Evidence for Jesus' Resurrection

[adimus]

Yes, I apologize.

Now, zeroing in on this point, I do quite agree that the writer of Matthew knew what they were doing. This is the book that did for me what is spoken of in verse 13 of Isaiah 28, below.

Isaiah 28: 5-20 gives a good portion of the context to read, but specifically, I am drawing on verse 13.

13But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

The genealogy account given in Matthew 1: 6-11 should be compared to II Chr. 3:10-16.

Stumbling block #1: can you find the four names missing? Yes I can.

Stumbling block #2: Notice the son of Jacob in verse 2 of Matthew 1. What's that name? Judah/Y'hudah

Stumbling block #3: verses 15 offers up a HUGE clue as to the origins of this book. And what is that? Some of the latter names in there are almost certainly names that were available in public records that were later destroyed in the Temple.

Stumbling block #4: verse 16 is rather curious.. notice that last part of the genealogy line anywhere in the Tanakh? Those names were of people who lived after the Tanakh was finished being written. They should not be expected to be in the Tanakh.

Because if you do, then you might take note of
Stumbling block #5: found in verses 18 and 19 and if you are rather familiar with Genesis, then this should strike you as rather curious.. giving you cause to consider and wonder.

Exactly what are you referring to? Being that Jesus is the Messiah and is a deep fulfillment of all the Tanakh, I would expect to see many similarities between the two books. I would also expect to see numerous forshadowings of Jesus in the Tanakh, especially to see these highlighted in the thoroughly Jewish book of Matthew.

And on and on and on and on I could go with Matthew.. that is not even all that is there in just that first chapter alone. The stumbling blocks there, the inconsistencies are a blessing.

?

verse 16 in Isaiah 28 is speaking of a particular foundation, and verse 20 will reveal itself to be true and the reason to be pure, the more that you get to know that foundation.

16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

What are you getting at? Sorry but my prophetic abilities are a little rust and I can't read your mind today.

I kept my eyes stuck to the Tanakh for quite a bit and absorbed it.. not in the eyes of man, but just for what was there. Matthew contains the "Voice calling out in the wilderness".. and to hear that Voice more clearly, knowing the foundation is a MUST!

It certainly helps a whole lot.

Matthew was my grace in that it destroyed my faith and thus, it led me to the foundation; because of that, my sight has steadily and consistently been in restoration concerning the Truth.
There is a reason why I call the faith of Christianity blind and there is a reason why I am anti the writings of Paul. The writer clearly knew that to know the foundation was to see the Truth in its Pure Light.

"But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain." Titus 3:9

:yes:

Why do you not respond to all my thorough responses to your posts? Am I just wasting time with you?

 

[adimus]

IF U knew: Stumbling block #1: can you find the four names missing from Matthew's geneology of Jesus? Yes I can.

The Tanakh is full of conundrums in the genealogies too. I wrote this to a friend about this recently:

It is often said that the genealogies in Genesis 5:3-32 and Genesis 11:10-32 can be used to calculate exactly when Adam was made. But one important fact to notice is that none of the authors of Scripture ever used the genealogies to do such a thing, although they did provide other numerical summaries for us. For instance, in Exodus 12:40 it is noted that Israel was in Egypt for 430 years, in 1 Kings 6:1 that it was 480 years from the exodus until the beginning of the construction of the temple under King Solomon, and in Judges 11:26 it was 300 years from the entry into the promised land until the time of Jephthah, a judge who lived around 1,100 BC.

Therefore to add up the numbers of the ten men listed in Genesis 5's genealogy and the ten men after the flood in the Genesis 6 genealogy in order to determine the date for the creation of the world and the creation of Adam and Eve is to do what the text does not at all encourage us to do!

What then is the significance of these numbers that are so carefully recorded in these texts n Genesis? If they are NOT to be added up, of what purpose are they included in the Bible for?

First, they were given in order to show us that human beings were originally meant to be (or to become) immortals and to live forever. If you make a chart of the twenty five life spans on a line graph, it becomes clear that there is a general but steady downward trend from a figure just shy of one thousand years to a figure that is akin to a healthy lifespan today, around seventy years.

Second, the figures also show that the effects of sin and death in the human body meant that individuals became unable to have children in as elderly an age as once was apparently possible.

Bishops Lightfoot and Usher were terribly mistaken to advocate that the human race was created on October 24, at 9:30 a.m., 45 Meridian time. The data does not allow for this conclusion at all! Abridgment is the general rule in all the biblical genealogies.

Take the following for example: Matthew 1:8 omits three names between King Joram and Ozias (Uziah), Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:25), Joahs (2 Kings 12:1), and Amaziah (2 Kings 14:1). In Matthew 1:11 Matthew omits Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:34). Matthew's goal is to reduce the genealogies to a memorable three sets of fourteen individuals, for fourteen is the number of the Hebrew spelling of "David," D=4, V or the Hebrew vav is the number 6 and the last D=4 for a total of 14. Jesus is emphasized as the Son of David in Matthew's gospel particularly.

