Isaiah 9:9
9 And all the people [`am] shall know, [yada`] even Ephraim ['Ephrayim] and the inhabitant [yashab]
of Samaria, [Shomarown] that say ['amar] in the pride [ga`avah] and
stoutness [godel] of heart, [lebab] KJV-Interlinear
9 And all the
people know it, That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in
pride and in arrogance of heart: NASB
Both Ephraim and Samaria,
are the tribe and capital of the northern kingdom, and the people that live
there and follow the general consensus of the public opinions prevalent there.
Namely, the general
anti-God attitude first, in rejecting the chosen leadership of David, and
thereafter choosing their own line of leadership. And second, in their departure from God, as
symbolized by their separation from Judah, as a separate nation, not Gods
chosen nation, but their own self chosen nation.
In their pride and
stoutness of heart, is a phrase that indicates the ingrained attitude of self-confidence,
self-resourcefulness, self-direction, self-lifestyle, all of which are separate
and apart from God and Gods divine plan.
And the people shall
know, is not an ‘I told you so.’ It is a
statement of fact.
God has given to all, the
warning of the judgments that are coming due to their negative spiritual
attitude, and general indifference toward God.
And if you notice, from
all of our bible studies, it is not really God who judges, but it is people who
get themselves into trouble by ignoring truth.
In the case of Israel,
they rejected truth. And truth includes
many things such as the principle studying in order to learn and prepare. No preparation means defeat. No military, means defeat. No freedom means limited opportunity. No liberty means too few decision makers which
leads to limited innovation, limited prosperity, and so forth.
Lack of truth means
weakness and weak choices, and dependence on something else. Combine these two things with arrogance,
which is really the foundation of all anti-truth attitudes, and you become a
slave to something else, namely sin, such as greed, selfishness, and so forth.
The northern kingdom was
greedy and overestimated their strength and ability. They relied on Syria to bolster their
strength, and both went down to defeat.
Judah relied on Assyria for their strength and was double crossed and
defeated.
Neither of the Israelite
nations were strong, and to bolster their weakness, they turned to weakness and
failed.
Their arrogance and
stoutness of heart, made them blind to their own weaknesses, overestimating
their own wisdom, and thus leading them to failure. And in this case, that failure ended up in
severe suffering for many.
Your arrogance and
stubbornness in not pursuing your daily studies, can and will lead you to failure
that may affect this life, but certainly will affect your eternal life. If you
overestimate the value of your self-will, then you automatically underestimate
the value of Gods will, and you always lose.
