I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did
answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. (Isaiah 66:4)
Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God’s Word
The ability to choose
People have a right to choose what they do – up to a point – but when they make the wrong choices, they can completely lose control of their lives. God reached out His hand to the people in Isaiah 66:4, but rather than answer the call, they chose to ignore it. In fact, those who study the Bible understand that the people in this text deliberately chose things that displease God.
Had they responded positively to God, they could have had prosperity and peace. Their lives would have been the envy of the entire world. However, they chose otherwise and then apparently wondered why their nation was in such trouble. This study in the Bible reveals the troubling nature of human beings: they should understand that God’s ways are always best, but a proclivity to ignore God consistently lands them in trouble.
The truth in the Word is this: those who do not choose God, give up their right to choose. Also, people should respond positively to God when He speaks to them.
The choice now is God’s
Free will has come to the end. God has not only allowed the people to become subject to their own fears; He has taken away their ability to choose their own end: God will choose their delusions for them. God speaks ominously of the people’s predicament in these Bible scriptures. Their situation seems far from positive.
God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology
An uncertain remedy
Now that God has chosen the calamities for the people, whether the people have any hope of recovery seems unclear. The contextual tenor seems to suggest that the tragic fate of the people is sealed. It may take the emergence of an entirely new generation before God gives the nation another chance. Bible verses suggest that people can arrive at a point in their lives when there is no longer hope for restoration.
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. (Proverbs 6:15)
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.(Proverbs 29:1)
Beginning with verse 5, this study of the Bible offers hope. In spite of their bad decisions, God will come to the aid of His people. However, verse 8 suggests that deliverance may not happen overnight.
Application
Perhaps we believe that hope always abounds for us because we live in the Age of Grace. While we have a great God and a loving Savior, we must also realize that we risk losing control over our lives when we choose to ignore God. The very things that trouble us; those things that we allow to drive us away from God toward other solutions; those are the things which will overtake us. We, like the Old Testament people, may even lose our ability to choose our end: God will choose for us, and the result may not be pretty.
Obey God. Do His will. Enjoy the abundant life He wants you to have.
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