The Word of God is a hammer, Jeremiah says, that breaks a rock in pieces. It is not a flattering caress. The Scriptures are no Judas kiss. The textures of God’s revelation to sinful man are not smooth and silken vanities.
Isaiah the prophet spoke to the proud and arrogant of his day, and used the figure of a collapsing wall or tower. He prophesied a time of great slaughter, and day when towers fall (Is. 30:25). He said that judgment, when it comes, comes suddenly, with the only warning being an ominous bulge in a high wall. And after the calamity, all the pieces are tiny and useless (vv. 13-14).
But of interest to us is the reason for the judgment. These were children who would not hear the law of God (v. 9). They did not want the seers to see (v. 10). They rejected honest prophesy, and said, speak to us smooth things, tell us some more lies. Get the Holy One of Israel out of our sight. And so the Holy One speaks His terrible judgment (v. 12).
St. Paul spoke of the same problem, and this horrible sin surrounds us today on every side. Christians today will not endure sound doctrine, but heap up teachers for themselves (2 Tim. 4:3-4). In times like these, the true people of God will be distinguished by this one thing. They will want the word of God entire, all of it, with nothing sandpapered or varnished to flatter us.