Cords of Falsehood

Isaiah 5:18-21

When God speaks do you listen?  If so you are a very wise person, but history tells us most have not, and today we will look at the third “Woe’” that has been most ignored by those God has spoken to.  It may be of help to each of us to understand that the Scriptures are living, and when reading them, or hearing them, you and I are accountable to apply what we read and hear to our lives.

The first of the three “Woe’s” is found in verses 18-19, “Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”  Do you ask questions when reading the Scriptures, I do, and the first one is what are cords of falsehood?  If you read Proverbs 5:22, you will find the answer, it tells us that sin is like a cord and the iniquities of the wicked ensnare them.  As their sin added up, it was like pulling a cart with ropes behind them.  It seems as if they are challenging God to act, in that they have been sinning and have not seen the judgment of God.

Remember the best of commentary is the Bible, and this is what God had to say to the prophet Ezekiel about 100 years after Isaiah when Judea is in Babylon.   ^“And the word of the Lord came to me: ²² “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’?  ²³ Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴ For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I am the Lord; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 12:22-25) 

In Peter’s second letter to the church, chapter three, verses 1-4, he addressed this unbelief; “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

“In all unbelief there are these two things: a good opinion of one's self, and a bad opinion of God.” (Horatius Bonar)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice