Christian Scam Artists – Isa 58
None of us like a fake. None of us like being scammed. But one of the biggest scams being run is by ‘religous’ people, people who called themselves ‘Christians’.
We see a similar thing in isaiah 58. The nation of Israel was going through the motions of seeking God daily, delighting to know His ways, acting like they are righteous, even fasting and getting upset with God for not answering them.
But, behind the scenes, we learn that all is not as it seems. They find pleasure and do work on the day of their fast. They keep sinning and oppressing others. They mistreat the poor. They disrespect the Sabbath.
Basically, they are trying, as the saying goes, to have their cake and eat it too. They want God’s blessings and their sin. They want to do God’s thing and their own thing. They try to serve two masters.
But it doesn’t work. They aren’t actually serving the Lord. They are serving themselves.
How often do we do the same thing? We really just want to do our own thing. We don’t want to give up our sin. But we want God’s blessings.
So, we play a game where we don’t really repent or change, but we do religious things hoping to manipulate God into blessings us.
No wonder God told Isaiah in v.1 to ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up they voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression…’
May God show us our sin. And may we truly repent and change.