Isaiah 5: The Great Deception of Calling Evil Good

Introduction

We have all been deceived at least once: by a misleading advertisement, by a dishonest merchant, sometimes even by the people we love most. At Chiesa Giugliano, Nicola Palmieri starts from this shared experience to talk about one particular deception, the one he calls "the mother of all deceptions."

The trouble with deception, he says, is that you only notice it at the end, "when the trick has already been played." As long as we believe that what we are living is true, we cannot see that we are being deceived.

The message rests on half a verse from Isaiah: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). It then leads to the words of Jesus about the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and to the true life that Christ gives.

Outline of the Message

1. What Deception Leaves Behind

A deception is something presented to us as true and good, and we discover in the end that it was neither so true nor so good.
The first damage is distrust. The years go by and we become more and more suspicious. As soon as someone offers us something good, even something free, we go on the defensive.
This distrust touches other people, sometimes God himself, and above all the announcement of the Gospel: "What is he trying to sell me? Where does he want to take me?"
Yet as long as you distrust, you cannot build a relationship. A relationship rests, at least at the beginning, on trust. It is the same with the Lord: "Give the Lord a little trust, and you will see that he will act."

2. Living in Illusion

The second damage, a more serious one: deception makes us live in something that is not true.
The preacher explains the origin of the Italian word inganno: the preposition "in" and a rare verb form meaning to mumble, to babble, to say useless things. To live in deception is to place your trust in a reality with no foundation.
He does not want to be a prophet of doom, but he observes that we often live in a world of illusions: chasing after advertising, technology, fashion, novelties, new religions. A reality that is never present, never fulfilled, always pursued.
God's Word has always urged his people to come out of illusion and embrace what is true, what is really lived.

3. The Mother of All Deceptions: Calling Evil Good

"Woe": when the Word begins this way, it is not an encouragement. Jesus says it to the Pharisees too.
The world comes to think that goodness is a bad thing, because doing good no longer pays. The preacher quotes his grandmother's saying: "Do good, receive evil."
A world built on self-interest rather than the common good concludes: it is better to do evil, because people respect you and fear you.
This was already Israel's temptation in Isaiah's day. The neighboring nations, which worshiped other gods, seemed to prosper and to have stronger armies. Wouldn't it be better to abandon your God?
The greatest deception of modern man is to believe that there is something good in evil, and to give it more pleasant names. "Evil is evil. Period." No compromise with what wants to kill our life.

4. The Sinner Is Not a Hero

Another illusion: when evil no longer seems so bad, the sinner himself becomes likable.
The preacher draws on the theologian Harvey Cox: in the West, we regard sin and the sinner as a kind of hero, because we are nourished by a Greek mentality.
Odysseus, Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, Prometheus: the Greek heroes are those who rebel against the divinities and refuse to submit.
The deceiver wants to convince us that our God is like those Greek gods, and that the sinner is a hero because he refuses to obey. But our God is the only true God, worthy of all honor and all obedience, because God is love.
In literature and films, the rebel catches the eye. "All of this is deception and illusion. There is nothing good in evil, nothing heroic, nothing beautiful in sin."

5. The Deceiver and His Allies, Even Among Believers

We can be deceived by our own flesh (the sarx Paul speaks of), by a person who is herself deceived and speaks in good faith, by the world and its trends, and by the deceiver par excellence, the ancient serpent.
The deceiver also attacks believers in their faith. "Has this ever happened to me? Yes, it still happens to me." He quotes a theologian according to whom the unbeliever who lives within us must be kept more tightly in a corner every day.
First voice: "Do you really need all this faith? It is enough to believe in something." An emotion, a moment, and then live as you please. No: faith in God is real when it takes hold of our whole existence.
Second voice: "Why follow all these rules? It is just an imposed morality that locks you in." The preacher answers: if the Gospel were that, he would be the first to run away. The believer does not follow a rigid morality; he lives the true life in Christ.
He quotes John Taylor: "Say yes to the Lord, always say yes to the Lord, keep saying yes to the Lord, and you will not have time to say no to anything else."

6. Life and Death: The Thief Comes to Destroy

The words good and evil are abstract and leave room for interpretation. The New Testament uses two clearer terms: life and death. Good is what brings forth life. Evil is what brings forth death.
In John 10, Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Facing him is the thief. The Greek word kleptès (the root of "kleptomaniac") also means the deceiver.
"The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy" (John 10:10). He comes to steal the life the Lord has given us, to drain us of life, until we live "like the dead inside."
The verb translated "kill," thuô, also means to sacrifice: the thief offers the life he has taken from us on the altar of death, and our existence becomes a tribute paid to death.
Then he destroys: he takes away hope, strength, every desire to get back up. How many testimonies there are of men and women who say: "I know my life is destroyed, I no longer have the strength to change, it is too late."

7. In Christ, It Is Never Too Late

"It is never too late for you, just as it was not for me." No matter what the thief has taken: in Christ there is a new story, a resurrection, a new life.
John uses two Greek words. Bios means biological life: to be born, to grow, to die. For the true life, he uses zoé. Eternal life is zoé, a life whose quality is that of eternity, that of God.
Even those who have received life can doubt because of trials, and believe that Jesus has deceived them. The preacher is not ashamed to say so: Jeremiah said it to the Lord, "my wound is incurable" and "you have been to me like a deceptive spring" (Jeremiah 15:18).
These are only moments. In the end, what is kept is the crown of eternal life, never death. Hosea says it: "He has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has struck us, and he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up" (Hosea 6:1-2).
Conclusion: give up all deception and all illusion, and receive life in Jesus Christ.

Key Takeaways

A deception is only discovered at the end. It leaves behind distrust and a life built on illusion.
The mother of all deceptions is calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). Evil is evil; there is nothing good in it.
The rebellious sinner is not a hero: our God is not a Greek god, he is love and worthy of all obedience.
The thief, the deceiver, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus, the good shepherd, lays down his life.
In Christ, it is never too late: the true life, zoé, is offered to whoever receives it.

Personal Application

Does the distrust left by past disappointments keep you from giving the Lord a little trust?
What illusion are you chasing right now: a novelty, a success, an image of the ideal life?
Is there an evil you have given a more pleasant name so that you no longer see it as evil?
Which of the two voices do you hear most: "you don't need all this faith" or "it's just an imposed morality"?
Do you feel it is too late for you? What keeps you from receiving today the life Jesus gives?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the great deception according to Isaiah 5:20?

For Nicola Palmieri, the mother of all deceptions is calling evil good and good evil. The world ends up thinking that doing good no longer pays and that there is something good in evil. Yet evil remains evil: there is nothing good, nothing heroic, nothing beautiful in sin.

What does Jesus mean when he says the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy?

In John 10:10, the thief (kleptès) is also the deceiver. He comes to steal the life God has given us. The verb translated "kill" also means to sacrifice: he offers that life on the altar of death. Then he destroys, until nothing is left but ruins, with no hope and no strength.

What is the difference between bios and zoé in John's Gospel?

The preacher explains that bios means biological life: to be born, to grow, and to die. To speak of the true life, John uses zoé. Eternal life is zoé, a life of a quality no other life can have, the quality of God, which can be received only in Jesus Christ.