For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
The Word of God is filled with warnings about taking on the lifestyle, worldviews, and culture of the world around us.
In the days of Isaiah,
-Ahaz was the king in Jerusalem.
-Ahaz was evil and evil man with no heart for God or for His will.
-Syria and Israel were under threat of Assyria
We know that Israel would be destroyed by them shortly.
Ahaz contemplated joining hands with Assyria to rid himself of his enemies. Isaiah was commissioned by the Lord to preach against it.
God has a “strong” message for Isaiah too.
He was not to embrace the ideas of Ahaz or of the people of Judah.
God teaches us over and again not to be like the people around us.
Their ideas may be popular, reasonable and appear to be without argument. After all Judah faced the threat of Damascus and Samaria. Assyria was a threat to Damascus and Samaria. To join them and defeat their enemies might look like a no brainer – sort of like when our leaders give money and weapons to people, we know to be our enemies because they will defeat our other enemies before they turn against us. It’s foolish but it is common wisdom and practice.
God used a strong hand to teach Isaiah.
I think it’s to make him see how important this is to God. In our day, it is so common for the average Christian to compromise with worldliness, to walk in the way of the world, it requires a strong hand some meaty preaching to get anyone to separate from walking in the way of the people. Those who do are considered radical, lunatic fringe and heavy handed.
It is, nevertheless, the Word of God – we “should not walk in the way of the people.”
God has a better way for us to walk.
#WordlyWarnings #DivineGuidance #StrongMessage #GodsBetterWay #compromise #hamartiology #Isaiah
Strong Hand, Strong Message: God’s Better Path
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