Isa 30:10-18 "...Speak Unto us Smooth Things..." - Discussion

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Isa 30:10-18 Prophesy Not Unto Us Right Things, Speak Unto Us Smooth Things, Prophesy Deceits

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Isa 30:12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
Isa 30:14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
Isa 30:15  For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Isa 30:16  But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
Isa 30:17  One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
Isa 30:18  And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

The first part of this chapter of Isaiah warns us that our old man just naturally trusts in "Egypt". We all just naturally trust in the world, and we trust in our own knowledge, our own doctrines and our own strength, rather than trust in the Lord. In the scriptures, Egypt typifies our flesh and this world upon which we just naturally trust, and that trust leads to our shame:

Isa 30:4  For his [our] princes were at Zoan, and his [our] ambassadors came to Hanes. [Two principle Egyptian cities]
Isa 30:5  They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them [our own flesh, this world], nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.

It is with that natural way of all flesh in mind that I introduce our study today with the last two verses from last week's study:

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:

Rebellion and shame will always at first cause us to hate the Truth, and our shame and our pride will cause us to lie to justify our rebellious ways. We are all born liars. I remember how it hit me when it was first pointed out to me that no child has to be taught to lie and to be completely self-centered. The challenge facing every parent is to keep his children from lying and taking advantage of others.

This it the truth of who we all are by nature:

Rom 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. (ASV)

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

We "will not hear the law of the Lord" because His law denies us the trust we just naturally have in our lies and in our own wisdom, while the law of God commands us to do the exact opposite:

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Nothing is more unnatural than for us to 'trust in the Lord with all our hearts... lean not to our own understanding... and in all our ways acknowledge Him'.

So this is what we just naturally do:

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

"Right things" means "the Truth" of the words of God. We do not want to hear the truth because the Truth is the mind and the laws and thoughts of our Creator to which we are by nature vehemently and passionately opposed, as Paul explained to us:

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Our carnal mind 'cannot be subject to the law of God'. It is our carnal mind which at first occupies the Lord's temple. We are that 'temple', and at first, being born with a carnal mind, we simply cannot receive a love of the Truth.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That is why our carnal mind must be destroyed by the arrival of the mind of Christ into our lives. When the arrival of the mind of Christ is no longer restrained by our carnal mind and our old man is finally revealed to us for who he is, this is what takes places within us:

2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The ACV is a little clearer:

2Th 2:1  Now we ask you, brothers, on behalf of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him,
2Th 2:2  for ye not to be quickly shaken from your mind, nor to be alarmed, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by a letter as by us, as that the day of the Christ has come.
2Th 2:3  Let not any man deceive you in any way, because if not, the defection may come first, and he may be revealed--the man of sin, the son of destruction,
2Th 2:4  who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or an object of worship, so as for him to sit in the temple of God, as God, displaying himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Do ye not remember that when I was yet with you I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know that which restrains, for him to be revealed in his own time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of lawlessness is already working, only he who restrains it until now will develop from the midst.
2Th 2:8  And then the lawless will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and will neutralize at the appearance of his coming.
2Th 2:9  Whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and marvels of deceit,
2Th 2:10  and in all deception of unrighteousness in those who are perishing, in return for which, they did not accept the love of the truth in order for them to be saved. (ACV)

Each of us is first a "man of sin", and each of us comes to see this "in his own time". John also tells us that "the day of Christ is come" for all in whom He dwells in this age:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but examine the spirits, whether they are of God, because many FALSE prophets have gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  By this ye know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ having come in flesh is of God,
1Jn 4:3  and every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ has come in flesh is not of God. And this is that of the antichrist, which ye have heard that it comes, and is now in the world already. (ACV)

Paul again confirms this doctrine of Christ coming in our flesh with this very revolutionary statement:

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

This verse (Eph 5:30) is not speaking of being seated with Christ in the heavens as does Eph 2:6. Ephesians 5:30 tells  us that we are in this age, and at this time "His flesh and His bones" to all with whom we come in contact in this age.  Therefore 2 Thessalonians 2 is not a warning against a future coming of antichrist. Rather it is a warning to all of us against giving heed or listening to anyone who denies that "antichrist is here already", and that "the day of the Christ has come" in the lives of those who are being judged now, and that "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh" [meaning in our flesh].

Let's read it again:

1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

We have tried those spirits which teach such things, and we are no longer looking for a single antichrist to appear at some time in the future and at the end of this age. We have already discovered his hiding place. We now know "that man of sin, the son of perdition" was all along already sitting in the temple of God which 'temple' Paul had told the Thessalonians and the Corinthians was our own hearts and minds, the true temple made not with men's hands:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

We now see how Christ can say that "the abomination which makes desolate [is indeed] standing in the holy place within the true "temple of God" and that "he that reads [needs to] understand ... that man of sin" is within the temple which is each of us, in every generation which reads His words:

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Those who are given 'eyes that see' know that "the abomination of desolation... [is found to be] stand[ing] in the holy place" of "the temple of God, which temple you are".

