Wisdom Wednesday: Deluded by False Wisdom
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.’ “But evil will come on you Which you will not know how to charm away; And disaster will fall on you, For which you cannot atone; And destruction about which you do not know Will come on you suddenly.” Isaiah 47:10–11 (NASB 95)
In this passage, Isaiah prophesied the future fall of ancient Babylon. Writing 150 years before the fall of Babylon to the Persians under Cyrus, Isaiah encouraged the faithful believers who were captives of Babylon that there was a day of reckoning coming, in which terrible things would befall the Babylonians and their spectacular city. Using illustrative language to describe their future plight:
- They will sit in the dirt, not thrones (v.1)
- The women will do common work (v.2)
- Their shame will be exposed for all to see; they will be humiliated (v.3)
- Thie will no longer be considered “the queen of kingdoms” (vv.5,7)
In their pride and confident in their security while ignoring the true God, they thought, “I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, Nor know loss of children.” (v.8b)
They were a self-deluded people!
How were they deluded? They deceived themselves by relying on their own wisdom and knowledge (v. 10) Puffed up in pride, their wisdom was based on their own understanding of the world. What was their knowledge and understanding based on?
- Their own self-confident pride
- Sorcerers were queried to tell the future (vv. 9 and 12)
- Astrologers were also used (v. 13; See also Daniel 2:2 and 2:4-5)
But the Persians suddenly conquered Babylon in 539 BC, and their wisdom was proven to be foolishness. Modern archeological excavations have revealed magnificent remains of temples, walls, gates and hanging gardens. The city was a magnificent metropolis–but it was a deluded place believing in false gods, false prophets (sorcerers and astrologers) and relying on the false wisdom they provided.
Remember, the Hebrew people were cautioned to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Prov.3:5-6). This true wisdom was in Babylon—certainly in the hands of some faithful Jews that had been sent to live in the city of Babylon. But the Babylonians showed no mercy and worked the old people hard (v.6).
The Babylonians rejected the Hebrew wisdom based on God’s revelation. Beware of those who are deluded by their own wisdom. We must trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not depend on an understanding based on the foolishness of the world.