Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:30 (NIV):  "In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea.  And if one looks at the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be darkened by the clouds."

Thought:  To me, Satanic power is horribly dark and distressful.

Question:  Have I known the "roar" of the devil?

"That day", of course, is God's Day of Wrath--a season of outpoured anger in judgment upon Israel.  It is the result of their rebellion against God in pushing Him aside, mocking and disobeying Him and serving self.  The "they" who "will roar" are the Assyrian armies, ordained by God to attack Israel.  They are God's instrument of judgment upon His unruly children.  The Assyrians have been granted the opportunity and ability by God, to "roar over" Israel, the "prey" (Isaiah 5:29), until only "darkness and distress" fill the land.  The "light" of day will be "darkened by the clouds", which, to me, speaks of how the light of God's truth and beauty has been obscured completely by Israel's sins.

When God uses Satan in our lives, the little bit of our hope and faith in God can become completely obscured for a time.  All seems dark and distressful.  Even as the nations, the pagan enemy territories around Israel, will advance so strongly that it will be drowned and overwhelmed, so we can sometimes fall away from God so far that the only reality is God's judgment upon us.  Just as the noise of "the sea" drowns every other sound, without let-up, so the enemy hordes will conquer and oppress and block out any good.

Believers who refuse to listen to God's Word and fail to apply it to their lives will become the objects of God's anger.  In His anger God will call for Satan to come and oppress them.  Truth and light will shrink to nothing while the evil and subjugation of Satan will take over in those peoples' lives.  That is "the day" of judgment for them.

Yet even this judgment attack is a merciful move by God!

Prayer:  Great Savior, thank You for saving me from the enemy!  Forgive me my sins and restore me, Lord, that I may not suffer the horrors of the evil one, particularly the darkness he brings.  Amen.

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:29 (NIV):  "Their roar is like that of a lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue."

Thought:  To me, the sooner we admit the reality of Satan, the better.

Question:  Have I admitted I am no match against Satan?

Lions are a symbol of strength and irresistable power.  They are the King of the beasts.  Israel was diminished into fear and trembling at the attacks of the Assyrians in this case, and became weak and helpless against their might.  The language of this verse paints a picture of subjugation through fear and intimidation.  Roaring, growling, seizing, carrying prey off and no one to rescue are all strong descriptions of the power of control this enemy had.  And remember in yesterday's verses, Isaiah 5: 27 and 28, God had enabled their power so that Israel would indeed be defeated.  It was His plan. 

Satan is like a roaring lion--I peter 5:8:  "Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  Like the lion, Satan is strong, frightening, malicious and set on bringing death and destruction to you!  He is very strong, as though he had the strength of youth on his side.  He conquers and no man comes against him.  Who could?  Even as God unleashed the Assyrians upon Israel in judgment, so God allows Satan access to our lives for His purposes, but with one great difference:  we have the indwelling Christ to overcome Satan.  Christ has defeated His enemy--He did this on the cross.  When Satan endeavors to derail us, will we cry out to our God Who is the only antidote against the enemy?  There is "no one" else "to rescue" us!

Prayer:  Almighty God, we are helpless against the crushing power of Satan.  How we need Your supernatural help!  Thank You, Lord, that whenever I call for You, in the powerful name of Christ, You will come to save!  Amen.

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:27 and 28 (NIV):  "Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal thong is broken.  Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses' hoofs seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind."

Thought:  To me, the fact that God has a plan behind the allowed evils of our day is intriguing and comforting.

Question:  Could God destroy Satan and abolish all evil right now?

God smoothes the way for the enemy to attack!  Everything goes their way--they seem "blessed" in their horrible onslaught.  God prevents them from tiring, He equips them and provides all they need, He enables them to have the best of weapons and the swiftest horses.  Not one small detail is found as an obstacle to their plan.  Why?  Even as a loving father brings the rod upon his child to make an impression of correction, so God brings the armies of the "distant nations" (Isaiah 5:26) to teach the Israelites an important lesson.

If we ever catch ourselves wondering why Satan is so strong and capable, why his ambassadors are so numerous and effective, why God allows them freedom in the world, why their effectiveness at times even seems "blessed" by God's enablements, here is a scripture explaining why.  God USES Satan.  God USES the enemy.  They become God's instruments of judgment.  He therefore speeds them on their way to perform their task for His large purposes.

