"Hear ye this, O
house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of
the fountain of Judah; who swear by the Name of the Lord and make mention of
the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves
of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts
is His Name." (Isaiah 48:1-2)
The Creator rebukes
again Israel's reluctance to fulfill their part of the Covenant, which is to
reveal God's Presence in the material world. The Torah commands us to do it by
making truth and righteousness rule as the heralds of God's ways and
attributes. God's call is for Israel and not for other nations, for Israel
represents the creative potential of goodness in human consciousness. If Israel
doesn't comply, there is no Final Redemption or Messianic Era.
"Because I knew that
you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass. Therefore I have declared it to you from of old. Before it
came to pass I announced it to you, lest you say: 'Mine idol has done them, and
my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them'." (48:3-4)
It is either ego's
materialistic fantasies and illusions with negative traits and trends in
consciousness or God's ways, attributes and Commandments to fulfill our mission
in the material world. The egocentric mentality is obstinate by definition, as
well as addictive to its destructive predicament. Hence we end up blaming our
negative actions and their consequences to our fantasies and illusions as the
idols we have created, and to which we become servants.
"You have heard, see,
all this; and ye, will ye not declare it? I have announced onto you new things
from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known." (48:5-6)
We have heard it from
God through the Torah and His Prophets, yet we don't acknowledge it or proclaim
it. This means that, even if we admit God's Final Redemption we refuse to
accept it. We don't even recognize the good things it brings that have been
concealed by God, until we begin to believe in them and embrace them. We rather
keep living the fantasies and illusions that make us live a meaningless and not
transcendental life, making us live in order to die. God has plans for us in His
promised Messianic Era to reveal hidden things we are destined to know in order
to live with a new consciousness. It manifests itself only with positive
choices for positive ends that we will be able to know only when we remove the
negative traits and trends that have controlled our lives thus far.
God continues confronting
the children of Israel for ignoring not only God's Covenant but also their
Essence and identity, calling us traitors. In spite of our predicament, He
reaffirms His Love for us (48:9). He also reminds us that we have learned very
little from the suffering in our exiles He calls "the crucible of
affliction". God wants us to honor Him by choosing His ways.
"Hearken unto Me, O
Jacob, and Israel My called: I am He, I am the first, I also am the last." (48:12)
The Creator again
reiterates His absolute control over His Creation, reminding us that only His
will is what matters (48:13-21). Hence our duty is to know His ways and
attributes as our reason and purpose in life (48:18).
"There is no peace, says
the Lord concerning the wicked."
(48:22)
We have referred to
the meanings of peace in our consciousness, as totality, completion and harmony
that we can only achieve in our connection with God. Evil, wickedness and
negativity are traits that oppose goodness as our common bond with God.
Hence as long as we live by and for ego's fantasies and illusions, as well as
negative traits and trends, we won't have the completion and wholesomeness of
living in God's ways and attributes. In this context, Love's ways and
attributes as the material manifestation of God's Love are the redeeming
qualities we must enthrone in every aspect and dimension of consciousness to
enter the Final Redemption, and to begin knowing what God's Love is about.
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