You must have heard
from the INC that the Philippines was the prophetic fulfilment of Isaiah 24:15.
Therefore in the east give glory to the
LORD;
exalt the name of
the LORD, the God of Israel,
in the islands of the sea.
It's not really that
hard to be misled. After all, you see the word east and islands of the sea spoken in the same sentence. But what does
it mean, really?
In the Hebrew
masoretic texts:
עַל-כֵּן בָּאֻרִים, כַּבְּדוּ
יְהוָה בְּאִיֵּי הַיָּם שֵׁם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.
East - is actually written as בָּאֻרִים, from the root word אוּר which means 'in the fires.'
Islands - written as בְּאִיֵּי ,
from the root word אִי, which means costlands, or islands
Sea - written as הַיָּם , from the root word יָם, which refers to 'sea', sometimes more specifically, the
Mediterranean sea.
It is worth noting that the word יָם is also sometimes translated as west! So instead of the islands
of the sea being a place in
the east, it's actually in the west!
If you are in Israel, it makes perfect sense.
To its west, its all Mediterranean sea.
Literally, Isaiah
24:15 would read like this:
Glorify the LORD in the fires (EAST),
Exalt the name of
the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of
the sea (WEST).
Now, this makes more
sense if we look at a similar verse:
Isaiah 59:19
From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD,
and from the east,
they will revere his glory.
So remember, the
islands are the west. So all that Felix Manalo claims are false regarding the
prophecies refer to the Philippines.
