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To The Law And The Testimony - Isaiah 8
To The Law And The Testimony - Isaiah 8
The days of Isaiah were dark days for Judah. Israel had joined with Syria to war against the rising Assyrian power. They tried to get Judah to join them, but Judah threw their trust upon Assyria. The challenge to Ahaz and Judah was to trust in the LORD rather than in Assyria.
People needed guidance. God sent the prophets, but people didn't like their message. Where else could they turn to get guidance from the gods? They turned to the spirit world, but not to God.
Isaiah thus was warned: "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? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn." (Isaiah 8:19–20).
We saw this with Saul when God withdrew His spirit from Saul. In desperation for spiritual guidance, Saul turned to the witch of Endor, desiring that she would summon Samuel from the dead to instruct him.
Even before this event, we see God warning and forbidding this very attempt to acquire spiritual guidance apart from God. God warned: "As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people" (Leviticus 20:6).
Concerning Manasseh we read: He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger." (2 Kings 21:6).
Later, Isaiah will say: "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists." (Isaiah 19:3).
Again, Isaiah will challenge such people: “Stand fast now in your spells And in your many sorceries With which you have labored from your youth; Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you may cause trembling. “You are wearied with your many counsels; Let now the astrologers, Those who prophesy by the stars, Those who predict by the new moons, Stand up and save you from what will come upon you." (Isaiah 47:12–13).
God had spoken to them in the Law and thru the prophets. They HAD their needed instruction from the LORD. Rejecting God's word left them seeking, but there was no other source of wisdom. Even so, God has spoken unto us through the apostles and prophets. Many, like Israel of old, reject God's word and turn to the occult. The occult have no more validity or truthfulness then they did back then. Their made up guidance is without foundation.
To paraphrase Isaiah: to the apostles and the prophets, if they speak other than this, they have no light. Or, as Paul said directly: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" (Galatians 1:8). Are you walking in the light of God's revealed word, or are you foolishly seeking spiritual guidance elsewhere?
Hugh DeLong
