BIG no-nos Israel goes ahead and does anyway

Here's another outtake from Wednesday night's Bible study in Isaiah--I am still putting together thoughts from the conference last weekend and will post tomorrow now.

Isaiah 47: [12] Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
[13] Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

They’re using the sky, the clouds, the events to try and forecast the future and tell people what to do. It’s all a bunch of demonic activity that’s a part of the pagan idolatry and Israel has bought into that, explains Richard Jordan.

Moses warned them, “Don’t do these things.” He told them specifically back in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, “DO NOT DO THIS.” So, what are they doing? They’re not getting their light out of God’s Word; they’re doing it on their own.

Isaiah 2: [6] Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

They just went out among the Gentiles, practicing the things the Gentiles practice. That’s a BIG no-no for Israel; they were to be separate from that.

Verse 7: [7] Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:

They have all this prosperity, the commercial activity, the wealth. You go back to the prophets and God warns them about making silver and gold. Paul says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” That’s where they are.

Horses and chariots are military. In other words, they’re going to protect themselves with their own energy. They’re going to make money with the commerce, getting rich. They were full of luxuries, money and riches and it corrupted their thinking.

Verse 8: [8] Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

That’s really the basic problem that all the other stuff comes from. They worship the work of their own hands. That’s what an idol is. “Which their own fingers have made.” That’s just another way of saying that idolatry is delusional.

You remember the silversmith who made the idols there in Ephesus in Acts 19? That’s these guys.

Acts 19: [24] For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;
[25] Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

Every one of these things you could go back to Leviticus, Deuteronomy and over in the minor prophets and find verses that talk about all these things. They’re no-nos.

Psalm 115: [1] Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
[2] Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
[3] But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
[4] Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
[5] They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
[6] They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
[7] They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
[8] They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

He’s saying, “You know what you got? You’re worshipping that thing over there, an idol. You made it and if you want to clean behind it, you have to move it. He can’t even get out of the way of the vacuum cleaner. It’s nothing. It’s just a vain imagination that you’ve developed because there’s a vain religious system that promotes the work of human hands.”

Verse 9: [9] O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

“You’ve got the real God, the God of gods; you’ve got the real thing and all these guys are nothing but made-up stuff—magic, spookery—and you think that’s better?!” Well, the land’s full of that and they WORSHIP the work of their own hands.

Romans 1:25: [25] Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

That’s what idolatry is. How did they get that way? That’s how the nations went in their own way and God gave them up. Israel has joined hands with “the children of strangers.”

Isaiah 2: [9] And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.

That word mean is the idea of small. In other words, everybody in the culture—big shots, little shots—they’re worshipping the idols.

[10] Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
[11] The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
[12] For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

It's, “We’re not overlooking this anymore. There’s no more, ‘Let me go.’ All of the culture—big guys, little guys, medium guys—they’re all worshipping this stuff so 'enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust.' ”