When we deny that "we are... His flesh and... His bones", when we deny that we are "Jesus of Nazareth" who was being persecuted by Saul of Tarsus, when we "do not confess [that] Jesus Christ has come in [our] flesh":

Isa 30:12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

Who among us has not, "despised this word, and trust[ed] in oppression and perverseness, and stay[ed] thereon?" God's people all "come out of... Babylon" the great whore who has ruled over the kings of the earth within us for many years, and we must all repent of putting these words proceeding from the mouth of God off on others, and we must confess to being "that man of sin" who has presumptuously occupied the temple of God until Christ came and through the darkness of that iniquity took that occasion to cause that "High wall [of Babylon within us] to fall... at an instant".

It falls at the instant Christ appears to us and shows us that we are that man of sin who is occupying His rightful temple and His rightful throne in our bodies and in our hearts with all the false doctrines of Babylon which are in our minds.

Isa 30:14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

Here is the fulfilling of Isaiah 30:12-14, revealed to us by our Lord through the pen of the apostle Paul in his epistle to the Thessalonians. This is what always eventually happens to all men who "trust in oppression and perverseness and stay thereon":

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

It is our own old man who is "that Wicked [whose] iniquity shall be to [us] as a breach ready to fall... whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant".

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

"In an instant... in an hour... in one day", we come to see that everything we ever thought to be the Truth was really all along just lies and deceit. When our eyes are opened and we see the "man of sin" for who he really is and we realize that "[we] are that man", then we will at last confess and repent, and only then do we come to know that blessed and wonderful peace of mind which the Lord has promised to all who place their trust in Him.

Joh 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

We are very slow to come to that point, and we will first stumble and fall and return to our own vomit and to our wallow in the mire, and we will do so seven times before "that Wicked" will be revealed and destroyed by the brightness of the coming of the knowledge of our Lord into our hearts and minds and therefore:

Isa 30:15  For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Isa 30:16  But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
Isa 30:17  One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.

Fortunately for us our salvation is not in our own hands. Praise and gratitude should be given to the Lord for that fact. We will "be saved... in returning and [in] rest[ing and trusting] quiet[ly]" in the Lord and in the work He is doing within us. This, as with all in our lives, takes place only at the appointed time. It is impossible for our carnal mind to return to and trust in the Lord, but fortunately for all of us this is all happening at an appointed time, which will be followed by another appointment at which time our old man will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming.  There is an appointed day for every one of us to be "the wicked for the day of evil".

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

"That Wicked" man is made to be incredibly rebellious. He is made to return to his own vomit, and he is made to return to his wallow in the mire.  During this time what the Lord is doing in our lives leads us to believe that being converted is impossible, and we feel trapped and hopeless. But there is also a season for that wicked man within us to be judged and destroyed and replaced by a new man, and nothing can stop that from happening at exactly the time it is written in our book for that day to come to pass:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

We were "made to err from [the Lord's] ways" by His hardening of our hearts. However, that is simply for the purpose of giving the Lord the occasion He is seeking to humble and destroy our rebellious first 'old man', and replace that old man with a new, much better and more durable man.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

If "all our days are written in His book before there were any of them", then it follows that every detail of our rebellious existence happens at "the appointed time", and nothing can change what the Lord has written:

Job 7:1  Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

Job 14:14  If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

At the appointed time He makes us to err from His ways, and He hardens our hearts, and He makes us to trust in Egypt within ourselves. He raises up the stormy winds, and He makes us to flee from Him thinking we are fleeing from our enemies. We think we are the captain of our own fate, and we plot against our perceived enemies, and all the while we are simply doing what the Lord had already written in His book for each of our days. Like Joseph's brothers, all we do simply works to bring about what the Lord had already planned for each of our days. We do all in our power to preserve our old man, but we simply cannot outrun our Maker, and we become the victim of our own ways, and we become a slave to our own sins until we are brought to our wits' end. At that point our old man is outwardly completely destroyed. Only "then" does He step in and save us from ourselves:

Psa 107:11  Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
Psa 107:12  Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Psa 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:14  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

Psa 107:25  For [the Lord] commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Isa 30:18  And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

"The Lord is a God of judgment", and that is a good thing, because it is only through judgment that any of us "learn righteousness" (Isa 26:9). The scriptures are heavy on the judgment of our old man, simply because that is what the aions are all about, but when the ages have served their purpose, mankind's end is one of no more tears or pain:

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

What a blessing we have been given to know the Lord and His Father. That is the very definition of life and the 'inheritance of all things':

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Next week we will learn more of what the Lord is doing in this age at the time when all of our towers fall in the lives of His elect, and when we will see that in Christ we can even now see our teachers, who are our Lord and His Father.

Psa 25:8  Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 30:19  For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
Isa 30:20  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
Isa 30:21  And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Isa 30:22  Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
Isa 30:23  Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
Isa 30:24  The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
Isa 30:25  And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.