A Bulging Wall
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 39, “A Marvellous Work and a Wonder,” on Gospel Library
Start
Isaiah describes a tall wall with a crack in it. The crack bulges out a little more each day, and then the whole wall falls at once (Isaiah 30:13).
Read Together
The people of Judah still offered sacrifices and said their prayers (Isaiah 1:11–15). Isaiah saw that their hearts were drifting away from the Lord, and he warned them while the crack was still small.
13Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
10Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
13Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. 14And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. 15For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
What It Teaches
Isaiah 29:13 names the first warning sign. People can say the right words to God while their hearts wander somewhere else. From the outside, that kind of crack is hard to see.
Chapter 30 names a second sign. The people told the prophets, “speak unto us smooth things.” They wanted to hear only what they already liked. The Lord kept sending warnings anyway, because he loved them.
When the wall falls in verse 14, it shatters like a clay pot, with no piece left big enough to carry a coal from the fire. Then verse 15 gives the way back. “In returning and rest shall ye be saved.” Returning to the Lord is what repentance means, and verse 18 says he waits “that he may be gracious unto you.”
Verse 21 promises that those who return will hear a voice behind them saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” The Holy Ghost is that voice for us when we start to drift.
Talk About It
What are small signs that a heart is drifting from the Lord, even when a person keeps doing the outward things? What helps our family notice a crack while it is still small?
Take to Church
The Lord warns us while the crack is small, and he waits for us to come back so he can be gracious to us.