Isaiah 41:7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer spurs on him who strikes the anvil. He says of the welding, “It is good.” He nails down the idol so it will not topple.

Do you see the irony in this verse? They are encouraging each other saying “it is good,” essentially playing God (remember Him proclaiming “It is good”?), and all the while they can see with their eyes that it’s not that good. I mean, it has to be nailed down otherwise it will topple over.

How often is this scenario played out today? Not long ago I came across someone recommending a blog article about the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince. The author of the article said that we could know God wasn’t behind the earthquake because God is love and because we know not everything that happens is His will since sin happens.

A round of encouragement went up. “It is good,” said the peanut gallery.

What idol were they nailing down? Their fake God who loves everyone so much He would never do anything that would hurt or kill someone. This is the same God who loves people too much to send them to hell. A God who loves couldn’t send someone to hell to suffer!

What is the obvious flaw in the idol that they ignore, like the nail holding down the golden image? The God of the Bible often killed people. You can’t get very far into the Bible before God wipes out the entire population save 8 people. It’s extremely plain that God was behind the flood. Of course, they would say that’s just poetry, not to be taken literally. What about the death and destruction God tells us is still to come in the book in the Revelation? Not literal? So…how about the earth swallowing Korah whole along with all his family and possessions (Num. 16)? Again,  it was clear that it was God doing it. It was a punishment for sin. Speaking of which, the Bible says that death is the result of sin. “For the wages of sin is death.”

God is completely just in taking the life of any sinner. It’s His grace that puts up with us long enough to seek Him and come to Him. It’s His love that displays itself in His mercy towards us in that He offers forgiveness so that we can repent and be filled with the Holy Spirit and be freed from sin and death.

Let’s stop repeating platitudes and start quoting Scripture. Read the Bible for yourself and if something goes against what you’ve been taught, perk up! Don’t dismiss it. Ask God to show you the truth. Believe the word of God. Believe what the Bible says. And show it by acting on it, by obeying it.