12Call out the demon hordes you have worshiped all these years. Call on them to help you strike deep terror into many hearts again. 13You have advisors by the ton—your astrologers and stargazers, who try to tell you what the future holds. 14But they are as useless as dried grass burning in the fire. They cannot even deliver themselves! You will get no help from them at all. Theirs is no fire to sit beside to make you warm! 15And all your friends of childhood days shall slip away and disappear, unable to help.[1] (Isaiah47:12–15)
The Powerlessness of
False Religion—
The World of The
Occult—To Deliver the Oppressor
The occult world of the oppressors—their false religion—would be powerless to save them. In the ancient world, Babylon was known as the major center for astrology and for every conceivable practice of the occult world. It was the center of all the occult powers for which people’s depraved hearts craved. But they were not true powers. They were only deceptive gods or imaginations created in people’s minds, evil demonic forces that were misleading people. Because God’s people were to be exiled to Babylon, it was necessary to prepare them for the deceptions and lies of the occult world. Thus, God offered a challenge to those who searched for help from the occult: “Keep on practicing your enchantments and sorceries that you have worshipped all these years. Perhaps eventually the so-called powers will be able to meet your needs and help you.” Of course, the Lord was using sarcasm to get across the fact that the entire realm of the occult was powerless, totally unable to help the seeker. In these challenging remarks, the Lord outlined six facts that His people had to grasp to withstand the appeal and the pull of the occult world. These facts are just as relevant today as they were in ancient history.
1.
The Occult Rituals Can Never Save You: Even
If You Keep Seeking
Occult rituals can never save a person (v. 12). Even if the mind of the participant continually seeks help, the occult power can never respond, for it is only a fantasy in the mind of the participant. It is non-existent.
2.
The Occult Concepts & Notions Only
Wear You Out: Leave You Hopeless & Exhausted
Occult concepts and notions only wear a person out, leaving the individual helpless and exhausted (v. 13a). No matter how many hours of study a person devotes to an occult practice, no matter how much advice or instruction is received, there will be no help forthcoming. The person is only draining himself physically and mentally and wasting his time.
3.
The Occult Leaders Cannot Save You from
The Future, From What Is to Come Upon You
The occult leaders who study the stars and planets and forecast their influence over human affairs cannot save one person from future trouble, from what is coming upon him or her (v. 13). In basic terms, a person’s true destiny cannot be foretold nor changed by astrology or by stargazing. In particular, when dealing with the judgment of God, no person who has rejected the Lord will escape His coming wrath. The Babylonians did not escape, yet they had reached the summit in seeking the forces of the occult world. Just as the hand of God’s judgment fell upon them, so it will fall upon all who reject Him and seek their destiny in the imaginary powers of the occult.
4.
The Occult Leaders Will Be Burned Up Like
Dried Grass: Cannot Save Themselves, Much Less You
The occult leaders themselves will face the hand of God’s judgment (v. 14a). God’s ruling against them is very straightforward: they and their occult beliefs have no substance. They are nothing more than stubble. Consequently, they will be burned up like dried grass. And they will not be able to save themselves from the power of God’s flaming judgment. Moreover, the fire that consumes them will not be for the purpose of providing warmth or light to those who are sitting in darkness. Rather, it will be for the purpose of executing justice and judgment against the deceptive, perverse leaders of the occult world.
5.
The Occult Leaders Can Only Give You
Empty Counsel for Money
The occult leaders can only give empty counsel for money (v. 15). No matter how much they attempt to look into the future to foresee people’s destiny, they themselves are only physical human beings like the seekers. Both the occult leader and the seeker are limited by the physical, material world. Neither can see into the spiritual world, and neither can see the future destiny of other people. Only God Himself is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere), and omnipotent (all-powerful). Only He knows the future destiny of people and of the world, and only He has the power to execute events in the future. Doing business with a member of the occult is a waste of money, a foolish waste. Such seeking leads to empty, worthless counsel.
6.
The Occult Leaders Will Continue on In
Their Error: Not One Can Save You
The occult leaders will continue on in their error (v. 15b). As long as people and nations are willing to pay for the advice of occult leaders, they will continue to collect the money and give their erroneous counsel. But not a single occult leader can save a person from his or her future destiny, especially from the coming judgment of God.
Thought 1. God warns us repeatedly against the world of the occult. Note the references to the occult practices mentioned in these warnings:
V “Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I
have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Ga. 5:19–21).
V “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death” (Re. 21:8).
V “Regard not them that have familiar spirits,
neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God” (Le.
19:31).
V “And the soul that turneth after such as have
familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even
set my face against that soul and will cut him off from among his people” (Le. 20:6).
V “When thou art come into the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those
nations. There shall not be found among you anyone
that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times,
or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar
spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and
because of these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before
thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God” (De. 18:9–13).
V “So, Saul died for his transgression which he
committed against the Lord, even
against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it” (1 Chr. 10:13).
V “And when they shall say unto you, seek unto
them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law
and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Is. 8:19–20).
V “And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers” (Mi. 5:12).[2]
The people of Babylon sought advice and help from astrologers and stargazers. But like the idols of wood or gold, astrologers could not even deliver themselves from what was to come from the hand of God. Why rely on those who are powerless? The helpless cannot help us. Alternatives to God are destined to fail. If you want help, find it in God, who has proven his power in creation and in history.[3]
[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
[3] Life Application
Bible Notes. 2007. Tyndale.
No comments:
Post a Comment