The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
“He did not make me”?
Can the pot say of the potter,
“He knows nothing”?
17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
and the fertile field seem like a forest?
18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 The ruthless will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make a man out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court
and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22 Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the house of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
23 When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction.”
My Understanding: This is a prophecy of judgment against “David’s city,” i.e. against Jerusalem. God said he would come against her and he would lay siege to her. The city and the people would be brought low and would be humbled before God. Yet, God would then turn against his divine instruments of judgment he had used against his people, which were the enemies of his people. Suddenly, in an instant, with thunder, an earthquake, a windstorm, and with fire, God would judge Israel’s enemies whom he had used to judge his people.
The passage then moves from judgment to a description of the spiritual blindness of many of the people in Jerusalem, and to many who would hear the words which Isaiah was given to speak by God, which is why God was prophesying judgment against them. The people were spiritually blinded to God’s truths and their hearts and minds were closed to the things of God and to his word. Many would shut their eyes, hearts and minds to God’s truths and just not want to hear what God was saying.
God described these people as those who come near to him with their mouths, but their hearts are far from him. They gave lip service only, but they were not true followers of God. They went through the motions of being religious, but it was just following rules made up and taught by men, so it had the form only of being in a right relationship with God. These were also people who felt as though they could hide their plans from God, as though God could not see them. They did their work in darkness, thinking that no one could see or know what they were really doing. They acted as though they could be gods of their own lives and as though God was there merely to serve them.
I believe this is a description of much of today’s church here in America and of America as a whole, too. And, I do believe God is warning of imminent judgment against our nation and against the church in this nation, which is following rules made up by men and following men rather than following the Lord Jesus Christ. Many in today’s church are living according to the world and by man’s rules and standards rather than by God’s standards for how we ought to conduct ourselves. Many have closed their hearts and minds to the hard teachings of scripture which teach what it means to live a crucified life and a holy lives, with us as slaves of righteousness, forsaking our sin, and they have watered down the gospel message and have reduced God Almighty to a Genie in a bottle who is here to do our bidding instead of the other way around. They do religious things and might even be considered “good people”, but in all practicality, their hearts are not surrendered to Jesus Christ. That is why God refers to them as “these people” rather than “my people.”
Yet, I also believe that when judgment comes, revival of the church will come, as well. Isaiah 29:18 begins, “In that day,” and then what follows is a description of revival of God’s people. Many who had previously been deaf and blind to the truths of God’s word, or perhaps only to the deeper truths of God’s word, which require submission, surrender, repentance and obedience to God, would now have their eyes and ears opened to God’s word. This would come as a result of judgment, which would get man’s attention and make him realize his spiritual blindness and deafness. The phrase “once more” denotes that their hearts would become like they once were before, i.e. this is speaking of revival. The humble and the needy (humbled and having become needy via judgment) will rejoice in the Lord. The judgment of God would remove many of the impurities out of individual lives, but also out of the corporate community of believers. The people’s hearts will be turned back to God, they will stand in awe of God, and will keep his name holy. Those who had been wayward in spirit, i.e. forsaking God in thought and deed and heart, will gain understanding and will accept instruction.
It is a shame that it will take the judgment of God on the church to get the church out of its spiritual stupor and slumber and back into a right relationship with God, but many times that is what it takes to get man’s attention and to get him to realize his need of God. I pray for revival to come to our nation and for revival to come to the church in our nation and for hearts to be turned back to serving and obeying Almighty God and Jesus Christ, our Lord, and for the church to make the Lord its strength and song instead of her following after the ways and patterns of the world. The prayer of my heart is that this could take place without God’s hand of judgment upon us, yet I know that judgment may be what is necessary to get us, as a people of God, to turn our hearts back to God and to truly make him our salvation.
In That Day / An Original Work / May 21, 2011
Based off of Isaiah 12
In that day you will say: “I will praise You, Lord.
I know You were angry; anger’s turned away.
God is my salvation; I’ll trust; not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, my strength; the Lord, Lord, my song;
He is my salvation; Lord, my comforter.”
With joy you’ll draw water from salvation’s wells.
In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on His holy name; make Him known today.
Proclaim: He’s exalted. Tell what He has done.
Sing, for He is glorious; make this known to all.
Shout aloud; sing for joy, people of Zion;
Great is the Holy One, who among us dwells.”
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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