We are living in a day in Christianity where we have mixed up ideas. We have fallen so far from God and His Word that our thinking is no longer scripturally wise but is full of the wisdom of men. This wrong thinking has caused us to go so far as to do something that God warned the children of Israel not to do. Isaiah the prophet called out the people and said, Isaiah 5:20-21 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” He went on a few verses later to tell them what was now going to happen to them for their disobedience. In verses 24-25 he says “because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them.”
In Christianity today, we have done the same as the children of Israel in Isaiah’s day. We have said some things were good, when they are not good. We have acted on the thinking of the world and made it our thinking. It is not God’s thinking. We have cast away God’s Word and despised God’s Word and replaced it with what was wise in our own eyes and prudent in our sight. We have done all of this because we wanted to do it and because we liked the results we have gotten.
But God is not pleased. God is not ignoring what we have done. God is paying very close attention to what we have done and are doing. Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. And God has been watching closely. Just as in the harvest of the grain, we will reap what we have sown. We have sown wrong thinking, made wrong choices, justified our actions, and even called it good. And God will not be mocked. Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Some that read this will probably ask the same questions that the people asked Malachi when he prophesied against them. Following are some of those questions they asked. Wherein have we despised thy name? Wherein have we polluted thee? Yet ye say, Wherefore? Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? Wherein shall we return? Wherein have we robbed thee? What have we spoken so much against thee? Malachi chapters 1-3
Let me give you three areas where Christianity has strayed dramatically from the Word of God. First in the area of marriage. The leaders (pastors, elders, deacons) have allowed divorces in their churches to happen without taking a strong stand against it, therefore there is a multitude of people who are divorced. Instead of taking a further stand against a second marriage (as the church leaders did for centuries) the present day leaders allowed remarriage. And when those divorced people were married in their churches, those pastors blessed their second marriage.
Do you see it now. They called good what God hates. Malachi 2:15-16 Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away. They called good what Jesus called adultery. Mark 10:11-12 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. 12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
And now we have couples in a second (adulterous) marriage who have had several children. And many churches are allowing them to be leaders in the church. So they are calling good, what God said not to do. We better beware when we call good what God calls evil.
The second area has to do with married couples having children. We know the scriptures say that children are a blessing from God. Yet the leaders of the churches have put that teaching aside for years now. Most pastors in the 20th century have been leaders in limiting the number of children in their family (for the sake of the ministry no doubt). This has certainly broken the heart of God that His people who gather together to worship Him have rejected one of the greatest blessings that He wants to bestow upon His children. Yes, we have called evil, what God clearly has called good.
The third area is in the area of money. Being in financial debt in the Scriptures is always seen as a judgment. It was a judgment on Israel if they had to borrow money. If God was blessing them, they would be the lenders. Deuteronomy 15:6 For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow. In Scripture it also is a judgment on individuals when they had to borrow money.
Yet in Christianity, starting in the last century, borrowing money became a standard practice among not only Christians, but also churches. How did we get to the point where the Pastors of churches went to the unbelievers in the banks and ask to borrow money to do the work of God? This is so upside down. Believers in the mighty God of Heaven and His Son who came to earth to perform great miracles, now go to unbelievers because they cannot trust God for money to build some building. This is so wrong. This is calling good what God has said is not good.
Many Christians today want to say that God has blessed them financially. But how did they acquire those finances. Often times, after getting married, they waited years to have children so they could accumulate material wealth. They then limited the number of children they had so they could be more financially secure. They also borrowed money to purchase a house. Then later they sold that house and borrowed more money to purchase another house, usually bigger. This might happen a few more times until they finally had the home of their dreams. And where are the church leaders in all of this. Of course, they are taking the lead. They are borrowing money and buying houses. They are leading their churches to borrow money to build buildings. And they are all saying what a blessing this is to live in America where you can accumulate wealth from borrowing.
In conclusion, we have disobeyed God’s word in these areas of marriage, children, and money. But not only have we disobeyed God’s Word in doing this, we have also called it a blessing. And along with all of this, the people who obey God’s Word in these areas are looked upon as if they should be living in a different time, because they don’t realize that is not the way it is done now. So we have called evil what God has called good. And we have looked down upon the people who have chosen to follow God in what he has called good.
So where does this leave the ones who are disobeying God. Let Isaiah speak, Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them. Isaiah 5:24-25 God has not changed since the days of Isaiah. We can expect the same from the hand of God as the people in that day.
