Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom in Isaiah Part 8
Deluded by False Wisdom and Knowledge
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“You felt secure in your wickedness and said, ‘No one sees me,’
Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
(Is 40:10) NASB 95
In this unusual passage in Isaiah, God reveals that He knows what the wicked are thinking in their heart. In the context of this chapter, God was describing Babylon, the wicked empire that was preparing to conquer Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. The wicked felt secure because they were deluded. The Hebrew word shub (meaning to turn back, return) here is translated as deluded, though this is the only time it is translated that way. Deluded was chosen by the translators by the context of the passage. Their false knowledge of the true Creator and their idolatry to false gods resulted in false wisdom. This false worldview turned them away from the true Creator and His ways.
They were deluded in their heart, mistaken, misled, and self-deceived. As a result, the Babylonians securely said in their heart, “I am and there is no one beside me.” This was the arrogance of Babylon. They were the world empire and they felt secure. They were deluded.
It is interesting that throughout the Old Testament, God reveals the dangerous thinking (thought process) at the heart of many who rejected Him. For example, Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 both contain the statement, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds, there is no one that does good.”
This is the thought of the heart of the one that rejects God. (This is the “inner being” that Paul refers to in Romans 7:22, 2 Cor. 4:16 and Ephesians 3:16.)
In several other places throughout the Old Testament, God describes the thought of the heart of arrogant and sinful people, often using the phrase, “said in his heart”:
- “And you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand made me this wealth.'” Deuteronomy 8:17
- “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock… Though you say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?'” Obadiah 1:3
- “Because your heart is lifted up, And you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods…'” Ezekiel 28:2
- “This is the exultant city which dwells securely, Who says in her heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.'” Zephaniah 2:15
In Isaiah 10:13, God revealed the arrogance of King Sennacherib of Assyria by what he said in his heart, “For he has said, ‘By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this…’”
God knows the deepest thoughts of the human mind and heart, David wrote,” O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.” (Psa 139:1-2). And when David commissioned his son, Solomon, he said, “…know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts...” (1 Chronicles 28:9)
Let us reach out to friends whose hearts are deluded by false knowledge and wisdom, and say in their hearts, “There is no God”. Ask the Lord to help us introduce them to the God that searches our hearts, understands our thoughts and redeems us from our sin.