How do the Jehovah's witnesses reconcile Isaiah 44:24 with their belief that Jesus is the only direct creation of God?

Question

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is God's only direct creation, and that it was Jesus who created all other things:

Since all created things had a beginning, there was a time when God was alone. Countless ages ago, however, God became a Creator. Who was his first creation? The last book of the Bible identifies Jesus as “the beginning of the creation by God.” (Revelation 3:14) Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation.” That is so “because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible.” (Colossians 1:15, 16) Yes, Jesus was the only one directly created by God himself. (Who Is Jesus Christ? on wol.jw.org)

We see this most clearly in the Jehovah's Witnesses translation of Colossians 1:15-16:

Colossians 1:15-16 (NWT) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him.

But Isaiah 44:24 says that it was Jehovah who created all things by himself: note the last line of Isaiah 44:24 which says that no one else was with Jehovah, probably speaking primarily about humans, but also angels and other spiritual beings, which would seem to preclude God co-creating with Jesus.

Isaiah 44:24 (NWT): This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser,
Who formed you since you were in the womb:
“I am Jehovah, who made everything.
I stretched out the heavens by myself,
And I spread out the earth.
Who was with me?

How do the Jehovah's Witnesses reconcile Isaiah 44:24 with their belief that Jesus is the only direct creation of God and it was Jesus who created all other things?

_{Question based on various revisions of this now deleted question by Mr. Bond.}

Answer 1

Jehovah’s Witnesses DON’T believe that Jesus created all other things. Jehovah alone was the creator. We DO believe that.

Colossians 1:15-16 (NWT) ............ All other things have been created through him and for him.

Notice through him not by him. Take a look at Insight Vol 2

If the estimates of modern-day scientists as to the age of the physical universe are anywhere near correct, Jesus’ existence as a spirit creature began thousands of millions of years prior to the creation of the first human. (Compare Mic 5:2.) This firstborn spirit Son was used by his Father in the creation of all other things. (Joh 1:3; Col 1:16, 17) This would include the millions of other spirit sons of Jehovah God’s heavenly family (Da 7:9, 10; Re 5:11), as well as the physical universe and the creatures originally produced within it. Logically, it was to this firstborn Son that Jehovah said: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” (Ge 1:26) All these other created things were not only created “through him” but also “for him,” as God’s Firstborn and the “heir of all things.” —Col 1:16; Heb 1:2. Not a co-Creator. The Son’s share in the creative works, however, did not make him a co-Creator with his Father. The power for creation came from God through his holy spirit, or active force. (Ge 1:2; Ps 33:6) And since Jehovah is the Source of all life, all animate creation, visible and invisible, owes its life to him. (Ps 36:9) Rather than a co-Creator, then, the Son was the agent or instrumentality through whom Jehovah, the Creator, worked. Jesus himself credited God with the creation, as do all the Scriptures. —Mt 19:4-6

The fact that Jesus played a role Under the direction of the ultimate creator does not take away from the fact that Jehovah alone is the creator.

The context of Isaiah 44 is not dealing with the subject of how Jehovah accomplished creation. It is establishing him as the Almighty Creator.

So the answer is there is not a textual discrepancy between saying all other things were created through Jesus and Jehovah saying in Isaiah I alone created the heavens. The source of dynamic energy responsible for every creation is Jehovah the eternally existing Almighty God. The methodology and instrumentality used in creation need not be mentioned by Jehovah when he declares he created the heavens.

That’s the basics of JWs answer.

A very detailed answer to this question was written about 7 years ago on Yahoo Answers it was reposted on this site which is easier to access.

Answer 2

Does Isaiah 44:24 teach that when Jehovah “made all things,” He did not use an agent as His instrument?

No. as BDB 1 indicates, He uses Hebrew phrases that describe Him as the sole originator of “all things.”

Note that at John 10:30 Jesus says he can do nothing “of myself” and that BDB says this is the same sense as as the Hebrew at Isaiah 44:24 where Jehovah God does all things that way.

So Jesus cannot be Jehovah.

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1 Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB), 951 אֵת(page 87) (Strong 854) ... c. expressing origination: ... Is 44:24 Qr מֵאִתִּי of myself (cf. ἀπ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ John 5:30; Kt is מִי אִתִּי who was with me?), 54:15 אֶפֶס מֵאוֹתִי not at my instance (cf. לֹא מִנִּי30:1, לֹא מִמֶּנִּי Ho 8:4).