Growing with God: A daily devotional with Tonia Slimm.
Isaiah 47:14-15 (NIV)
“Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by. That is all they are to you—these you have dealt with and labored with since childhood. All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save you.”
Isaiah 47:14-15 (MSG)
“Fat chance. You’d be grasping at straws that are already in the fire, a fire that is even now raging. Your ‘experts’ are in it and won’t get out. It’s not a fire for cooking venison stew, not a fire to warm you on a winter night! That’s the fate of your friends in sorcery, your magician cronies you’ve been colluding with all your life. They reel, confused, bumping into one another. None of them bother to help you.”
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“In fact, they are like stubble; fire burns them. They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame [much less save the nation], There is no blazing coal for warming Nor fire before which to sit!
This is how they have become to you, those [astrologers and sorcerers] with whom you have labored,
those who have done business with you from your youth; each has wandered in his own way. There is no one to save you.” -AMPLIFIED
“For the Babylonians, sorcery also included a mood of complacency, because the people relied on their magicians to predict the coming of the enemy and to defeat him. In Babylonia the intellectual and the magical were intertwined, the wise man being instructed in all the arts of the supernatural.” ~Geoffrey Grogan
Last we saw, God was upbraiding Babylon for seeking counsel from the sorcerers, magicians, and the astrologers. He mocked them for looking for trusting these fools who had failed to help them too many times.
“You must be fatigued with so much counsel! Let the stargazers and astrologers take their stand.
See if they can help you now! Let them make their monthly predictions.
Maybe they can reveal what is about to come upon you.” -Isaiah 47:13 (The Passion Translation)
Today, we close out Isaiah 47 with the outcome of Babylon’s wizards, enchanters, fortune-tellers, and horoscopists that the people of Babylon were trusting in.
“Yahweh’s denunciation of Babylon comes to a climax in the final four verses. In spite of her pride, Babylon would need a savior, but there would be none for her.” ~Thomas Constable
“Look, they’re like dry straw that ignites in a flash and is burned away. They cannot help you—they cannot help themselves from the power of the flame. And this is not some warm and cozy fire shared among friends! So that’s what they’re worth to you—absolutely nothing, even after all these years of working together. They’re gone. No one’s left to rescue you.” -(VOICE)
We find God using a metaphor to describe the final end of Babylon’s sorcerers, magicians, and astrologers, they will be judged by fire. In fact, they will be destroyed by fire, and they will be absolutely no help to the people of Babylon in their time of need. No one will be able to save Babylon from God’s coming judgment against them, NO ONE.
“But they are as useless as dried grass burning in the fire. They cannot even deliver themselves! You’ll get no help from them at all. Theirs is no fire to sit beside to make you warm! And all your friends of childhood days shall slip away and disappear, unable to help.” -(TLB)
“No one shall save you: What a sobering final sentence. This is true for all who will not find their salvation in the LORD; if you will not look to Him and be saved, then certainly no one shall save you.” ~David Guzik
The Bible is very explicit on God’s viewpoint of the black arts, He hates them. From the very beginning we find Him cautioning Israel about not seeking help from mediums, witches, or necromancers. Why? Because He was their God, if they needed guidance, direction, or wisdom, they were to come to Him. They were to trust Mefalti, the Lord is my Deliverer, for He is Adonai–Tzva’ot, God Almighty.
God told Israel that spiritism and the black arts were forbidden:
1.) “Do not turn to mediums or consult with those who communicate with the spirits of the dead. Do not go near them, or else you will defile yourselves. I am the Eternal your God.” -Leviticus 19:31 (VOICE)
2.) “I will resolutely reject persons who dabble in the occult or traffic with mediums, prostituting themselves in their practices. I will cut them off from their people.” -Leviticus 20:6 (MSG)
3.) “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead]. For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the Lord; and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you.” -Deuteronomy 18:9-12 (AMP)
Even the New Testament warns us against Spiritism:
1.) Paul warned the Galatians in this way:
“Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control), idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies], envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” -Galatians 5:19-21 (AMP)
2.) In the book of Revelation John records this Message from Jesus:
“It is finished! I am the A and the Z—the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty the springs of the Water of Life—as a gift! Everyone who conquers will inherit all these blessings, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But cowards who turn back from following me, and those who are unfaithful to me, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those conversing with demons, and idol worshipers and all liars—their doom is in the Lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death.” -Revelation 21:6-8 (TLB)
“No matter how innocent the practices of the occult seem at first, they are all dimensions of the one rebellion that has been underway since the Garden of Eden: the aim to avoid at all costs childlike submission to the limitations and provisions of a sovereign God, and to get instead a power which can be called great. Man in the occult is man in rebellion.” ~John Piper
My friend, God has given us His viewpoint of anything that has to do with the occult, Spiritism, witchcraft, astrology, or anything that has to do with the black arts, He hates them. In Isaiah, He reminds us that those practices will not save you, and He even tells us what awaits those who practice them, judgement by fire. As a child of God, we need to be careful that we are not participating, or dabbling in these practices, for they are sin, and those who take part in them, even in a small way, will be held accountable.
“We are not to look to omens or “signs” to direct our lives. The Bible reprimands people for doing this. It is an “abomination” and foolishness. Look to God and His instructions for life as provided in the Bible. To do otherwise is to foolishly deceive yourself, or allow Satan and others to deceive you.” ~Paul S. Taylor
My Prayer:
Adonai–Tzva’ot, God Almighty, I understand your stance on Spiritism, and astrology. I ask that your Holy Spirit help me to recognize these practices and flee from them. From the beginning of time, the Enemy of mankind’s soul has tried to deceive man that it is okay to try to be equal with you, God. But you alone are God, and you have no equal. You are the Creator; we are but the created. You are Supreme, and Sovereign, and I humbly accept that only you can save and deliver me. I submit to your authority, and I am trusting in you, Lord.
Growing with God 