Ignorance is No Defense!
Have your parents ever disciplined you over something that you didn’t know was wrong? Have you ever “plead the 5th” when you were falsely accused? When we all stand before God one day, excuses for our sins or lifestyle won’t be accepted or tolerated by a just God. Isaiah addresses the nation of Israel head-on about this in chapter 27, and there is a definite connection to 2020! #YFA #iDevo
Listen to the words of the Prophet Isaiah in 27:11 . . . “For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.” These words of the Prophet were directed to the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. There was absolutely no excuse for their being “without understanding.” Think about it. They were God’s special possession! He had delivered them out of Egyptian bondage and given them “the promised land,” whose beauty was beyond description. He had also delivered them from much larger and powerful armies and nations, because He loved them. The Jewish people are some of the best in the world at passing down their heritage and beliefs and unique stories to younger generations. Does this background help you understand better why God was unwilling to show them compassion? He had had enough of their rebellion and backslidings.
Before we laugh at their fate or point an accusing finger, let’s look at America. No nation has more churches (they’re on every corner!). No nation has received the blessings of God more than the good ole USA. No nation has more preachers or missionaries. In fact, we’ve sent out more missionaries than any other nation. Pretty incredible! And yet, we flaunt our sins - alcoholism, drug abuse, abortion, divorce, blatant homosexuality. We show NO SIGNS of brokenness or repentance. By our actions, we are showing that we are “without understanding,” even though we’ve had EVERY benefit of living in a Christian nation. And, as a result, God is saying, I will have “no compassion on them.”
QUIT making excuses. QUIT blaming everyone else for your shortcomings. QUIT trying to defend your ungodly actions. And for goodness sake, QUIT claiming that you don’t know any better. Because, if we’ve learned anything from the Israelites, we’ve learned that “IGNORANCE IS NO DEFENSE!”