No doubt this enemy will create fear in the heart of the Israelites!  A "fear" they should have had for God Himself...

Prayer:  Great God, may Your great plans be accomplished as You have willed!  Help me to only trust You, obey You and find myself in Your care if and when the enemy attacks.  Amen.  

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:26 (NIV):  "He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.  Here they come, swiftly and speedily!"

Thought:  To me, God is Supreme Commander-in-Chief over all the wars of the world.

Question:  Is the idea of God being behind war repugnant to us?

In the extension of God's wrath comes the enemy.  The lifted "banner" is their rallying point.  And God is The One Who has cleared the way for them to come together in strength.  God summons them, (the Assyrians).  He opens the way for them to assault Israel. "He whistles for those at the ends of the earth."  What a phrase!  God is moving His pawns and other pieces on the great chessboard of life.  He is ever sovereign and in full control.  Do we grasp the concept of how God allows, engineers, arranges and controls war in our world?  Here He is whistling for the enemy to come near and invade Israel, just as a man might whistle for his dog or horse to come to him.  The reaping time, which is an equal consequence to the sowing of their sins, is at hand!

Perhaps the idea that God is sovereign over all wars raises some questions.  Are all wars "judgments" from God?  Why doesn't God put an end to war?  Aren't some wars plainly man's doing alone? 

To me, as illustrated in this verse, God uses the Assyrian armies, the enemy of Israel, as the instrument of His judgment.  God has a specific purpose in bringing, (whistling for), the Assyrians!  God has good purposes in mind.  We must believe this--we do have reason to hope!

Hope must be clung to during times such as these.  There is hope yet for Israel despite the conquering hordes.  God still cares.  He would not work with Israel this way if He didn't care!  God USES the enemy to further His will in the lives of His chosen people or else He would have wiped them out more quickly, effectively and directly.

Prayer:  Lord, there are purposes in war.  You are at work judgmentally in war.  Help me to understand this when my enemies attack.  Equip me to cling in hope to You and to learn from Your judgments.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:25 (NIV):  "Therefore the Lord's anger burns against His people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down.  The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets.  Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised."

Thought:  To me, we do not often enough connect our adverse events with how angry God is with our sins.

Question:  Is God's hand raised against me?

Why is God permitted anger and still considered holy and righteous and perfect?  We often think anger is a bad quality, as though it should be eliminated altogether.  But anger is a very basic, elemental emotion; one that God has equipped all of us with too, and I believe, one emotion we have "in the image of God."  God has anger!  What is anger?  Webster's simple definition is very revealing:  "a strong feeling of displeasure."  Now, in God, displeasure is ever true and pure because God's thoughts and actions are ever true and pure.  Therefore it is not His anger that is objectionable, it is the thing that displeased Him that is objectionable, namely, we sinning humans!  In our anger, however, we do not function in 100% truth and purity.  Our motives are corrupted, our reactions are biased, our purposes are selfish, etc., etc.  Our anger needs control and refinement.  God's anger, however, needs to be paid attention to!  He is displeased with what we have done if we have indeed rejected Him, His ways and His Word.

When we realize how truly loving God has been in all His demands, and that all His requirements are only for our good, that in Him is our very source of life, His wrath becomes not only understandable but a logical course.  And even its continuation is reasonable.  As man has continued in his sinful trends, God will continue in His wrath:  "His hand is still upraised."  Beyond earthquake, beyond physical death of many, beyond His disfavor alone--His wrath goes on.  We will see the unfolding of God's anger upon Israel in the scriptures to come..."God is angry with the wicked every day."  (Psalm 7:11).  

Prayer:  Loving Father, Your anger is a signal of my disobedience.  Help me to confess my wrongdoing and return to Your favor.  Help me do it today!  Amen.

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:24 (NIV):  "Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel."

Thought:  To me, it would do us all well to meditate on the brevity of our lives.

Question:  Have I spurned God and His Word?

For those who deny God and their need of Him, who live according to their own wisdom, who seek for fulfillment in their own pleasures while catering to the wrong crowd and hurting the innocent--these will be found to have no root or substance.  They will disappear from existance as we know it as quickly as dry grass is consumed in a flame, or as similarly as flesh decays to dust.  None of their lives will endure.  They have no root:  nothing to connect them to the true source of life.

