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.
Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight.
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are fearless at mixing beer, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice. Isaiah 5:20-23 HCSB
This comes from the Old Testament. Many people believe that the Old Testament could just be discarded, but Scripture passages like this tell us it’s very relevant to what’s happening in the world today.
Human trafficking is an appalling crime. But this is just one of many tragedies occurring in our world today. Sadly, many don’t see the things going on as a tragedy. Many see them as good. They are actually seeing evil and believing it’s a good thing.
Isn’t it just as tragic to take a child too young to really understand and allow them to decide they want to be the opposite sex? Isn’t it tragic that so-called Christians are accepting behavior that the Bible calls an abomination and telling the sinners that it’s okay and they’re okay? Have we come to hate our fellow human beings so much that we will simply allow them to spend eternity in hell?
Ephesians 5:11 tells us we are not to partake in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead, we are to expose them. We can no longer just go along for the sake of unity. We must take a stand for what is right. We must stand against what is evil. We can’t call evil good. We can’t call darkness light.
In Isaiah’s day, God’s chosen people had fallen so far into idolatry that He sent Isaiah to warn them of the coming Babylonian captivity if they did not repent. They didn’t listen. God sent Jeremiah and they didn’t listen to him either. Instead, they chose to listen to false prophets that told them their sin was okay. They told them they didn’t have to change their sinful ways.
This is a lie from the pits of hell. We must change our sinful ways. We must confess our sins to God and repent. We must allow Him to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
There is one big difference between what was happening with the Israelites in Isaiah’s time and what is happening with us now. They would have the opportunity to trust in God when they were taken captive. We, however, are nearing the end. I truly believe God is coming for us soon. When this happens, there will be no time to change our minds. There will be no time to go back and get it right. The time is now.
Re-read our Scripture passage and be sure you are not simply accepting evil as good. Be sure you are living as God calls us to live. Trust in Him.
Don’t be distracted by the evil that is going on. We are called to love the sinner but hate the sin. Don’t think we must embrace sinful behavior for the sake of loving others as Christ loves us. Christ loves us, but He does not tolerate our sinful behavior.
We see things happening in our world today that are not new to the world. These things were going on from the beginning. It happened in Noah’s day and got God so upset, He destroyed the world by flood. In Isaiah’s day, God was getting fed up with the disobedience of the Israelites and allowed them to be taken captive by the Babylonians.
Woe to those who sin because there is a hefty price to pay. We are warned in Hebrews 10:26 of the dangers of deliberate sin. This verse says, “If we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for our sin but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume adversaries.”
No good comes from going against God’s word. How we live here determines where we will spend eternity. Be sure to get it right before it’s too late.
Have a great day!