“Is Not This Thing In My Right Hand A Lie?”
Isaiah 44: 6-23 esp.v. 20
In our world of virtual reality and Hollywood special effects, the line between real and artificial is often blurred.
Here are some examples of reality according to Hollywood. In the movies…
All grocery shopping bags contain at least one stick of French bread.
The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. In the movies…
The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.
A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.
Cars that crash will almost always burst into flames. . In the movies…
Persons knocked unconscious by a blow to the head will never suffer a concussion or brain damage.
It is always possible to park directly outside the building you are visiting. In the movies…
Any lock can be picked by a credit card or a paper clip in seconds—unless it's the door to a burning building with a child trapped inside.
All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they will go off. In the movies…
Medieval peasants had perfect teeth.
It is not necessary to say hello or goodbye when beginning or ending phone conversations.
Any person waking from a nightmare will sit bolt upright and pant. In the movies…
It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts; your enemies will patiently wait to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors. (Citation: Brett Kays)
It still amazes me that we can believe almost anything that Hollywood produces, not to mention music, the world of the internet, psychics, magicians etc. We are so easily fooled…so much so that we even fool ourselves…even in some very important matters.
The prophet Isaiah talks about a man who is so immersed in his own delusions that he cannot even bring himself to ask if what he has been relying on is a lie.
It is inevitable we are going to come to moments in our lives when we are forced to ask ourselves questions that will expose our *delusions (misleading the mind, trick, frustrate), lies, and faulty foundation.
In ch. 44, Isaiah (vv 9-20) Isaiah makes a sort of sarcastic evaluation about the manner in which idols are made and the foolishness of relying on these dumb idols instead of the living God and trusting in God’s care, love and most importantly, His forgiveness.
I want to concentrate on verse 20 for a little while and see what someone looks like who trusts in false gods. We see that this person…has -
An un-natural appetite – “He feeds on ashes…” We direct our energies to vain, empty objects or persons. We have un-natural appetites (like the “clay eaters” of S. America). This may not be so easily detected simply because it becomes part of our search and quite possibly even partially satisfies our disturbed appetite. This then becomes the habit – seeking, appropriating, chewing and digesting and making what is empty and vain an actual part of who we are and what we will become. Warning – do not tamper with the natural appetites that God has given us but rather allow them to be fulfilled in God’s way.
There was a television show – “Honey, We’re Killing the Kids!” that looked into families who lack the discipline of appetites. Through computer imaging, the parents are given a glimpse of what their children may look like at age 40 – if they live that long. Without question, the parent is shocked and extremely disturbed. The family is given a period of time to bring discipline, proper nutrition and exercise into their children’s lives. Normally, there is a lot of rebellion, but as time goes by attitudes and appetites are brought back to what God intended. At shows end, the parents are shown what the children will look like if they continue on the right path.
What if we could see what our lives could look like without God? We can…Isaiah is showing us. Additionally, the Bible says the wages of sin is death; the soul that sins dies; if we do not remain in Christ we wither up and die and are thrown into the fire.
How does this un-natural appetite happen? Let’s continue reading verse 20.
A deceived heart – “A deluded heart misleads him…” My wife led a Bible Study on Wednesday evenings and mentioned that our rationalizations and excuses are signs of a troubled spiritual life…reflecting insincerity and a lack of humility…so true.
One look at Romans 1:18 & ff shows us that the consequences of pursuing anything below heaven will be disastrous. The great prophet Jeremiah summed up the trustworthiness of the human heart – “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (17:9) Of course this is BC, nevertheless I also found no less than two dozen scripture passages that indicate the possibility of even the regenerated heart becoming faithless.
The writer of Proverbs tells us above all else, guard your heart, for out of it flow the wellsprings of life (Pr 4:23). Listen; be more careful of the condition of your heart than your credit score. Protect your heart more than your stuff…your possessions. Guard your heart more than…your ego. The fountains and springs in ancient times were especially well guarded and taken care of, for water in that part of the world is extremely precious – water meant life. C.S. Lewis said, “When a man is getting better; he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less.” Isn’t that true? If our heart is deceived, it will mislead us and place us in a position of vulnerability.
Isaiah describes this man as one who has…
A vulnerable life- “He cannot save himself”
Vulnerability - no spiritual strength, a worldling; one who lacks wisdom and vision; one who is cynical and critical; suspicious and just plain miserable. There will be that emptiness with a sense of lost-ness and lack of hope.
Vulnerability indicates a lack of self-control and self-discipline. Life, as you know, requires sacrifice and sacrifice requires self-control and self-discipline. And this is exactly where we can begin to make a real difference in people’s lives. Gordon MacDonald said, “The man or woman who learns to make peace with routine responsibilities and obligations will make the greatest contributions in the long run.”
Finally, Isaiah describes a man who has…
An unreliable future – “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?” Listen, if what this man is holding in his hand is a lie…if it is misleading, if it is a trick; then what kind of a future does he have?
Barnes says of this passage –
“The right hand is the instrument of action. A lie is a name often given to an idol as being false and delusive. The sense is, that that which they had been making, and on which they were depending, was deceitful and vain. The work of their right hand-the fruit of their skill and toil, was deceptive, and could not save them. The doctrine is, that that which sinners rely on to save their souls; that which has cost their highest efforts as a scheme to save them, is false and delusive. All schemes of religion of human origin are of this description: and all will be alike deceptive and ruinous to the soul.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
What can we do to avoid this pitiful end?
Listen to what Isaiah says, “Remember these things…” (Vv.21-23)as I mentioned in my previous blog;
We belong to God – “You are my servant…”(C.f. Romans 1:6-7 First -“Called to belong, second – “to be[come]”
God made us – “I have made you…” Psalm 103:14 He has compassion for us, for he knows what we are made of…how weak we are.
God will not forget us – “I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget to help you.” (NLT)
God has forgiven us – “I have swept away your offenses…your sins.” C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity talks about how God uses the process of failure and forgiveness to cure us of our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God…that we cannot trust ourselves in the best moments nor do we despair in the worst moments because of God’s mercy and forgiveness. “The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection.”
God issues an invitation to us – “Return to me…”
God encourages us to rejoice – “Sing for joy…”
God will display his glory in our lives – “He displays his glory in Israel…”
“Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.” George Mueller
“God is looking for men in whose hands His glory is safe.” A.W. Tozer
Prayer focus – Ask the Lord to help you honestly and sincerely examine your life; to show you who or what you are depending on rather than Him. Ask Him to govern your appetites, guard your heart and secure your future. Remember you are called to belong, and then called to be; you are forgiven and ask Him to display His glory in your life.
