One of my spiritual disciplines is Bible reading. The reading plan I use has me consistently reading through the Scriptures about every eleven months. I began reading through the book of Isaiah this past week, and though he prophesied almost 700 years before Christ I found one of his writings especially relevant.
Isaiah spoke to the nation of Judah and its capital Jerusalem. The people of Judah had lapsed into idolatry and were practicing their ancient faith only in pretense. They were under the impending judgment of God and on the brink of being deported into Babylonian captivity.
Isaiah proclaimed this warning, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter,” Isaiah 5:20. It is a caveat of exchanging the bitter way of disobedience for the sweet path of obedience, choosing to stumble in darkness instead of in the light of God’s Word.
These words address the spiritual realities of ignoring God’s directions and lapsing into sin, but the statement “calling evil good, and good evil” addresses the denial of the pragmatic realities of life that lie at the bottom of man’s depravity, trading the truth for a lie.
We are witnessing a parallel to Judah’s plight in America today.
In the name of sanctity of life we say a duly convicted murderer should not be executed and then deny that same truth and allow the killing of the unborn for the sake of convenience. We spare the guilty, and slaughter the innocent.
Here in America we say marriage is not a union of man and woman alone, but is also the union of two men or two women. The reality though is that the union of two men or two women cannot produce the next generation that would insure the flourishing of our nation. What God says about marriage is wrong, and what man says about marriage is right.
In this country a man can claim to be a woman, or a woman can claim to be a man and use the restroom of their choice. Last year a man was voted woman of the year and highlights this truth. A man can claim to be a woman, and a woman can claim to be a man.
Calling things something they are not is a mark of depravity. It is a sign of deep-seated rebellion against reality to declare a thing to be something it is clearly not. It is a sign of how far people have strayed from the will of God.
Sin not only causes one to reject the will of God, but also to reject the realities of life when it doesn’t fit into their fantasies.
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