Musing – Are we doing it again?

Hebraic Musing – Are we doing it again?

I stumbled on verses in Isaiah that shook me, made me reflect on current times.   Isaiah heard the lord say:  "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.  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."   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?"   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"?   Isa. 29:13-16  NIV  

Why was I shook, this sounded like Isaiah was preaching to us today!!!   Are we in America corporately guilty of these same things?  Are we like the peoples that Isaiah saw, worshippers of rules instead of God?  Isaiah identified a problem and tried to warn them.  Are we on a similar “slippery slope” with hard times ahead of us as those nations had to experience?   Is this the fourth time?  What do I mean by “fourth time”?

First time: “Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people,…’” Gen 6:11-13 And we all know what happened.

Second time: Isaiah was one of the earlier prophets to point out the sins of the Israelites and the nations around them in the 700’s BC.  He foresaw the coming devastation or punishment that the Lord was ready to bring upon them.  The devastation and exile to Babylon did come to pass.

Third time: In Jesus’ days He found himself on many occasions pointed out the grievous sins of His people, their unjust rulers and their nation.  One example: His tirade to the cities in the “Evangelical Triangle” --   "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  ….  And you, Capernaum, … you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. " Matt. 11:21-24     And he did not have kind things to say to the Sanhedrin rulers, who ultimately crucified Him.

Fourth time: We are seeing growing apostasy* today – (a) sins of thoughts, deeds and actions, (b) apathy, (c) disrespect for marriage, life and elders, (d) outright rejection of God’s role in the world and (e) rejection of the role of His Son and His followers.  There is no “Moral Majority” anymore!

And when the nations were destroyed after Isaiah’s prophetic warnings, both the righteous and unrighteous incurred and suffered from the discipline.  Is God the same yesterday, today and forever?  

 Points to ponder

Is there any reason why the Lord will spare our nation
when we compare our apostasy with that of Biblical times?

What’s next?

Shalom 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,                                  February 23, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”  “Biblical Marriage”
“Musings v.1 – A Victorious Life”   “Musings v.2 – The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

* Definition of “apostasy”:  
   1:  renunciation of a religious faith       2:  abandonment of a previous loyalty:  defection