11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed [k]book, which when they give it to the one who [l]is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the [m]book will be given to the one who [n]is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I [o]cannot read.”
13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their [p]words
And honor Me with their [q]lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their [r]reverence for Me [s]consists of [t]tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”15 Woe to those who deeply hide their [u]plans from the Lord,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered [v]as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
As we continue in this chapter, we have a somewhat humorous example in v. 11. There’s a sealed book (or scroll), and they give it to one who can read it, and he makes the excuse, “But it’s sealed, I can’t open that!” Which is just plain silly, in comparison to the second person, who simply cannot read. Or at least it ought to be humorous if it wasn’t also sad.
For God had given them these visions, predictions of judgment, and they just made excuses. Even worse, as we see in v. 13, they only offered God lip service. Though they even followed the traditions, and likely still offered sacrifices, “they removed their hearts far from God”. And this really gets to the core of the issue.
God doesn’t want our words, or even our deeds, He wants our hearts. Naturally, as James would later write, deeds follow true faith. A heart that is given to God will produce justice and righteousness in our lives, and “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”.
So don’t make excuses, and don’t even bother making promises. You won’t be perfect, and you shouldn’t claim to be. As John would later write, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) Then we find ourselves in the same boat as the Israelites, just offering lip service with no substance.
Instead, dedicate your heart and life to God, and then live for Him faithfully. Be sincere in your faith nonetheless, and confess your mistakes to God. As John continued, “If we confess our sins, He will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”