But even more typical of the genealogies is Matthew 1:1, where "Jesus Christ" is said to be the "son of David" who in turn is said to be the "son of Abraham." David lived about 1,000 BC and Abraham lived about 2,000 BC. Similar huge leaps over intervening generations are also taking place in Genesis 5 and Genesis 11. If you turn Mathew 1:1 around and put it in the style of the prepatriarchal genealogies, it could read as follows: "And Abraham was 100 years old [at the time he begat Isaac through whom his line continued to David], and he begat David. David was 40 years old [and approximate date for when Solomon was born, through whom Jesus would come] when he begat Jesus Christ." Thus the numbers of when these ancients had their firstborn function as the times that the line that was to come was given to them.

It is as if my father were to be one of these Very Important Persons (VIPs), and he had four sons, born when he was 100, 120, 140 and 160. Now let us suppose that it was my line, being the eldest in the family, that was the line through which Messiah was to come. And I was born when my father was 100. The Messiah would not come for another 1,000 years, but it would be just as accurate, biblically speaking, to say that my father begat Messiah when he was 100. Get it? If not, read it again.

Furthermore, there are some warning given in the Biblical text that warn us that if we add up these numbers, there will be distortions and errors. Take, for example, the last on in the series of twenty VIPs: Terah. It would appear that he live 70 years and then had triplets born to him (Genesis 11:26). His total life span was 205 years (Genesis 11:32). However, something does not add up, for Abram left Haran after his father died (Genesis 12:4, Acts 7:4), but he was only 75 years old at the time and not 135, which he should have been had the figures been intended to be treated the way people do to them today! So, had we added up the numbers in this part of the genealogy, we would already be 60 years in error, for the text must have meant that Terah "began having children when he was 70. He was not the eldest son, but his name is mentioned first BECAUSE HE IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FIGURE (he was a VIP).

No one has studied this phenomenon more intently than that late William Henry Green in his April 1890 article, Bibliotheca Sacra entitled "Primevel Chronology." For example, Green demonstrates that the great high priestly line of Aaron appears in 1 Chronicles 6:13-14 and Ezra 7:1-15. However it has twenty two names and generations in Chronicles, while Ezra only has sixteen names. When the two lists are placed side by side, it becomes clear that Ezra deliberately skipped from the eight name to the fifteenth name, thereby abridging his list, but in a way that was legitimate within the traditions of Scripture itself. This is exactly what is illustrated in the genealogical lists in Matthew. In fact, Ezra 8:1-2 abridges the list even further, seemingly implying that a great grandson and a grandson of Aaron, along with a son of David came up with Ezra from Babylon from captivity! Now that is abridgment! Of course, Ezra was only mentioning the most important persons for the sake of having a shorter list.

Many more examples of this can be found in further study of Scripture. It must be acknowledged that this phenomenon is a major part of the Bible, and any interpretors who disregard this will do so to the damage of their own interpretation of the text. This also goes to show that it is not only impossible to gain an accurate and literal time line or full lineage from the Bible. To attempt to reconcile genealogies, add up the years and then find patterns is not something that is called for by the scriptures themselves, at all.

So, in light of all this, we can safely rule out any effort to use the Bible's genealogies and numbers to reckon the age of the earth, the age of the universe, creation of Adam, the flood of Noah, the exodus from Egypt and any specific dates for anything else for that matter. The closer we get to the New Testament times in the Old Testament, the more extra-biblical information we have to work with in order to more accurately pin approximate dates for various things in the Old Testament.

 

[IF_u_knew]

I hope my replies are clear enough

Yes, thank you, they were clear. I did not answer because they are not proving anything to me. The proof for Paul's teachings should be found in the Tanakh.. not used as proof of their own their validity.

But for the record, I did read through and that is why I came to the conclusion that perhaps until people start taking the time to READ the foundation not once, but several time and setting aside the teachings of the NT and what you hear from men (or women, including me), I will be left with an unfair advantage.. someone else's word will always trump the declarations made by God in the Tanakh simply based on faith.. and it does not even matter if this faith's interpretations match up with that faith's interpretations (and so on and so on). Power of suggestion is truly a hard thing to overcome.. I know, because I still catch myself doing it occasionally. :yes:
God's declaration is clear and to the point and somehow it will always be to others that it was not perfect as it is and has to be altered (most often to fit the NT).

God laid down the rules but no one wants to follow them, thus, I posted something that I hope you will consider. If not, then I learned something myself from that post and so the time was not wasted!

