Isaiah 8:20
20 To the law [towrah] and to the
testimony: [ta`uwdah] if they speak ['amar] not according to this word, [dabar] it is because there is no light [shachar] in them. KJV-Interlinear
20 To
the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it
is because they have no dawn. NASB
In this universe there
are two opinions. I believe that we have
stated that before. There is Gods
opinion which is truth, and then there is everything else, which is not truth.
The law, ‘towtah,’ is a
reference to the precepts and mandates and strict standards that are revealed
within the scriptures.
The testimony, ‘ta uwdah,’
means the evidence, the proof, the witness, the demonstration, the
verification.
And so it is the word of
God what sets the standard by which all things are compared, in order to see if
they are the truth or the lie.
Without truth, there can be
no standard. Without a standard, there
can be no means of determining where one is, relative to everything else. Without a standard, then everything becomes
relative and whatever is popular, then becomes the standard until something
else comes along. And when truth is
absent from the social structure, then bias, then prejudice, then atrocities
and so forth enter into the scope of human existence, and the rule of the
jungle takes over.
There are many standards
in life. We have the compass, the map,
many functions in science such as math or weights and scales, time and distance
and so forth. No building could be
constructed without some form of standards in construction. No economy can
survive without some standard of exchange, or money in other words. No work could be accomplished without a pay
scale for wages.
And you could create a
list of standards in life that would run on for many pages, I’m sure.
But when it all comes down
to it, Bible doctrine becomes the ultimate and permanent foundation standard
for everything.
And whether it is the
standards for social interaction, or the methods by which particles in string
theory interact, there is always a purpose, a design, a basis and reason by
which all things function in this life and in this creation.
The wizards and
soothsayers and idolaters mentioned in the previous verse, are likewise
compared with the standards of doctrine.
And if what they say is contrary to doctrine, then their words are lies.
And one does not have to
be a wizard or seer to have flawed opinions.
Nearly everyone in life follows a set of beliefs of some sort, and those
beliefs all have to be compared with the standard of truth in order to determine
their validity.
The light that is not in
them, ‘shachar,’ means the light of the morning, or the dawn, when everything
dark begins to fade in the light, as light begins to advance across the day.
This is a picture of
advancing knowledge or the learning process.
And when the morning dawn in not in them, then that means that they have
no truth in them, no doctrine in them, no learning process, nothing. They are unteachable or stuck in their ways. They are so full of the dark or the lies of
the world, that they will never see the light of truth, will never be able to
figure out the truth, will never be objective, will always wallow in their invented
views of life.
And of course, people
like that will always fail. But the unfortunate
thing about that is, if they are leaders, politicians, teachers, parents, or
anyone who has influence over others, then the harm of those lies is unleashed
onto others, and others suffer. Unless
of course, they have some light of truth in their soul, and are able to avoid
the repercussions of the lies of life.
