“All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?” (Isaiah 14:10)
In this chapter Isaiah prophesies the taunts of the remnant of Israel when Babylon is overthrown beginning in verse 3. Verse 10 begins with “All they.” They are all the kings and chiefs who are dead. They also taunt the King of Babylon. “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” (Isaiah 14:9)
The Babylonian empire, ruled by Nebuchadnezzar, conquered the Assyrian empire, Syria, Israel, Judah and Egypt. The empire went around north of the Arabian Desert to Turkey, the east bordering on the Median Empire (the Persian Empire), to the west the Mediterranean Sea. Later the Persians conquered Babylonia. The Israelites were still in captivity when the Persians came and served them until Cyrus the emperor freed the Israelites to rebuilt Jerusalem.
In verse 10 of chapter 14, the dead rulers ask the Babylonian ruler “Art thou become weak as we?” It was a shock to the Babylonian ruler to find himself conquered, as it is with those of ease. They don’t imagine what death holds for them. They enjoy the riches of this world and dominion over others without a thought of the Almighty. They will be just as shocked as the Babylonia ruler.
There are many living hypocritical lives, Christians and unbelievers alike. In Jesus’ days, there were the religious leaders. They loved the honor given to them, but their hearts were dark, void of love and compassion for the ordinary Israelite, imposing on them extreme religious hardships. Jesus condemned them saying: “Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.” (Luke 11:43-44)
How about us? I wrote in an earlier blog about a public life and a private life. Such was the life of the scribes and Pharisees. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:27-28) This is such a dangerous thing. Our end like the Babylonian ruler will be a shock and filled with the taunts of those in hell. Even thinking of it is terrifying. “Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:21-23) These were people who thought they were doing God’s work. How does this happen? How can we avoid being hypocrites? Can we be hypocrites and not even be aware of it? We need answers to these questions.
Let’s study a few Scriptures. First deception enters our hearts when we disobey the Word of God. “And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) It’s not talking about when we are in the learning process and are depending on the strength given by the Holy Spirit to overcome a sin. It’s about when we willfully make a decision to disobey. It’s a decision to sin because we want to sin. The deception will be entrenched. Jesus says that these disobedient people still come to Him and call Him Lord. “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” (Titus 1:16)
Deception also happens when we place more importance on ourselves than in the Creator. We need to be careful, think and ask ourselves, without the Lord where would I be? Just because an anointing is on us for a work does not mean we are anything. The anointing is God’s. The work is God’s. We are merely the feet and hands. “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” (Galatians 6:3) We are merely servants of the Lord. “As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” (1Peter 2:16)
Another way deception enters our hearts is in our relationships. Relationships are messy and complicated. But regardless of how the relationship is going, whether they wronged us, hurt us or betrayed us, we must maintain love in our hearts. Deeply and sincerely, we must wish God’s best for others. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1John 4:20)
These are merely basic things to keep from deceiving ourselves. If we begin here, we won’t be shocked later, thinking our relationship with God is good, when in reality, we are deceived. These three things, obeying and doing the Word, thinking of others more than us, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.” (Philippians 2:3) and loving the unlovable are a beginning towards a life that is holy both in public and in private.
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