By the way.. the answer to #1 is much more simple.. it is found in Isaiah 28. See what I mean? God declared them and He said His council will stand AND that He would not change; yet we still must explain it SOMEHOW in order to make it fit in with what we want to believe. *sighs*

 

[adimus]

Yes, thank you, they were clear. I did not answer because they are not proving anything to me. The proof for Paul's teachings should be found in the Tanakh.. not used as proof of their own their validity.

I am confident enough to know that my answers were very much filled with hard evidences. You are choosing to overlook and ignore them.

But for the record, I did read through and that is why I came to the conclusion that perhaps until people start taking the time to READ the foundation not once, but several time and setting aside the teachings of the NT and what you hear from men (or women, including me), I will be left with an unfair advantage..

Not so fast lady. I am quite familiar with the Tanakh. I have many times been thrown out as a heretic for showing Christians the original context and intent of various Tanakh passages. Just because something is applicable to Jesus in the Tanakh, does not overshadow or cancel out the original intent of the various passages. This is something Christians with feeble understanding of the Tanakh are often ignorant of. I ALWAYS consider the original intent of the Tanakh first when interpreting it. Don't pat yourself on the back so much. Let others do it.

someone else's word will always trump the declarations made by God in the Tanakh simply based on faith.. and it does not even matter if this faith's interpretations match up with that faith's interpretations (and so on and so on).

If the New Testament is not flush with the Tanakh, it would matter tremendously and I probably would convert to some stream of traditional Judaism.

Power of suggestion is truly a hard thing to overcome.. I know, because I still catch myself doing it occasionally. :yes:

I catch you too.

God's declaration is clear and to the point and somehow it will always be to others that it was not perfect as it is and has to be altered (most often to fit the NT).

The NT does not alter the Tanakh. Sorry if you think I am just another one of the sheeple but it is true.

God laid down the rules but no one wants to follow them, thus, I posted something that I hope you will consider. If not, then I learned something myself from that post and so the time was not wasted!

Well hello Miss Prophetess! Are you the only one who wants to follow God's rules? "No one" wants to follow God? OK. You need to meet some people I know for sure.

By the way.. the answer to #1 is much more simple.. it is found in Isaiah 28.

Stumbling block #1: can you find the four names missing?

] Now what does that have to do with Isaiah 28? Isa 28 says nothing about genealogies.

See what I mean? God declared them and He said His council will stand AND that He would not change; yet we still must explain it SOMEHOW in order to make it fit in with what we want to believe. *sighs*

I don't disagree with that. I would, however, confidently say that Judaism definitely moved the prophetic target of who and what Messiah would be after the Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians (often in a malevolent fashion) would relentlessly hang the Tanakh over their heads with the proofs for Yeshua a Messiah. This is a big part of what the original rabbinical Judaism was when it was developed, starting at the "council of Jamnia."

.......

 

[IF_u_knew]

Not so fast lady.

Hahaha.. okay. fair enough.

Really? I had quite the impression that he was an egotistical, jealous, kiss butt type of guy. Perhaps my impression came from the following:

1 Thess 2:14-15
For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:
Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

Paul is a schizo.

I agree !! :yes: Honestly, I do not see how it could be another way.. there is always confusion with Paul. Then of course, there is the idolatry worship that he *is* promoting. Worshiping a man/image *is* idolatry, no? Really, help me to understand where you all get your foundation from the Tanakh because I do not see it there, other than what is talked about in Deuteronomy, the blessing and the curse.

Funny, the gospel writer of Matthew does not agree with Paul.. so one or the other IS lying! The writer of Matthew says the PRIEST AND THE SCRIBES condemned the Son of Man, but it was the GENTILES that crucified him; the same people in whom Paul claimed authority by Jesus (who said NOT to go in the way of Gentiles) to go and spread his corrupted version of the Truth.

Matthew 20:

18Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
19And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Paul said KILL, not condemn. He was clever enough to know the difference. One of these two writers lied and all it takes is the answering of one question to know who it is. Was crucifixion a Gentile method of killing or a Jewish method of killing?

Titus 1:10-16
For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially

they of the circumcision(Jews):Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
...
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Apparently, these specific Jewish people were doing something to turn people away from the pure gospel and somehow get people to follow them- which was somehow financially benefiting these teachers.
The quote "Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies" is from a pagan poet. Apparently whoever Paul was referring to was using that quote to advance a malevolent personal agenda that Paul was against. This sort of behavior is serious sin which Paul was addressing there. Be objective about it.

This is one of those instances where I question whether people are reading these writings or not. PAUL STATES THE TRUTH RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!

12One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
13This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

He is clear.. Blah blah blah bad bad Jews and one of their own, even a prophet said that the Cretians are blah blah blah.. those Jews will give them the truth and destroy their faith, so you better rebuke that Jew because he is telling the truth! (#2 on my list below).

2 Timothy 3: (common theme to smear some and uplift others.. sometimes he uplifts someone and then a little later he calls the same one a worker of Satan)

8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.

