“NOR DO THEY DISCERN!”

Isaiah 44:18-20                      (ESV)

“18 They know not, “NOR DO THEY DISCERN”, for HE has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?"

20 He feeds on ashes; A DELUDED HEART has led him astray, and HE CANNOT DELIVER HIMSELF or say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" 

TRUTH is a tremendous thing.  Being able to DISCERN THE TRUTH from a half-truth is sometimes difficult to do, but if you observe the one delivering a message, it will generally reveal itself to be TRUTH, or not!   

JESUS said in John 8:44 to the scribes and Pharisees, who thought of themselves as the Spiritual ELITE, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is NO TRUTH IN HIM. When he LIES, he speaks out of his own character, for HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FATHER OF LIES”.  A LIAR, or someone who exhibits a strong ability twist words to make those words sound like what they want them to say, is usually not interested in TRUTH!  They are generally more inclined to sway others to believe that they are correct, and by doing soo, get what they want done to be accomplished.  

Isaiah said that “He feeds on ashes; A DELUDED HEART has led him astray, and HE CANNOT DELIVER HIMSELF or say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"  Thus, he can tell you a LIE and not even SEE that he is speaking an untruth.  Once again, JESUS said “When he LIES, he speaks out of his own character, for HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FATHER OF LIES”.  He may not intend to be untruthful, but it is his nature.  

It is SO very important NOT to become one of the “NOR DO THEY DISCERN” club.  According to one dictionary, the word “discern” means to “distinguish (someone or something) with difficulty by sight or with the other senses.”  One devotional says “Some Christians are so spiritually hungry that they will swallow any teaching, even if it is unbalanced or unhealthy. We must learn to test what we hear.”  In Acts 17:11 Scripture records “Now these Jews (in Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY TO SEE IF THESE THINGS WERE SO.”  The “NOR DO THEY DISCERN” people must not have been attending the church in Berea???