“That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 30:9 Mean?
God names His people with three devastating labels. "Rebellious" — am meri, a people of contrariness, of provocation. "Lying children" — banim kechashim, sons who deal falsely, who deceive. "Children that will not hear the law of the LORD" — banim lo avu shmo'a torath Adonai, children who refuse to listen. The progression reveals the anatomy of spiritual collapse: rebellion as the posture, deception as the method, and refusal to hear as the result.
The word kechashim (lying) is particularly pointed. These aren't people who lie to each other. They're lying children — God's children who lie to Him. They maintain the appearance of worship while their hearts are elsewhere. They show up at the temple but refuse to hear what's spoken there. The lie isn't verbal. It's existential — a false presentation of devotion that masks deep resistance.
The phrase "will not hear" — lo avu shmo'a — uses avah, to be willing. They're not deaf. They're unwilling. The law of the LORD is available, audible, and clear. The problem isn't access. It's appetite. They don't want to hear it because hearing it would require changing, and changing is more costly than pretending. So they come. They sit. They perform. And they refuse to listen.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you been showing up spiritually but refusing to actually listen? When did the refusal start?
- 2.What's the difference between an honest doubter and a 'lying child' who performs devotion without willingness to hear?
- 3.Is there a specific thing God has been saying that you've been unwilling to receive?
- 4.What would it cost you to stop performing and start listening — genuinely, vulnerably, with willingness to change?
Devotional
God calls them lying children. Not enemies. Not strangers. Children. His own. And the lie isn't something they say — it's something they are. They show up to worship looking like believers. They go through the motions. They say the right words. But they will not hear the law of the LORD. Not cannot. Will not. The refusal is voluntary, deliberate, and dressed in religious clothing.
That might be the most uncomfortable mirror in Isaiah. Because outright rebellion is easy to identify. The person who walks away from God and says so — at least they're honest. But the lying child stays in the room. They attend the service. They read the devotional. They nod at the sermon. And none of it penetrates, because they decided before they arrived that they weren't going to let it. The ears are open. The heart is sealed.
If you recognize yourself in this — if your spiritual life has become a performance you show up to but don't participate in, if you've been going through the motions while something inside has quietly stopped listening — God's diagnosis isn't cruelty. It's precision. He's naming what you already know. The question isn't whether you're in the room. It's whether you're listening. And the answer, for the lying child, is: you know you're not. The first step out of that pattern isn't louder worship or more Bible reading. It's honesty: God, I've been here but I haven't been hearing. I've been performing but I haven't been willing. Start there.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
That this is a rebellious people,.... This, with what follows, is what the Lord would have written and engrossed, and…
That this is a rebellious people - (see the note at Isa 1:2). Lying children - They had promised in solemn covenant to…
Here, I. The preface is very awful. The prophet must not only preach this, but he must write it (Isa 30:8), write it in…
The documents (as in Isa 8:16) are a protest against the persistent disobedience of the people. Render with R.V. For it…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture