Isaiah 30: The More Things Change

"Go now, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, so that it may be for a time to come as a witness forever.  For they are a rebellious people, faithless children, children who will not hear the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, 'Do not see'; and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel" (vs. 8-11).

The people of God have always had the hardest time remaining the people of God.  Instead of pursuing the Lord's truth and righteousness, they prefer to have comforting tales spun that reassure them and promise only blessings.  This was true for ancient Israel just as it is for modern Christians, in spite of the gulf of millennia.  Sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Back in Isaiah's day, the Israelites wanted to hear that everything was going to be all right because their ally Egypt was going to come and rescue them.  They weren't interested in hearing of their true source of power, the Lord God.  In spite of God's warning that Egypt would fail them and prove herself worthless, they banked on military might saving them instead of spiritual strength.

Today, Christians want to hear that persecution will not come to them (pretribulation rapture), that God wants them all to be healthy, rich, and otherwise fat and sassy (the prosperity gospel), that everyone is a child of God (universalism) and that some sins are no longer sinful (divorce, sexual immorality, homosexuality, greed, gossip, etc.)  There is always a market for "smooth things" and illusions, but any pastor or leader who would take his or her people away from the path that leads to the Lord should be forewarned of the spiritual danger.  In Isaiah 30, God reveals what He will do to people who reject His word...

"Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you reject this word, and put your trust in oppression and deceit, and rely on them; therefore this iniquity shall become for you like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant; its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a sherd is found for taking fire from the hearth, or dipping water out of the cistern" (vs. 12-14).

Let us hope that at least one thing has changed in 3000 years - that God's people have learned how to heed warnings!