Monday, October 7, 2013

East and the Islands of the Sea

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.