God’s word confronts those who fail to teach in clear terms what offends God. These teachers refuse to say what needs to be said. This happened in the history of Israel, just as it continues to happen in our day.
By bringing the content of this word, what I am writing will be rejected by those leaders who are under a spell of deception and those who have been lulled into complacency to accept what their teachers are teaching.
Isaiah wrote very strong words regarding those who have been assigned to teach God’s people but are failing in that assignment: “For the leaders of my people–the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds–are blind and ignorant. They are like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes” (Isaiah 56:10).
A silent watchdog, one who has been assigned by God to warn His people when a warning is required, will remain silent as their followers are devoured by lies and misrepresentations of God’s truth. They assume their silence will allow them to hold onto those who currently follow them. But a day is coming when that logic will be dismantled publicly for all to see, even those who followed these silent watchdogs and were lulled into deception, believing what they had been taught.
Isaiah mentioned what motivates a silent sheepdog: “They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain” (vs. 11). The ignorance of a silent spiritual watchdog happens because they have departed from God’s word and were not teaching the full spectrum of the Lord’s heart, warnings included. Instead, they taught their failed imaginations, hoping for personal gain and the retention of those who assembled to hear them teach when the Lord wanted them to be willing to risk the loss of all things, including some of their followers, for the cause of Christ.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
Featured Image by Hans Kemperman from Pixabay
