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NASB | Isaiah 45:20 ¶ "Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Isaiah 45:20 ¶ "Assemble yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! They are ignorant, Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle] And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them. |
Subject: "Praying to a god who cannot save..." |
Bible Note: Theology proper is the study of God Himself. There are two places that we creatures can understand something of our Creator: (1) By our observations of Creation (Romans 1:21), which is called general revelation; and (2) by God's revealing of Himself (Hebrews 1:1-4), which is called special revelation. It has been said that the heart of human beings are artisans (we might say factories) of many gods (cf Psalm 115:4; 135:15-17; Deuteronomy 4:28; Isaiah 40:19-20; 42:17; 46:1-2; 46:6-7; Jeremiah 10:3-5; Hosea 8:6; Habakkuk 2:18-20; Acts 19:26, 35; 1 Corinthians 10:19-20; etc.). When human beings fail to worship God Himself; when they set before themselves something that deviates from what God says of Himself; when they call for salvation to a god alien to the Scriptures; what benefits do they derive? Of course, this is not an idol of stone or wood. This is an idol of even less substance than one made of stone or wood. It is an idol made by ignoring God's revelation, twisting His words, and seeking to find Him through mystical experience. Scripture explains to us that idols are at best blind, deaf, and dumb (Isaiah 41:29; 44:19; Psalm 135:15; etc.); and at worst demonic fakes (Deuteronomy 32:16-17; Psalm 106:37-39; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 9:20; etc.). Our Lord Jesus warns of a specific time when He says, "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet [Daniel 12:11], standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains." (Matthew 24:15-16) In Jewish tradition it is deemed that this "abomination of desolation" took place in Jerusalem, when the Temple was transformed into a heathen place of worship. (For particulars see this phrase in the Jewish Encyclopedia; an article by Rabbi Dr. Louis Ginzberg.) In Reformed thinking there are two common positions: (1) in which the "abomination of desolation" took place in 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed (a view shared by Roman Catholic Preterists); (2) in which this event was that of Antiochus, in agreement with the Jewish explanation found in Maccabees. In Dispensational hermeneutics, this is an event yet to take place; one in which a being known as the Antichrist (note that capitalization, making reference to an actual person yet to be made manifest) who will set up his image in the Temple (the one yet to be rebuilt) after the seven year period called the Tribulation. We may all find ourselves at differing positions concerning these events, because of our hermeneutical method, the position of our denomination, or our own preferred opinion. What if, though, there is a warning that we can apply to our own day? A woman recently, finding fault with my explanation of the gospel, told me, "My God is a God of love, who would never condemn anyone to hell." I thought to myself, perhaps her god would not; but whatever her god was, it was not the God of the Scriptures. She was worshipping the idol that she preferred. As I thought about this, I began to realize that any false notion -- non-Biblical -- of God was not God; i.e., an idol. Perhaps across the world, in the many tens of thousands of churches, there sits an idol -- an abomination -- that cannot be touched or seen; but that is manufactured by false teaching nonetheless? This makes for a very significant issue for every one of us. For if we are loving that which is not God, we are accursed (Matthew 25:41; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 16:22; cf Galatians 1:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). |
Down View Branch | ID# 243550 | ||
Questions and/or Subjects for Is 45:20 | Author | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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EdB |