20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Now hear this, O foolish and [g]senseless people,
Who have eyes but do not see;
Who have ears but do not hear.
22 ‘Do you not fear Me?’ declares the Lord.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it.
Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
23 ‘But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
They have turned aside and departed.
24 ‘They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
Who gives rain in its season,
Both the autumn rain and the spring rain,
Who keeps for us
The appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 ‘Your iniquities have turned these away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26 ‘For wicked men are found among My people,
They watch like fowlers [h]lying in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch men.
27 ‘Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 ‘They are fat, they are sleek,
They also [i]excel in deeds of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the [j]orphan, that they may prosper;
And they do not [k]defend the rights of the poor.
29 ‘Shall I not punish [l]these people?’ declares the Lord,
‘On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?’30 “An appalling and horrible thing
Has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule [m]on their own authority;
And My people love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?
God gives us a contrast here in this passage, between the sea and His people. In reality, it could apply to any of us, but we see here how the sea roars and the waves toss, but they can’t really go outside the bounds God has set. That is, they have to obey the rules that He has put in place, with gravity and tides and what not. The seas don’t get a choice from God, “Hey, Black Sea, where would you like to go today?”
On the other hand… There’s us, and in this passage Israel, and we can do whatever we like with the freedom God has trusted to us. That is, we can, but we shouldn’t. See, God gave the Israelites a whole bunch of rules for living. He didn’t simply say, “Hey, worship me like so, offer these sacrifices, and then you can live your life however you like…”
Rather, there were laws for dealing with disease, and which foods to eat, and contaminated fabric, and buildings, etc. Why? They might have thought it was just because God wanted to be controlling. Yet there is a clue in v. 25, “Your iniquities have turned these (seasonal rains) away, and your sins have withheld good from you.”
In other words, all the rules God gave them, were for their good. If they followed God’s instructions, they would be the most healthy and prosperous nation on the planet. But they didn’t, and they weren’t. We’ve touched on the practical rules, food, moldy buildings, but what about things like we see in the ten commandments.
Does it really hurt us if we break any of those? Maybe it is obvious to you, but in our world, it should be plain that it isn’t obvious to everyone. Just as in their day, people were making money from the depravity of others (vv. 27-28), so it is today. From brothels, to gambling, and worse, there are no shortages of ways to indulge our flesh in things we ought not to.
Our society tells us that none of this matters, we can do whatever feels good, and we’ll be fine. In case you doubt, we’re watching a series right now where everyday people on the street have flat out said that of two opposite things. Just do what you believe, what you feel is right, and it’ll work out great for you.
Back to the seas for a moment though… The other night, I was watching this incredible video about the creatures that live in the deep oceans, how there are different species at all different layers, and rarely do they leave. In fact, some have fallen to pieces when scientists have attempted to bring them up for closer study.
Surely, any decent being who lives in utter darkness would be thrilled to glimpse the world revealed by the sun? On the contrary, God has made them to live where He put them, and when they leave it, they die. Their bodies are not equipped for life in shallower waters, any more than ours could handle the ocean depths.
Yet we choose (often) to go outside God’s boundaries, or even to live life on the edge, pushing those boundaries as far as we possibly can. To what end? We satisfy our lust for control, for power, at the expense of our very being. God created us and knows what is best, on the practical physical side, and for our spirit as well.
Even something simple like rest, we take for granted, and push our bodies to the limits. We wake up tired, and instead of getting the hint that we stayed up too late, we drug ourselves with caffeine or sugar or both, and push on with our day. We each need to examine our lives, are we pushing God’s boundaries, or flat out running over the line.
At first, we may hear danger signals. Yet as we do it more often, those fade into the background and we don’t even notice. We need to heed the warning in v. 21, of a people who cannot see with their eyes or hear with their ears. Stop ignoring God’s instructions and live life His way. It may be uncomfortable, or even seem strange, but God will not steer you wrong. He cannot, for He loves you too much.