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We have a tendency to find someone to blame when bad things happen. It is a way to avoid taking responsibility for our actions. Blaming others has been going on since the Garden of Eden. Back then, Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit, and Eve blamed the serpent for tempting her. We sometimes falsely blame ourselves, but most of the time, we blame others–other people and other groups of people. Isaiah the Prophet records God calling His people to account for their misdeeds. In Isaiah 8, we see that God rightly blamed both leaders and laity for their failure to keep their covenant vows. God said He would punish both the head and the tail. By “head,” He meant the nation’s leaders; rather than repenting and turning to God after a recent enemy invasion of their land, they regarded it as minor and short lived. By tail, he meant the false prophets who insisted that God would not allow His chosen people to suffer. God said the leaders had led the people down a path to destruction. While God placed the major blame on the leaders, God also held the people accountable because they had willingly followed the leaders. All would pay a price because all were guilty. God holds each of us responsible for our actions. Our only hope is to confess our sin to God, ask Him to forgive us, and rely on Him to help us live godly.
