Isaiah 5:20

²⁰ 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.

Have you come across the word premeditation? What does it mean to you?

If you are fond of reading detective stories, you will be encountering a ton of this. At the beginning of the stories, the word will not be apparent. As you progress in your reading, it will gradually surface with the words investigation and forensics. In the conclusion of the stories, you will wind up in court proceedings leading to that word premeditation. And then the final guilty verdict!

Premeditation simply means planning beforehand. It is similar to a yearly family budget preparation where the head of the family estimates in advance the family income and expenses and then lives within it. However, premeditation has evolved into negative connotation of advance planning with criminal intent. This act of planning under a court of law carries heavy punishment because it is normally executed treacherously with sinister design like the crime of murder.

The prophet Isaiah pronounces “woe” to those who call evil good, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet bitter. In plain common English, woe means great sorrow or distress. As the meaning implies, woe is curse that those who twist God’s word will receive. This is the inevitable retribution in transgressing God’s word and commands.

The drama that happened in the church recently paints a picture of premeditation in the minds of the dramatis personae (performers). They know the truths mandated by the church Constitution and By-laws and yet they tried to twist them for their personal worldly gain notwithstanding the biblical warnings in doing so.

Whatever happened, I pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us always and freely share it to others even to those who hurt us. After all, they are still our brothers and sisters in Christ!

*****mbl*****