Unreliability

The quality of a person or thing that cannot be trusted or relied upon. Scripture notes the unreliability of human nature, while stressing the total reliability of God.

Human nature is unreliable

Psalm 78:57 See also Isaiah 49:15; Hosea 6:4; 2 Corinthians 1:9

They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.

Examples of unreliable people

Genesis 40:23 the chief cupbearer; 1 Samuel 13:13–14 King Saul; Hosea 5:13 Israel; Matthew 26:40 parallels Mark 14:37, Luke 22:45; Matthew 26:56 parallel Mark 14:50

Unreliable people are not to be trusted

Proverbs 25:19 See also Psalm 146:3–4; Isaiah 2:22

Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.

False gods are unreliable

Isaiah 45:20 See also Deuteronomy 4:28; Psalm 115:4–8; Isaiah 40:20; Jeremiah 10:5, Jeremiah 10:10, Jeremiah 10:14–15, Jeremiah 51:17–18; Daniel 5:23; Habakkuk 2:18; Matthew 24:5 parallels Mark 13:6, Luke 21:8

Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

Human wisdom is unreliable

1 Corinthians 3:19–20 See also Judges 20:36; Job 5:13; Isaiah 30:12–13, Isaiah 59:4; Ezekiel 28:6–7; Romans 1:22; 1 Corinthians 1:19–21, 1 Corinthians 1:25; Colossians 2:23

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

Military strength is unreliable

Psalm 44:6 See also 1 Samuel 17:45; Psalm 33:16–17; Isaiah 31:1, Isaiah 36:4–6; Ezekiel 33:26; Hosea 1:7; Haggai 2:22; Matthew 26:52

For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me.

Material wealth is unreliable

Proverbs 11:28 See also Psalm 62:10; Jeremiah 49:4; Haggai 1:9, Haggai 2:16–17; Zechariah 9:3–4; Matthew 6:19, Matthew 13:22 parallels Mark 4:19, Luke 8:14; 1 Timothy 6:9–10

He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.

The consequences of unreliability

Unreliable actions let God down

Hosea 11:2–3 See also Isaiah 5:7; Jeremiah 2:21; Matthew 26:34 parallels Mark 14:30, Luke 22:34; Luke 16:10–12

But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms, but they never realized that it was I who healed them.

Unreliability leads to disappointment

James 1:7–8 See also Matthew 21:30, Matthew 21:43; Luke 16:10–12; Acts 15:37–38

That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Trust in unreliable things

Leads to self-delusion

Isaiah 44:20 See also Isaiah 47:10; Luke 12:20; Revelation 3:17

He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

Leads to judgment

Jeremiah 17:5 See also Psalm 49:13–14, Psalm 52:5–7; Isaiah 20:5; Jeremiah 46:25; Amos 6:1, Amos 6:7

This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.

Unreliable people are judged

Ezekiel 13:9 See also Isaiah 20:6; Malachi 2:7–9; Matthew 23:38, Matthew 25:26–27 parallel Luke 19:22–23

My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.

God is never unreliable

Numbers 23:19 See also 1 Kings 8:56; Psalm 71:6; John 8:26; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; 1 John 4:13–16

God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?