Isaiah 29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
We are living in a world that is turned upside down. Everything seems to be out of kilter, whether we are talking about politics, the economy, or the judiciary. That is the way it was going to be for God’s people when God addressed them through Isaiah.
Isaiah 29:16 says, “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?” Living independently of God was just as absurd for Israel as it would be for a hunk of clay to declare independence from its maker. Can you imagine a piece of clay on the potter’s wheel claiming to be independent of the potter or claiming that the potter did not understand?
The point of Isaiah 29 is that your life is upside down until God has His place. It is just like a piece of clay arguing against its potter. This chapter talks about a people who kept sacrifices and special days and knew the liturgy but whose hearts were far from God. Verse 13 says, “Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth…but have removed their heart far from me.”
These people acted as if they were drunk or in the middle of a deep sleep. God had closed their eyes, and when God’s Word was delivered to them, the learned men said, “I can’t understand this.” The men that were not learned said, “I’m not learned.” The real problem was that God didn’t have His place in their hearts, so they had no comprehension. People understand more when they obey. These people were not obeying God, so they did not understand what God had to say.
Verse 18 says that there is coming a day when “the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” This is not merely talking about people with physical difficulties, but about people who could not see God’s truth because they didn’t want to. A day is coming when that is going to change, but we don’t need to wait until that day.
You can live a life of clarity right now, today! Trust the timeless Word of God, and not the fickle culture around you. Center your dependence and worship around the unchanging God. Live by the facts of God’s Word, and do not be a slave to your feelings. Life is upside down until God has His place. So, give Him His place in your life. When you do, you will understand more and live better.