April 20, 2023

(part 2) Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21

That voice behind you is Yahweh’s gentle and loving way of guiding. Our human tendencies so often push their way to the forefront of our thinking. Picture a straight highway leading upward (toward heaven). Jesus has told us plainly that it is narrow (Matthew 7:14).

If I allow my own thinking to pursue a course to the right of God’s way as revealed in His word, it will in reality be a lane change that gradually curves into a turn—a U-turn in fact—that will not take me where I intend to go. Right turns bring about additions to the word of God. Such a turn to the right is illustrated in the agonizingly lengthy list of man-made rules and traditions imposed by the Pharisees on their Jewish brethren. Many of these rules were attached to Sabbath-keeping, changing the day of welcome, delightful rest with the LORD into a miserable, heavily regulated day to be endured for fear of breaking some obscure “rule.” The frightening hold that the religious leaders had on the people had the effect of diminishing love for God. It is the foundation for legalism or “works theology,” the notion of earning one’s own way into heaven.

Changing lanes to the left results in another U-turn that is equally unfruitful. This path leads to deletions from the word of God. While the stubborn left-laner may not go through and use ‘white-out’ on passages of Scripture, he or she develops a blindness that effectively obliterates the instructions of Yahweh. This leads to a total disengagement of the believer’s responsibility in responding daily to the guidance offered by divine grace. Without it, there is no hope of redemption.

Both of these ‘lane-changes’ negatively affect the course and direction of one’s life. Both of these wayward courses are used by the enemy to spread negative effects to others. These two erroneous turns call for a double-stating of this warning: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25)

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 (see also Revelation 22:18-19)  

Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Joshua 1:7