Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
Who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (Isaiah 5:20, NIV)
Reflecting on this passage, it is difficult not to think of developments in our own time Things that were once considered shameful are now spoken of as being good, and those who oppose these things are spoken of as being evil. For example, whereas in the past homosexuality was viewed as one of the worst of sins, now it is celebrated by many in the society at large and those who express unease with it are denounced as "bigots." Abortion too was once considered a great evil, but in more recent years many have come to believe (and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled) that women have an absolute right to destroy the child in their womb and that this "right" should be zealously guarded from infringement. Those who express moral disapproval of abortion are characterized as being heartless and/or haters of women.
How did we as a society get to this point? The answer is quite easy. Many in our society--including some who profess to be Christians--have rejected the moral law which the Creator has laid down. They have sought to go their own way morally. However, very few people like to think of themselves as transgressors. We prefer to think of ourselves as being basically good. But engaging in or even just condoning behavior that has long been considered sinful threatens that sense of our own basic moral decency. Thus, to assuage any sense of guilt, we rationalize our behavior and/or beliefs by inverting previous moral standards--it is not we who are evil, it is those who condemn our actions or beliefs who are evil (of course, in a larger sense, all of us "have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," regardless of the moral beliefs we claim to hold). This inverting of moral standards is often justified by appealing to something that few would deny is good in and of itself. For example, it is argued that supporting same-sex "marriage" is a good thing because it is all about "love"--the love between two people. What good person good could be opposed to "love"? In the case of some self-professed Christians, rejecting long-standing Christian teaching is justified by appealing to some well-chosen biblical text--even though that text does not really relate to the matter at hand. For example, a few years ago the president of the United States rationalized his decision to support same-sex "marriage" by appealing to those words of Jesus in Matthew 7:12 often called the "Golden Rule": "Do unto others what you would have them do to you." However, he neglected to note that Jesus Himself also clearly defined marriage as being a man and a woman (see Matthew 19:4-5). It seems highly unlikely that Jesus intended "the Golden Rule" to nullify the effect of any of His other words or of other Scripture (which condemn homosexual behavior), but, by quoting "the Golden Rule," President Obama sought to portray his position as completely consistent with Scripture.
Nevertheless, regardless of how we human beings may rationalize sin, "God is not mocked"--it will remain sin. We cannot lightly dismiss the warning of Isaiah--judgment, even if delayed by Divine mercy, will ultimately fall on those who "call evil good and good evil," unless they repent. This is no less true in our own day as it was in Isaiah's day. It seems that most of Isaiah's contemporaries ignored his warning and consequently, judgment did come-- at the hands of the Babylonians. Would that we would not be as stubborn and foolish!