“At that time this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city! The Lord’s deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter – one that remains trustworthy. You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you. Trust in the Lord from this time forward, even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! Indeed, the Lord knocks down those who live in a high place, he brings down an elevated town; he brings it down to the ground, he throws it down to the dust. It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor.””
— Isaiah 26:1-6
Oh my goodness, I’m really hoping it’s coincidence that v. 2 is verse of day on Election Day. Please no!
Besides demanding word studies on maintaining faith and trusting in YHWH, the surrounding context makes it quite clear what this is about. The “righteous nation” is Israel (again depending on what you think about the timing of Isaiah authorship), but from the perspective of exile. People will return to the land and God will protect them.
Will it really be full, absolute, eternal protection? Well, no, because they get destroyed multiple times again.
NET mentions maintaining faith something about having a firm mind that God will keep covenant.
God does bring down the haughty. At first this was Israel’s enemies. Eventually, this will be Israel again (ad 70) Just don’t generalize this to say God elevates any geographically defined nation that “worships” Him (what does that even mean—a majority of citizens? A legal code? That’s scary) First, it’s not true. Second, we are humans and disagree on what that means and it leads to fighting.
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