And if Israel fails to realize they are seeking a defense against God's accusation, He responds, “So be it, you were unaware up to this point because you could not hear,” almost as if to say, “I acknowledge your supposed justification. You did not know because you could not learn, or you could not hear—so listen: the eternal God, who establishes the ends of the earth, will not complain, nor will He find satisfaction. And you, He says, have brought sheep bleating, raised oxen, fulfilling your vows—you have honored Him with incense and offerings of turtle doves. Yet know and understand that the eternal God has arranged the ends of the earth; and He names them the boundaries so as to indicate the entirety of creation. He will not hunger, nor will He toil. This echoes what He declared through the Psalmist, “Do I eat the flesh of the young, or drink the blood of goats?” (Psalm 49:13). How then do you present sacrifices to Me—as if I were one who is hungry and continually famished? Such folly! The eternal God, who is not subject to decay, does not hunger, nor does He require fulfillment, for nothing human affects Him. Below lies the wisdom of His design. He articulates these matters with purpose. If the commandment given by Moses, or the shadow of the law, has become redundant, why was the law given initially? If the new, that is, the gospel's proclamations, are superior to the old, why are they associated with this same law? But do not make such claims, for you cannot fathom the unfathomable wisdom and mind of God. On what basis and for what reason the commandment of Moses was established, Paul elucidates, saying, “The law was added that transgression might increase” (Rom. 5:20), and elsewhere, “He has confined all under sin, that He might have mercy on all” (Rom. 11:32). The law, therefore, serves as a sign of sin and an exposition of the helplessness of all; it cannot justify those who err but rather condemns them. Thus, grace from Christ, motivated by zeal, is necessarily introduced, justifying the ungodly and freeing those ensnared in sin. Consequently, God's “wisdom” does not fail; He who orchestrates all things wisely, established the law to rebuke sin but sent His Son from heaven to justify the sinful through faith.
Other indications of the Son's pre-incarnate existence are found in Isaiah, who refers to Him as “the eternal God, the God who settles the ends of the earth.” If the Word is He who arranges the ends of the earth, then the term “eternal” rightly applies to Him, confirming that He is everlasting and not created.
THEOSIS