Isaiah 9:16

Isaiah 9:16 says, For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.  Isaiah said that the leaders of the people of Isreal caused them to err in their relationship with God.  Those who were supposed to be closest to God had turned to other gods and set a bad example for those following them.  We have some people today who profess to be religious leaders who set a bad example for those whom they are supposed to lead to a closer relationship with God, but even though it makes it harder for those who are under their leadership, that is still never going to be an excuse for not following God.  Ultimately, we are each responsible for our own relationship with Jesus Christ and we will never be excused if we don’t accept Him as our Savior and Lord because of what someone else may have taught.   

Verse seventeen adds, Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  It is stated clearly here that not just the leaders, but everyone was a hypocrite in their relationship with God.  For this reason, God's anger with their actions was not turned away.  We can never expect God’s blessings or protection if we are hypocritical in our relationship with Him.  No matter what our words may say, if our lives reflect anything other than what Jesus Christ teaches us, we are being hypocritical, and God will always be upset with our actions.   

Verse eighteen continues, For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.  Isaiah said wickedness was like a wildfire, burning up everything around it.  If we let a little sin into our life and do not repent and confess, it will tend to spread, and before long we may have a wildfire of sin in our lives.   

Verse nineteen states, Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.  Because sin was burning like a wildfire through the people of Israel, God’s will had been darkened.  Sin is always going to blind us to the will of God as long as we allow it to exist.   

Verse twenty adds, And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:  Isaiah said that instead of living in a land flowing with milk and honey that God had given them, the people would be so hungry that they would eat their own arm.  When we turn away from the will of God, especially as Christians, we are always going to be starving spiritually.   

Verse twenty-one continues, Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  The people of Israel, the tribes that had already turned away from God, would be united in a war against Judah.  As followers of Christ, no matter how far others who say they are also may stray away from God’s will, even if they attempt to discredit or destroy us, we must remain faithful to God’s will if we want His protection and blessing in this lifetime.  As Christians, even though we are forever saved by God’s power, we can still allow ourselves to lose a lot of the blessings of God by allowing false gods to some between us and Him, and a false god is anything we put more faith in than we put in Jesus Christ and His example and word.