Woe and Will

The Woe

“Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin” (Isaiah 30:1)

We mustn’t overlook the very first word, “Woe”. It is a very strong and powerful statement. It communicates great sorrow, sadness and distress. This suffering and remorse is directed towards the “rebellious children” and is addressing their fate. These children, so called in reference to God the Father, are self-decided, ill-willed, stubborn, active apostates. Peter calls these rebellious children, “selfwilled”. They are full of pride and “walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government” and are not afraid to, “speak evil of dignities” (2 Peter 2:10).

These rebellious children do not seek nor take counsel in the Lord. They resist and struggle against anything to do with God. But they gravitate towards and cling onto sin. Only a prideful person could do this for they place themselves in a superior position to God. Rebellion is open defiance, a conscious effort and a willful act against God.

With such a person it is easy to see why the prophet begins with “Woe”, for nothing ever turns out well that works in opposition of God.

The phrase, “cover with a covering” comes from the Hebrew word, “Maccekah”. It is a reference to pouring out of wine or some libation as an offering when forming a compact or covenant (Genesis 35:14). Or it is sometimes a reference to casting molten metals in making a statue or idol (Isaiah 44:10).

In either case, the rebellious children are not seeking God nor His Spirit. They are forming bonds, alliances and allegiances from without, not from within. Whatever is not of God and faith in God, is of sin (Romans 14:23).

The Will

Rebellion is the effect with the will being the cause. The will sets rebellion in motion. But what of the will? Is the will a product of the spirit or is the spirit a product of the will?

Cause and effect. The will is the cause. The act is the effect. The act is the will in motion. What triggers the will is desire. The thing desired becomes the goal. To achieve the goal the will sets in motion the act best suited to achieve it.

With an evil spirit comes evil desires. The will of an evil spirit will set into motion whatever it needs to, so that it is able to achieve its evil desire.

The same holds true with a Godly spirit. The will of a person with a Godly spirit will set into motion whatever it needs to be able to achieve its Godly desire.

But there is one very big difference between the evil spirit and the Godly spirit.

The evil spirit cares not what it sets into motion in pursuit of its desires. Good or bad acts is not the concern of evil. Attaining its desire is evils’ only concern. The only parameters evil may set are to safeguard from being caught. Evil sometimes does good things in its quest to obtain its desires.

The Godly Spirit will only act in a Godly manner and only with Godly intent. The end does not justify the means if the means involves sin. Nothing justifies sinning. If something requires sin, then it is not of God.

The spirit within a person will determine their desires. Once desire is establish the will sets into motion the necessary things in which to obtain those desires. The child of God will always remain on the path of righteousness and will be always be headed towards things of God. The final desire and destination is to be with God Himself.

The evil spirit will be repelled by righteousness and drawn towards evil. It is the will that propels towards the desire. Change the spirit, and you’ll change the desires. Change the desires and you will change the will. Change the will, (the cause) and you will change the motion (the effect). Finally, once the motion has been coursed corrected aright, your destination will be set aright.  

Bill Hitchcock