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T is unpopular to discuss the contempt which must be endured
forever by all people who die in their sins. However, truth is true whether it
is appealing or not. Contempt is the destiny of every unbeliever (Daniel 12:2). Perhaps we are all more familiar
with other terms for eternal damnation. Generically, the future of those who
are not redeemed is usually called hell (Psalm 9:17 & Luke 16:23). Here in
Isaiah 30:33, this place of condemnation is called Tophet. While the nomenclature,
time, place, duration and intensity do vary,
the reason and purpose do not. God's judgment against evil is perfect and
precise. While heaven is indeed real,
hellfire is just as real. The heat is real. The pain is real. The people there
are real, and the eternal tortures will be real (Isaiah 30:27-28, 30 & 33).
There is a broad path leading to the gates of hell, and most people are
haplessly running pell-mell down that road to their own eventual destruction.
Israel was guilty of rebellion prior to and
during the days of Isaiah the prophet. They were religious, but their focus was
misplaced. Their faith was foolishness because their faith was not in God.
Among other deviations, they looked to Egypt for answers. They did not want preachers
or prophets to tell them the truth. They wanted their religious leaders to "speak smooth things" to them;
to lie to them, as they were on their way to Tophet. They had no use for the
truth. They just wanted to hear that no matter what they did, everything would
turn out all right. They wanted God to go away; for Him to leave them alone.
They wanted God dead (vs. 11). They despised God, though He had offered to them
life and blessings. Yet, God will not give up on His nation. Isaiah 30:18, 19,
21 & 22 teach us that God will yet convince many from among His rebellious
people to hate evil, and to seek the good. He will bring them to a place where
He can bless them again.
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