Isaiah 1:31
31 And the strong [chacon] shall be as tow, [na`oreth]
and the maker [po`al] of it as a spark, [niytsowts] and they shall both [shanayim] burn [ba`ar] together, [yachad] and none shall quench [kabah] them. KJV-Interlinear
31 And
the strong man will become tinder, His work also a spark. Thus they shall both
burn together, And there will be none to quench them. NASB
On
the surface it seems that the works of the wicked are the cause of their
demise. They are their own worst enemy, and they are their own cause for their
own destruction.
But,
when we examine the details of this verse a bit closer, we will see that there
is a great deal more to this verse than meets the eye.
The
word for strong, ‘chacon,’ means powerful, strong, compact, hoard, lay-up. And comes to mean the person who in their own
mind, sees themselves as powerful because they hoard their own thoughts within
themselves (to the exclusion of truth), such that they cannot see that their
power or self image, or opinions are false and not real.
Tow,
‘na oreth,’ is a reference to kindling, something shaken out, the refuse of
flax (not the flax itself, but the part that is shaken out – thrown away
fibers, dust, lint), the shaking out of ones mane as in an animal who shakes
his head after a roar (lion), to toss up and down. And this is the arrogant attitude of one
caught up in their own importance. An importance that does not exist in
reality. Lint or dust quickly ignites
when a fire is put to it and it burns up almost immediately and then is gone.
The
maker is the person himself. He is the
cause of his own arrogance and the cause of his own demise.
Spark,
‘niytsowts,’ is exactly that, and spark that is used to start a fire. It is also a reference to a glare, a bright
colored sparkle.
So
the maker, the wicked person, along with their arrogance, when combined will cause
a self-spark, which in itself, will consume them both.
They
are the fuel and they are the fire, and they are the origin and executioner of
themselves.
The
fire that none shall quench is a reference to eternity.
Now,
God produces only good. God controls history in three ways and one of those
three ways is His allowing things to occur, like people making their own
decisions, even when they make the wrong decisions.
God
gives us all ample warning. God gives us
all clear pictures of the repercussions of our decisions. God lets us all know
that there are two (only two) possible futures for each one of us. One is in heaven with Him and the other is in
the Lake of Fire.
But
think a bit now. Not only are people the
cause of their own misery here and now, and thus the many problems of this
world are then due to the collective attitudes of the people of this world,
nation, community, family, self.
But
also, if God does not create the Lake of Fire, since God never makes anything
bad, then who does?
And
that is exactly right. Unbelievers, Satan
and his demon followers, they all will be the cause, the fuel, the spark, that
will bring the Lake of Fire into existence and forever they will burn up
endlessly, in a place that they themselves create.
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