My Thoughts on Isaiah 30:9-11, Rebellious People, and False Prophets

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The verse of the day in the Tecarta Bible Application led me to Isaiah 30. The two particular verses that got my attention namely verses 9-10 which says the following:

9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

This has me thinking about today's problem of people with rebellious people and lying children, children who not hear the Law of the LORD is nothing new. Why do you think the true prophets of God are without the honor of men in their country? A true prophet of God tells the hard truth like it is. Why do you think Jeremiah was not a popular figure? It was because Jeremiah definitely was not the type who would do what the rebellious wanted. Hananiah got popular because he spoke what the people wanted. Jeremiah 5:31 even laments the sad fact that the people love to have it so with the prophets prophesying falsely and the Levites bearing rule by their means.

What would also be interesting is that the opening verse says the following:

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:

The context of the verses happens with the time when the people of Judah decided to have an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. They should've known better than alliances in Egypt wouldn't work for this reason. Egypt was a nation of idolaters. Judah was the Davidic Kingdom from where the Messiah will spring forth. The problem was that Israel was divided into two kingdoms because of idolatry. Yet, many people never learned from the serious lapse of Solomon. 

Why do people today do no better than these people in Judah? It's because false prophets easily satisfy the flesh. I exactly wonder if people thought of prophets as people whose mouths altered reality than those people who spoke for God? I remembered back when I thought a prophet had the ability to alter the future. That's not the case as a prophet of God is a spokesperson who wasn't to speak anything until he was told to. False prophets, on the other hand, are those who claim to speak for God (or for their gods) but are cut short of the true prophets of God. The true prophets always spoke the dreaded word "repent" towards a crowd that's described as rebellious people and lying children who will not hear the Law of the LORD.

Today, we've got the popularity of pastors who don't preach the truth. I remembered how preachers like Matt Murdock, Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff, Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, and the like got popular. Osteen's book "Your Best Life Now" is really a top seller. These guys don't get popular by telling people what they have to hear but only what they want to hear. In short, the truth is withheld when it's inconvenient and only spoken when it's convenient. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 also warns that time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine but go after their own lusts and will go after teachers having itching ears, and such people are turned unto fables.

I do have comfort in this one that God is still in charge. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 speaks that God will send these people their delusions to those who love not the truth. Isaiah 66:4 also has God saying that He Himself will be the one to choose the delusions of those who are rebellious against Him. There will be a day of reckoning and these false prophets are judgment towards such people. Right now, I believe people can only be awakened from their delusions towards salvation only by God's effectual calling. It's because not everyone will want to be freed from the delusions until God effectually calls them out of them.

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