Does Isaiah 45:11 say we can command God?
In the King James Version (KJV) of the English Bible, Isaiah 45:11 is rendered as:
“Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.”
The way the verse is rendered in the KJV has created the notion in the minds of many believers that man is permitted by God to give Him commands. But is this what the verse is really saying? From the immediate context of Isaiah 45:9-13 and from the broader context of the Bible, this rendering appears not to be what God said in verse 11.
Immediate Context
Verses 9-13 of the chapter reads as follows:
[9] Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? [10] Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? [11] Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. [12] I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. [13] I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 45:9-13 KJV).
In these verses, God was rebuking some individual(s) for their audacity in objecting to His decision to use Cyrus, the Persian king, as the means of setting His people free from the Babylonian captivity, and to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple in it. These individuals seemed to be finding fault with why God decided to use a heathen instead of an Israelite, like King David, to set the Babylonian exiles free. God therefore warned them of the danger of questioning the Sovereign decision of the Most High. In verses 5-6, He made His objectors know that He is the LORD, and there is no other God besides Him. In verses 7-8 and 12, He declared that He is the Creator of all things. In verses 9 and 10, God told the ones questioning His decision that woe will be to anyone who quarrels with his Maker. God reminded those finding faults with His decision that the clay does not quarrel with the potter (verse 9). The y, as clay in His hand (Isa. 64:8), therefore, have no right to question what He does with His children.
Putting these verses together, one can see that it is very unlikely that God was making a promise in verse 11 that human beings can give Him orders. God was rather asking the fault-finders what makes them think they can command Him. God seemed to be saying, using the words of the NIV, “Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?” (Isa. 45:11b).
The Broader Context
Besides the immediate context, there are other Bible passages that plainly reveal the sovereignty, perfect wisdom, and total independence of God from all of His creation. He does not need anyone to tell Him what to do because all of His actions are built on righteousness, perfect foreknowledge, and ineffable love. Much less, God does not need anyone to give Him orders. A few of such passages are:
[13] “Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? [14] Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? [15] No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. [16] All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. [17] The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth. [18] To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?” (Isa. 40:13-18 NLT).
[1] “The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, [2] ‘Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.’ [3] So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. [4] But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. [5] Then the LORD gave me this message: [6] ‘O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.’” (Jer. 18:1-6 NLT).
[4] “For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?” [10] “He does great things too marvellous to understand. He performs countless miracles.” [11] “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go. [12] If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’” (Job 9:4, 10-12 NLT).
[4] “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. [5] Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? [6] What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone [7] as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7 NLT).
[15] What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The LORD can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!” [16] How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”? (Isa. 29:15-16 NLT).
[20] “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” ’ [21] Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” (Rom. 9:20-21 NIVUK).
“For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?” (Rom. 11:34 NLT).
What these Bible passages are saying is that as the literal clay cannot advise, question, or object to whatever the potter does, so are we humans. We do not have the capacity to contend with our Maker. Metaphorically, God is the Potter, and we, humankind, are the clay. If, therefore, God gave anyone a promise in Isaiah 45:11 to give Him orders, that will stand in direct contradiction to all these and many other passages of the Bible.
It can be seen very clearly that both the immediate context of Isaiah 45 and the wider context of the Bible do not support the translation in the KJV, ASV, NKJV, CSB, HCSB, etc. which makes God out as saying that we can command Him. It is clear that God was rebuking those who found fault with His decision to use Cyrus for the liberation of His people from the Babylonian captivity. God has the Sovereign right to use anything or anyone to do His work. No one can question His decision or give Him orders. Therefore, the translation of the verse in the RSV, NRSV, NIV, NLT, NET, MSB, NAB, BSB, etc. have appeared to be the better translation of the original Hebrew text.
Did Joshua Command God?
Some people have tried to support the KJV rendering of Isaiah 45:11b by giving what Joshua did in Joshua 10:12-14 as an instance when man commanded God. But they are wrong. The passage says:
[12] “On the day the LORD gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the LORD in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” [13] So the sun stood still, and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day. [14] There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the LORD answered such a prayer. Surely, the LORD fought for Israel that day!” (Josh. 10:12-14 NLT).
Here, Joshua prayed to God before he gave a command to the sun and the moon. The sun and the moon are the creation of God. They are not the Creator. Two examples of this can be seen in the New Testament. Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed to God before he commanded dead Lazarus to come out of the grave (John 11:41-44). Apostle Peter did the same thing. He prayed to God before he commanded dead Tabitha back to life (Acts 9:36-41). None of these people, including our Lord Jesus Christ, ever gave a command to God. They only commanded God’s creation after they had the assurance that the Creator had heard their prayers.
Pray to God, don’t command Him
What God has promised us in the Bible is that we can ask what we need of Him in our prayers. There are numerous promises given us in the Bible that if we are doing the will of God, He will give answers to our prayers. See Matt. 7:7-11; John 9:31; Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6.
The prayers that were made in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, were with supplications. The synonyms for this word include pleadings, earnest requests, petitions, entreaties, pleas. The prayers were not made with any command. See also 1 Tim. 2:1; 5:5. An example of this was recorded about our Lord Jesus Christ during his first time on the earth. The Bible says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Heb. 5:7 NIV bold emphasis added).
The NLT renders it in these words: “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.” (Hebrews 5:7 NLT bold emphasis added).
The very son of God, the only one that came directly from God’s own being, the monogenes son, prayed with pleadings. There is no single record found in the Bible where Jesus Christ or any of his apostles issued commands while they prayed to God.
It behaves on me to let my uninformed Pentecostal friends know that it is a gross error when they issue commands while they are praying. They might have intended to issue the commands to Satan. But the truth is that one cannot be praying to God and issuing orders to Satan at the same time. When praying, all our attention must be on God. So, it is erroneous for anyone to direct his or her attention to Satan, even for a split second, while praying to God. A prayer made that way is wasted. You cannot be talking to Satan while you are standing or kneeling in your prayers to God.
Conclusion
The immediate and wider contexts of Isaiah 45:11 do not support the translation in the KJV and some other English versions that God put Himself in a position where He can be ordered to do a thing by any of His creation. There is no single instance found in the Bible where any human being has commanded God to do a thing. It is therefore evident that the English versions of the Bible which say we can give orders to God were incorrectly translated.
