Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Isaiah 8:19
19 And when they shall say ['amar] unto you, Seek [darash]
unto them that have familiar spirits, ['owb]
and unto wizards [yidda`oniy] that peep, [tsaphaph] and that mutter: [hagah]
should not a people [`am] seek [darash] unto their God ['elohiym]?
for the living [chay] to the dead [muwth]? KJV-Interlinear
19 And
when they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper
and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult
the dead on behalf of the living? NASB
When they say, is a
reference to human opinion.
In this universe, there
are only two opinions. First there is
Gods opinion, which is truth, and then there is mans opinion, which is not
truth.
And in this world, people
will come up with more opinions than you can shake a stick at. The ideas, the plans, the motives, the
intentions, and so on, are more attempts to duplicate or to better, that which
God has already prepared and gives to us freely, but most folks reject.
Necromancers, wizards,
familiar spirits, idolatry, and such are all false concepts and false attempts
to see into the future, or to communicate with the life beyond this one. They are a dead action, attempting to
communicate with a dead or non-existent target.
God is a living God, and
we are living people. Why then should a
living person seek counsel with that which does not exist or that which is
dead?
The seeking of knowledge
or information from the dead through false mechanisms, is like speaking or
listening to those who peep or mutter.
Peeping and muttering, ‘tsaphaph,’ ‘hagah,’ means to chirp like a bird,
to murmur, to imagine, to talk unsteadily, to babble senselessly. Therefore all attempts and actions in this
type of activity are a senseless and useless activity, that will never produce
or accomplish anything.
Looking back at the
previous verse, regarding the mention of Zion, and now compared with this verse
which mentions the seeking of knowledge through false means. Now we have the contrast of absolute truth
versus absolute absurdity.
And yet people reject
truth with their eyes wide open, and pursue the ridiculous with those same wide
open eyes.
The question was asked,
why is Jerusalem called the city of peace, when it has virtually never known
peace, but is a historical city of violence and conflict?
And that answer is that
Jerusalem was formerly known as Salem and was the domain of Melchizedek, the king-priest
that brought bread and wine to Abraham.
He is the representation of the king of righteousness and a symbol of
the Lord Jesus Christ who as the most high God, was worshipped in Salem.
The source of truth is
symbolized by the mountain called Zion, where God lives. That is, He lives in truth. And truth is vast. Jerusalem is the symbolism for living a life
within that body of truth to the maximum, or to the point of spiritual maturity,
thus resulting in inner peace. Zion is
the mountain that is inside of the city boundaries of Jerusalem. Thus truth inside that produces spiritual
completeness.
Living outside of the
city represents life in truth but limited as with believers who lack extensive
knowledge in truth. And living outside
of the country, makes one a foreigner, or stranger, which represent the
unbelievers of the world who reject God, salvation, and truth.
The nation of Israel
represents Gods people, which are all people symbolically who have believed in
the Savior, who we know as Jesus Christ.
So, you can live within
the nation when you are saved, you are thus a member of the nation of God. The nation and family of God are two
references of the same people. To live
within the city represents those who pursue doctrine and grow up to spiritual
maturity, thus attaining inner peace and strength through doctrine.
These symbols are teaching
aids or mechanisms of instruction to teach spiritual principles.
But this is the devils
world and his fight is against all that represents truth, thus the nation of
Israel, the city of Jerusalem and the mountain of Zion are all under attack as
though destroying these geographical regions will somehow destroy God or
truth. But truth is not a thing that is
contained or confined by geography.
Truth
is not a thing that may be substituted with false ideas or mechanisms, and
still have the same result.
Truth is doctrine. Truth is made available to anyone who pursues
it by means of Gods mandated method of learning. Which is the daily study while in fellowship
as a believer in Christ. Which is pretty
simple when you think about it.
This then opens up your
eyes to truth giving you orientation to self, to God, to life and so forth.
But when Gods mandates
and methods are rejected, when truth is ignored, then the lies and false ideas
of this world filter into the soul and bring with them the confusion and
disorientation of life and everything in it.
And so the absurd seems
reasonable and mans ideas all seem practical.
Only when false ideas are
matched and compared with truth, can they be discovered as false ideas and
lies, but only when there is truth in the soul that allows one to clearly see
their false fabrication. Without truth,
there is nothing to reveal the nature of the lie.
And so, pursuing or
consulting the dead seems reasonable. Even
more reasonable than pursuing and consulting the living.
Find a dead thing, any
dead thing, and ask it a question. Find
a bug and step on it to squash it. Now
seek its counsel. Does that seem reasonable?
And yet that is exactly
what people do all of the time when they reject God and doctrine.
