Isaiah 29:13-16 NCV
The Lord says: “These people say they love me; they show honor to me with words, but their hearts are far from me. The honor they show me is nothing but human rules. v14. So I continue to amaze these people by doing more and more miracles. Their wise men will lose their wisdom; their wise men will not be able to understand.” v15. How terrible it will be for those who try to hide things from the LORD and who do their work in darkness. They think no one will see them or know what they do. v16. You are confused. You think the clay is equal to the potter. You think that an object (pot) can tell the one who made it, “You didn’t make me.” This is like a pot telling its maker, “You don’t know anything.”
THEIR HEARTS ARE FAR FROM ME.
During 700-680 B.C. God had spoken to Israelites through the prophet, Isaiah about how He felt toward His own people who were coming before Him. People praise and honor Him with their lips, but God noticed their hearts had changed. Their hearts were indifference toward Him and His Word. They got bored so they came up with their own human rules to satisfy their own needs. They changed their religious rituals and new traditions to make it more interesting. They have no real love for God. They were bored with His righteous obligations (must follow) so they seek the pleasures of sin and the world to satisfy their carnal desires. This was the beginning of their “Falling Away” from their God. We have read how God sent His judgments against them to bring them back to Him.
Dorothy: After reading Isaiah 29:13-16, I was surprised to notice a few things that seem to match the “philosophy” from “The Falling Away.” The philosophies of men were nothing new during 700 B.C. There are few things to notice: human rules or rules taught by men; wisdom of men; hide in darkness so God would not notice them; and the clay and the potter. God compares the “philosophy” to the clay and the potter to God. The philosophy, the clay or the pot tells the Maker who is God, “You didn’t make me.” The philosophy, the clay or the pot tells the Potter, our God, “You don’t know anything.”
God had spoken the insight of the hearts of His people during Isaiah’s time. God is speaking to us today. God sees our hearts and let us know that we cannot hide in darkness. We cannot hide from Him. So Paul is saying to us, “Do not let philosophy to spoil you” [Col.2:8]. I pray we don’t get tired of singing this: Keep Me True, Lord Jesus.
Keep me true, Lord Jesus, keep me true;
Keep me true, Lord Jesus, keep me true.
There’s a race that I must run,
There are victories to be won,
Give me power, every hour, to be true.
