Trusting in “the God of Good Luck”

Trusting in “the God of Good Luck”

A warning for us today,

Isaiah’s prophecy now turns back to those who have left Jehovah and have persisted in idolatry. It says: “You men are those leaving Jehovah, those forgetting my holy mountain, those setting in order a table for the god of Good Luck and those filling up mixed wine for the god of Destiny.” (Isaiah 65:11) By setting a table of food and drink before “the god of Good Luck” and “the god of Destiny,” these backsliding Jews have fallen into the idolatrous practices of the heathen nations. What will become of any who naively trust in these gods?

Jehovah forthrightly warns them: “I will destine you men to the sword, and you will all of you bow down to being slaughtered; for the reason that I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen; and you kept doing what was bad in my eyes, and the thing in which I took no delight you chose.” (Isaiah 65:12) With a pun on the name of the god of Destiny in the original Hebrew, Jehovah says that those who are worshiping this false deity will be ‘destined to the sword,’ that is, to destruction. Jehovah has repeatedly called these men to repentance by means of his prophets, but they have ignored him and have stubbornly chosen to do what they know is bad in his eyes. What contempt they show for God! In fulfillment of God’s warning, the nation will suffer a great catastrophe in 607 B.C.E. when Jehovah allows the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and her temple. At that time “the god of Good Luck” will fail to protect its devotees in Judah and Jerusalem.—2 Chronicles 36:17.

Today true Christians heed the warning found at Isaiah 65:11, 12. They do not believe in “Good Luck,” as if it were some kind of supernatural force able to bestow favors. Refusing to squander their material possessions in trying to appease “the god of Good Luck,” they avoid all forms of gambling. They are convinced that those devoting themselves to this god will eventually lose everything, for to such ones Jehovah says: “I will destine you men to the sword.” (Death)

“Look! My Own Servants Will Rejoice”

In reproving those who have abandoned Jehovah, the prophecy describes the contrasting portions awaiting those who sincerely worship God and those who do so hypocritically: “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: ‘Look! My own servants will eat, but you yourselves will go hungry. Look! My own servants will drink, but you yourselves will go thirsty. Look! My own servants will rejoice, but you yourselves will suffer shame. Look! My own servants will cry out joyfully because of the good condition of the heart, but you yourselves will make outcries because of the pain of heart and you will howl because of sheer breakdown of spirit.’” (Isaiah 65:13, 14)

Jehovah will bless his faithful servants