From the time that I wrote part 1 of this series, I obtained something that has taken the way I see things from the Word to an even deeper level. I cherish my Hebrew lexicon and it is a tool that I use daily when I study the Bible, and now, I have its Greek companion. A lexicon put out by the same publishing company as the Hebrew, providing a format which I am already comfortable using. I am thrilled to be able to share the words from the Greek more in depth along with the Hebrew. In this post, we are picking up where we left off, with the next accusations against God’s people through the prophet Isaiah.
Oh, sinful nation, a people weighed down by iniquity, descendants of evildoers, immoral children! They have abandoned Adonai, spurned the Holy One of Israel, turned their backs on Him! Isaiah 1:4
The two accusations we see in this single verse are abandonment and corruption, and while we may wag our finger at the Israelites and say, “For Shame!”, if we take a closer look at our own nation, we will see that we too as a whole have become corrupt and abandoned Him.
Corruption (Iniquity)
When Adonai Elohim created the world, He saw that it was good. It was pure, without sin, without decay. However, all of that changed in an instant when the serpent deceived Eve and she took from the tree, giving it to Adam who ate as well. In Genesis 3:7, it says that their “eyes were opened”. They now no longer knew the perfect and good world that God had created them to be in, they now were aware of sin, and they were aware of who the author of sin was as well, because Eve makes mentioned that it was the serpent what deceived her. Corruption had entered the world, and it has been on a fast track ever since.
In the days of Noah, the corruption of the earth and everything in it had become so horrific, that God chose to wipe out every living thing except for one family. One family that had chosen to follow the ways of Adonai. God saw the earth, and, yes, it was corrupt: for all living beings had corrupted their ways on the earth. God said to Noach, “The end of all living beings has come before me, for because of them the earth is filled with violence. I will destroy them along with the earth.” Genesis 6:12-13 Today, we find ourselves walking in the prophetic words of Messiah Himself, “For the Son of Man’s coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach. Back then, before the Flood, people went on eating and drinking, taking wives and becoming wives, right up till the day Noach entered the ark; and they didn’t know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes.” Matthew 24:37-39
What exactly is corruption? Let us look at our definitions from Webster’s Dictionary first.
1. Dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by powerful people.
2. Inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means.
3. A departure from the original or from what is pure.
4. Decay, decomposition.
When we take the last two definitions an apply them to Genesis, we can see how even from our English perspective when mankind departed from the original design, the pureness of what God had created, decay and decomposition took over the earth.
But what do we see from the Hebrew definitions? Corrupt(tion) in Hebrew is the word shachath (shaw-khath שחת) and one of the first words we see connected is “fall”. What do we call the act of Adam and Eve eating from the tree? The fall. The world became marred, spoiled, injured, made ineffective, and the people became corrupt in morals. When we look at God’s Word, we see the traces and footprints of corruption due to sin. The Children of Israel had barely been out of Egypt before the light was shown on the corruption of their hearts. While Moses was on the mountain, receiving God’s instruction, the people didn’t waste any time in doing what was evil in God’s sight. Adonai said to Moshe, “Go down! Hurry! Your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have become corrupt! So quickly they have turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have cast a metal statue of a calf, worshipped it, sacrificed to it and said, “Isra’el! Here is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” Exodus 32:7-8
Because of their corruption, 3000 men died at the order of Adonai, which directly points to one other meanings of shachath; destroy. Because of their corrupt hearts, they were destroyed. As Adonai does not change, He continued to speak through the judges and the prophets calling out the corruption of the people. But even in the midst of their evil ways, He was always extending His hand of mercy. Ezekiel wrote, “You will know that I am Adonai when I have dealt with you in a manner that preserves my reputation, and not according to your evil ways and corrupt actions, house of Isra’el”, says Adonai Elohim. Ezekiel 20:44 Adonai had especially harsh messages for His priests, His Cohanim, for leading His people astray. The prophet Malachi called them out saying, “But you turned away from the path, you caused many to fail I the Torah, you corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot (the Lord of Hosts). Malachi 2:8
When we take this to the New Testament and look at the word corruption from the Greek, it is the word diphtheiro (dee-af-thi-ro) meaning to change for the worse, to corrupt minds and morals, to destroy, ruin, to consume, and to kill. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote, “Teach and exhort people about these things. If anyone teaches differently and does not agree to the sound precepts of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and to the doctrine that is in keeping with godliness, he is swollen with conceit and understands nothing. Instead, he has morbid desire for controversies and word-battles, out of which come jealousy, dissension, insults, evil suspicions, and constant wrangling among people whose minds are no longer function properly and who have been deprived of the truth, so that they imagine that religion is a road to riches. Now true religion does bring great riches, but only to those who are content with what they have. For we have brought nothing into the world; and we can take nothing out of it; so, if we have food and clothing, we will be satisfied with these. Furthermore, those whose goal is to be rich fall into temptation; they get trapped in many foolish and hurtful ambitions which plunge them into run and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all the evils; because of this craving, some people have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves to the heart with many pains.” 1 Timothy 6:2b-10
All one has to do is go to the internet to see how corrupt our world has become. It is in plain sight and at times it is overwhelming. But what about our own heart? Is their hidden corruption that we justify or ignore? When we choose to walk after the flesh and the world, which is death, instead of after the Spirit, which is life, are we not doing exactly as the Israelites did with golden calf? Are we not bowing down to the idols of this world? One of my favorite passages is from the book of Deuteronomy. It is a promise, or a curse, it is free will presented in its most obvious form, it is like the question on a test, but an open book test because Adonai gives the correct answer to choose.
Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil – in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow His ways, and to obey His mitzvot, regulations and rulings; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden (Jordan) to enter and possess. I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him – FOR THAT IS THE PUPOSE OF YOUR LIFE! Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adoani Eloheinu, Adonai echad (Hear, Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one) and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your resources. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Choose life! If each of us decide to choose life every single day, what a difference we can make in this fallen world. Yeshua said, “I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the LIFE; no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. May we each choose Yeshua, the Way, over the way of corruption.
We will look at the word abandoned in the next post.
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