March 5 - Woe!

March 5 - Woe! - Isaiah 5:1-30

As I read the opening verses of this chapter, I just want to weep for what could have been. Do you see the depth of love the Lord has for His people? Do you sense the extent of His desire for a relationship with them?

Isaiah 5:4 asks, "what more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?" Yet the vineyard yielded only bad grapes. The vineyard is Israel and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight (Isaiah 5:7). Instead of justice and righteousness, the Lord found bloodshed and cries of distress.

There are six 'Woes' in Isaiah 5:8-23. These are just a sampling of the evils that Judah has allowed in, not the entire list. The first shows that Judah has completely ignored the property law from Leviticus 25:23. All land is to revert to original owners in the Year of Jubilee. But, rich men have swept in and taken land from the poor by fraud. (Isaiah 5:8-10)

The second Woe regards drunken partygoers. They get up early in the morning to begin drinking and stay up late into the night. They are so out of it that they can't even consider the Lord. (Isaiah 5:11-17)

Woe to those who speak lightly of the Lord and think that they can get away with it. They want God to fix everything that they themselves have broken, they want the Lord to show up and do His thing without taking any responsibility for their own actions. Let the plan of the Holy One come? They do not know what they are asking for! (Isaiah 5:18-19)

Deceit is the fourth Woe. In many cases it is what we know as 'being politically correct.' You can call something by another name, but evil remains evil and good is still good. (Isaiah 5:20)

The fifth Woe is pride. Instead of asking for God's help, men believe that we are better equipped to answer our own needs and giving advice to each other. (Isaiah 5:21)

The final Woe in this section is Injustice. Judges who are responsible for the law are more interested in parties and drinking with their friends than in handling their proper responsibilities. They free the guilty and imprison the innocent for a little bit of money. (Isaiah 5:22-25)

The warning has been made clear. In Isaiah 5:5, the people are warned that the hedge of protection will be removed from around them and in these final verses, they are told that not only will the protection be removed, but God will call in the nations to seize their prey.

Warren Wiersbe says, "God was serious about the nation's sin. If they would not repent and accept his offer of pardon (Isaiah 1:18), then all he could do was send judgment." (Be Comforted, Warren W. Wiersbe)

Repent!