Escapism and Divine Judgment

From Rebellion to Recognition

Isaiah 17:7–8 (KJV)
At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

Many People have what I think is an escapist attitude toward the things of the Spirit. Several have insisted to me lately that they do not believe in God, nor do they not believe in God. They think they are “true atheists,” having no agenda for or against God. One man recently told me that he was an agnostic. He did not know whether there is or is not a god, but he does not believe God exists. I assume he would deny it. But I think it’s because he, and those like him, don’t want to be held accountable for being anti-God, but neither do they wish at this time to be accountable to God.

Isaiah, in speaking about Damascus and Jacob in chapter seventeen, addresses opponents to God but from differing perspectives. Jacob, a term meant to describe the Northern kingdom of Israel, were blatant rebels against God. They had chosen to fight the clear plan of God. They knew it to be so, but they did not like what God had determined. Damascus, in Syria, on the other hand, could claim to be Gentiles. They had not rebelled against the God of Judah. They had never followed the God of Judah in the first place.