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NE doesn't have to be a farmer to know that if a field
doesn't produce the produce for which it was cultivated and sown, something is
bad wrong... and a change is therefore necessary. God used Isaiah to give this illustration to
His people. Of course, His point was
hardly agrarian. Isaiah 5:7 makes it
plain that the topic at hand was the grim pointlessness, not just of tending a
field that doesn't bring forth what was intended, but the pointlessness of
continually pouring time, energy and effort into people who not only never
respond well, they always rebel.
When God feels exasperated with us (5:4), we are
in for it for sure. So, God's judgment
against His own people was promised with vehemence and with bitter clarity
(5:14). The absolute obliteration of Jerusalem
was inevitable. Why? Because the people had pursued evil
vehemently (5:11, 13 & 18). God had
worked in every feasible way to set a stage for obedience. Yet, when His people ran out of room "in
their hands" to carry their violations, they made provisions for
increasing their capacity in order to do more of the same. They changed the labels on their sins;
declaring their own infractions to be "contributions" (5:20). This manner of thinking angered God deeply
(5:25). They ignored the wishes of the
very God who had made them (5:12). But,
although there are many things which we men can do to thwart God's will in our
lives, there is nothing that we can do to thwart His overall aims (5:16). He will be glorified... either by us &
through us, or upon us.
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