Jannes and Jambres was a mythical story from widely known traditions from outside of the actual Bible. Paul used them as an example of how these false teachers were using their own strengths (knowledge of the Tanakh, traditions and even pagan education) to advance a personal, malevolent agenda. Paul made a good illustration there.

I found this to be rather interesting actually. I have some thoughts on this, but will have to get back to you on it... by the way, it sounds just like Paul.

10But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

The truth is not always egotism. Paul said "Thou hast know my..." So obviously some of the leaders there personally could account for Paul. Paul had a habit of living and working among the churches he worked with or even planted initially. So this statement is an appeal to follow the established leadership that could vouch for Paul. He was very concerned for the people. Paul got real specific in what he was appealing to about his own life. Obviously people were well aware of these things.

Keep telling yourself that... oh, wait, you don't have to.. He will. all throughout his writings, over and over and over again! lol

Egotistical through fake sincerity *pukes*

I Corinthians 1:
12Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
17For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

Does anyone actually read his writings? He is a manipulator. :yes:

I think Paul was concerned over the sectarian spirit that many of the Corinthians were demonstrating. He was not a personality cult leader, as they were making him and others out to be. Paul was always concerned that people are following Jesus.

Concerning that last statement you made, are ya sure about that. I ask because I am wondering why Paul did not say a word after declared a god in the following and strange account.

Acts 28:
3And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
5And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
6Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. :bow:

And He did not even argue! How about that!

NOt to mention, Jesus said repeatedly not to go in the way in the Gentiles.. so Paul's claim that Jesus told him otherwise is contrary to what Jesus said.

OK. I will have to call you on that one. Obviously you are not familiar with the scriptures enough. After Jesus rose from the dead, a lot of things were different other than Jesus having some serious battle scars. Jesus said " “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Gentiles literally), baptizing them in [2] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Mat 28:18-20.

.......

Accept that I do not believe in a man being resurrected, therefore, I look toward the mystic writer as the one to have inserted a bit assurance for himself.

 

[IF_u_knew]

The emboldened above show the Messiah's sacrificial death.

Also, Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 when he was dying on the cross. He was identifying with the Psalmist and the Psalmists experience in its context.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet (other possible translations also)—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.

What I see concerning the above as I said is the Jewish as the ones who have kept the Tanakh from the corruption that the fulfillment of the prophecy. Jesus was not the Word, but certainly if you took the story that is attributed to him as an allegory, then the Truth spoken in the Tanakh could be better understood. Jesus was betrayed to the Scribes and the High Priests.. this should be the clue that the story of Jesus should be taken allegorically.

Thanks to the main writer of the NT, the Jewish are the ones who have claims to the above words, don't you think? There was need to discredit them and Paul did a mighty fine job at doing such. My issue with taking the story of Jesus too literally is that God said in Isaiah He is creating these thing Now and not Then.. the specific purpose was so that it could NOT be accredited to an idol (which worshiping the image of a man is just that.. idolatry). It is nothing that someone has taken bits and pieces of passages and created a story that happened long before our time and claimed these things as prophecies fulfilled... it is power of suggestion that has led to many strange occurrances as hope turned into anxiety many times over. God made the earth to be inhabited and not in vain; the only way it becomes in vain is when we are focused on death (which is what Christianity teaches, no?) rather than Life.

I find the above words, all of them, very real and profound. I am glad that you did more than most and posted it up as is rather than just pulling out what suits the story of Jesus. I think every single one of those verses needs to be read as is.. it is a sorrowful declaration being made that most are not hearing.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

I am disappointed to see that no one has started from the beginning. Where is even the prophecy found in the foundation (the Tanakh) Christianity used as a catalyst to support itself that a man would be resurrected from the dead? And for what purpose is this man to be resurrected? <--- should be able to show through the Tanakh what the purpose of such an unnatural act would be for.

To actually get *ANYWHERE* productive concerning the premise of this thread, we must first establish the foundation of the claim and its purpose, no? If it cannot even be supported on the foundation to which it claims, then it would raise other questions of a more productive nature I would think.

So, anyone? I am curious.

Unfortunately a lot of people start with the OT book of Isaiah but I don't think there's anything there prophesying the coming of the biblical Yeshua.

 

[IF_u_knew]

Unfortunately a lot of people start with the OT book of Isaiah but I don't think there's anything there prophesying the coming of the biblical Yeshua.

Considering the following, I would have to say that what God is doing is not as we are being told/have been told it would be:

Isaiah 28:
21For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

Isaiah 48:
3I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
5I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
6Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
7They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

The above is repeated in those chapters from Isaiah 42-49.. so, He seems pretty adamant that He is going to be doing this HIS WAY and not the way that man has been declaring. I kind of like the thought of Him doing it a different way, as the way I had been taught honestly seemed scary to me.