God does not force anyone to bow in worship?
It is true translation shopping can help one proof text a belief, view, position, or supposition, but what is ultimately going to determine meaning in any verse or passage is going to be context. First, immediate context, secondly, the context within the Book/Epistle, third, the context of the Testament it is found in, and lastly, the expanded Biblical context.
The text in view:
So I will use the NASB which I find to be a decent translation, though it can be a bit dry. Let's see if the immediate context can help us understand what the intent of the statement is and whether or not, as it has been dogmatically stated—
"God does not force anyone to confess or bow in worship."
Isaiah 45
New American Standard Bible
God Uses Cyrus
45 This is what the Lord says to Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right hand,
To subdue nations before him
And [a]to undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
[a.
Isaiah 45:1 Lit
I will loose]
Already it isn't looking good for the teaching above.
It seems that God subdues nations. Now, the last time I checked, when an invading country comes in and subdues another, that is what I would consider forceful.
5
I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will [d]arm you, though you have not known Me,
6
So that people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
[d.
Isaiah 45:5 Or
embrace]
God's intent is to make Himself known as the One True Living God, and He doesn't seem to be doing that by letting people make their own decisions on this matter.
9
“Woe to the one who quarrels with [f]his Maker—
A piece of pottery [g]among the other earthenware pottery pieces!
Will the clay say to the [h]potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
[f.
Isaiah 45:9 Lit
He who formed him]
[g. Isaiah 45:9 Lit with]
It seems there are two views, man's—and God's.
It seems there are people who think they can argue with what God has decreed.
11 This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel and [j]his Maker:
“[k]Ask Me about the things to come [l]concerning My sons,
And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
[j. Isaiah 45:11 Lit He who formed him]
[k. Isaiah 45:11 Or Will you ask]
[l. Isaiah 45:11 Or upon]
12
It is I who made the earth, and created mankind upon it.
I stretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I [m]ordained all their [n]lights.
[m. Isaiah 45:12 Or commanded]
[n. Isaiah 45:12 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.]
13
I have stirred him in righteousness,
And I will make all his ways smooth.
He will build My city and let My exiles go free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of armies.
The Redemption of God is not earned, paid for, or deserved by any man or woman. That is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel and His Maker.
God is Sovereign of Redemption, whether temporal or Eternal.
14 This is what the Lord says:
“The [o]products of Egypt and the merchandise of [p]Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains
And will bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
‘[q]God certainly is [r]with you, and there is no one else,
No other God.’”
[o. Isaiah 45:14 Lit labor]
[p. Isaiah 45:14 Or Ethiopia]
[q. Isaiah 45:14 Or God is with you alone]
[r. Isaiah 45:14 Or in]
15
Truly, You are a God who hides Himself,
God of Israel, Savior!
Not sure how others may feel about it, but the bowing here is not something I would interpret as volunteered, nor is the worship.
It is ascension to the Sovereignty of God.
16
They will be put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17
Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an everlasting salvation;
You will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
Two groups: those who will go away in humiliation, and those who receive everlasting salvation—who will not be put to shame or humiliated forever.
Let's take a look at the verse of which it is said, "
God does not force anyone to confess or bow in worship"
23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
Every knee will bow, every tongue confess.
Universal Salvation?
24 They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be justified and will boast.”
No, because of the two groups here (three if you look into the future and count all of the faithful that are heirs to the Promises through Jesus Christ) we have those who have been subdued by God through force, and those He redeemed.
While we might contrive an all-inclusive salvation from "all who were angry at Him will be put to shame," we would be forgetting their shame is everlasting, as also stated in Daniel 12:1-2.
We would be forgetting the context of the Chapter, as well as the Book, as well as the broader teaching of Scripture.
14 This is what the Lord says:
“The [o]products of Egypt and the merchandise of [p]Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains
And will bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
‘[q]God certainly is [r]with you, and there is no one else,
No other God.’”
Who are they pleading with? With God in repentance?
No, they are pleading with their captors, those God has redeemed.
With the use of force.
That is what God says.
So I, for one, would have to disagree with the assertion that "
God does not force anyone to confess or bow in worship"
God bless.
