Isaiah
29:17
17 Is it not yet a very [miz`ar] little while [m@`at], and
Lebanon [L@banown] shall be turned [shuwb] into a fruitful field [karmel], and the fruitful field [karmel] shall be esteemed [chashab]
as a forest [ya`ar]? KJV-Interlinear
17 Is it not yet a very little
while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful
field shall be regarded as a forest? ESV
The warning here, is that, no matter what plans man
has, those plans will fail, and eventually will be replaced by Gods plans,
which will not fail.
Throughout this chapter the wicked prosper, and
presume that their prosperity is by their own effort and ingenuity. A belief that could not be further from the
truth.
God laid the groundwork for all things. He placed the oil in the ground, which had to
be found. He placed the gold in the hills,
which had to be found. He placed
doctrine in the Bible, which likewise has to be found.
People will go to extraordinary lengths to look for
oil and gold, but they do not seem interested in Bible doctrine.
People have phenomenal abilities, beauty, talents,
intellect and so forth, and they will use those attributes for themselves.
People make and build and invent all kinds of things,
and people will pursue them at great lengths to possess them.
And yet it is God who made and provided all of the
initial ingredients for whatever it is that is in this world, or in you.
God gets no credit for His work or provision. People will not even acknowledge God, but
instead pursue the things of this world, while their own life, their own soul,
goes incomplete and unprepared for eternity.
Man makes plans. Man makes his own plans. And eventually they all fail.
Man has a limited lifespan, which trumps everything that
man plans. So, no matter what you think
or do in this life, it will all come to an end.
And not only that, but it is man who will bring the
ultimate destruction of himself, to himself.
And yet, even after mans destruction, God will step in
and bring it all back to better than before.
Lebanon is a region that was known for great forests
and cedars and so forth. But too, it is
man who has turned it into a desert.
One day, after man has had his chance and failed, then
the gardens and forests will return, and not only return, but they will be
better than before.
All anyone has to do, is to pursue truth as though it
was a great treasure, which it is. But
too often man will pursue lesser things with greater effort, rather than seeking,
pursuing, and listening to instruction of a greater treasure, which is Bible
doctrine, with infinite value.
