Monday, September 12, 2011

Isaiah 1:31


Copyright Ó 2011 J. Neely
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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