The electronic blood pressure checking machine was at fault. The person who did his test with the machine assumed that he was perfectly alright. One morning he had a fall and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors found his blood pressure too high; he was misled by faulty equipment.
The Nation of Israel, the chosen people of God were like a twisted, deceitful, and treacherous bow. (Psalms 78:57; Hosea 7:16) A bow and arrows were used in ancient times, mainly for hunting. Later, it became a weapon of war too. The bow must be a strong base or springboard for the arrows.
The riser: The upper and lower limb of a bow is attached to a riser that has the grip and arrow rest. Modern bows have a sight window to take aim. The Nation of Israel was like a greasy grip that slipped. They were always like sheep going astray. (Isaiah 53:6) With slippery grip, aiming at target is not possible.
The limbs: The upper and lower limbs are generally made of wood that are attached to the riser. If the limbs do not fit properly to the riser, the bow is of no use at all. The limbs also have a groove each that is cut, called a string nock to tie the string. Israel was like broken limbs, not firmly attached to grip and unable to hold the strings.
The string: The string is tied to the string nocks and is held in right tension. There is a mark in the string known as a nocking point to place the arrow to shoot. Israel was unprepared like loose strings or unattached strings that could not shoot arrows. They were unprepared as they were not tied to the Word of God.
The arrows: The arrows should be straight, with sharp arrowheads to shoot. Twisted arrows or deformed arrowheads will not hit the target.
God cannot use a deceitful bow for his mission. As the Nation of Israel, the local church could become a deceitful bow.
Am I a useful bow in God’s hand?