates to Two Time Frames Simultaneously
https://www.isaiahexplained.com/resourc ... of-isaiah/
I understand what you are saying,
but I really don't want to waste my time debating this.
I think people need someone like Gileadi - that has spent and dedicated his whole life
to the study of the book of Isaiah.
If you think you have a better translation or interpretation,
I certainly haven't seen it.