Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Does this sound familiar? Do you hear things in the news that sound completely upside down or backwards? Think times have never been worse???
Well, this quote comes from Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20. That means this was written sometime late 7th century BC. It demonstrates that people have been manipulating language for many, many years. So it should not come as a shock to us that its happening today.
Everyday there seems to be something in the news that challenges our whole belief system. For thousands of years, marriage has been defined as the union between a man and a woman. Now there are those who want to redefine marriage to include the union between a man and another man or a woman and another woman. Instead of defining these unions another way, the word marriage is compromised, demeaning the whole institution of marriage and corrupting its meaning.
There are also many instances where lawbreakers are heralded as heroes. Too often our own citizens take to the streets in riots and their actions are reported as somehow justified or appropriate. Politicians caught in lie after lie defend themselves by continuing to lie or redefining words to suit their means and justify the ends.
Jesus says in Matthew 5:37, “But let your statement be ‘yes, yes’ or ‘no, no’; anything beyond these is of evil”. He understood the importance of truth in speech. As we lose more and more of our language to half-truths and lies, it becomes more and more difficult to know the truth. Thankfully, we can rest assured that we will always be able to find the truth in God’s word – “Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth” John 17:17.