Destruction is for these weak sinners because they "destroyed" God through their choices.  Annihilation is their woe because they annihilated God's Word.  Their is no kind of real life apart from God.  There is no way to live with integrity apart from the code of God:  His Word.

Yes, they have a temporary life, a momentary root and even a flower.  But it is gone so quickly!  Why?  "For they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel."  To "spurn", according to Webster, is "to kick away or trample on, to reject with disdain."  Our moment of life is our one opportunity to find God and accept Him, love Him, obey Him and worship Him.  If we do this, He will give to us an eternal life, because He is eternal and His Word is eternal--we will own Him, as He gives Himself to us through Jesus Christ, Our Savior.  So be it!

Prayer:  Father, You have given us the opportunity of life!  We can come to know You--what else could be as important?  Through this momentary life we have the great opportunity to acquire eternal life.  I pray, oh God, that I will ever treasure You and Your Word, so that my soul may find eternal life.  Amen.

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:23 (NIV):  "who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent."

Thought:  To me, it is always good to ask:  "What can I do for others?" instead of "how can I benefit myself?"

Question:  Have I hurt an innocent person with my choices?

Accepting a bribe to line our pockets with quick cash while at the same time hurting other innocent people is another easy path of least resistance.  (See yesterday's verse).  It takes integrity to refuse luxury and stand up for fairness to others.  Sin is the lazy, weak thing to do, and it hurts others.

Again, as in the previous verse about excessive drinking, we see selfishness at the forefront:  a person who accepts bribes would rather acquire the cash than work justice out for another person.  This is not in keeping with the nature of God. 

Notice the flip-flop in this verse:  the guilty are acquitted while the innocent are denied justice--all because these arrogant individuals think they are in control.  But they are, ultimately, not in control:  God is!  And the injustice, guilt and bribery they are involved in will come back upon their heads in kind:  whatever is sown, is reaped. 

Prayer:  Lord, cause me to remain attentive to these six "woes".  Strengthen me to resist the evil one and the temptations of my own flesh.  Draw me to Yourself, Father, and Your unselfish ways.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:22 (NIV):  "Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,"

Thought:  To me, our country's glorification of drinking does lift up those who partake as "heroes"--to the detriment of us all.

Question:  Am I a "champion at mixing drinks"?

Here we have a second warning regarding excessive drinking, and "woe #6".  (The first warning is found in Isaiah 5:11-17, in the section about "woe #2".)  Excessive drinking is a behavior that walks down the path of least resistance.  It is extremely easy to take up drinking.  Pouring something into our mouths that supposedly anesthetizes difficulty and sorrow, making us incapable of handling responsibility, is a coward's way out.  It is a selfish activity.  It cares not what effect it's drunken behavior may have on others' lives it touches.  God cares highly for "others."  Jesus died for "others".  The "golden rule" is based on what we do for "others."

This kind of selfish irresponsibility produces woe for both those near the drinker and the one who drinks.  Drinking never accomplishes an effective "escape" from the pains and ordeals of life, it simply delays and multiplies them.  It is extreme illusion to think oneself a "hero" or "champion" when under the control of alcohol.    

Prayer:  Lord, save me from the trap of alcoholism and excessive drinking.  Help me, as Scripture teaches, to "be filled with the Spirit" instead.  The joys of the Spirit are so very much "higher" and fulfilling!  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:21 (NIV):  "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight."

Thought:  To me, proud conceit is behind much of our American culture.

Question:  Do I unconsciously suppress thoughts of excluding God from my decision-making?

Woe #5:  the arrogance of sin is that people truly believe they know more than God.  Though they might not consciously admit this, deep in their hearts this is what is going on.  If God knows best, we have no reason to strike out independently on our own.

Becoming "wise" in one's "own eyes" is the result of failing to remember, or meditate on the truth, that God is our Creator and we His creatures.  God is "at the top", supreme, omnipotent--not us!  When He is no longer worshipped in highest esteem, we will begin to worship self.  The result is an air of independence from God instead of a reasonable dependence upon Him. 

Such "cleverness" is really inspired by God's enemy, Satan.  Beware those who become puffed up with knowledge, who form their own theories in defiance of God, especially in the area of the origin of man, planet earth and the universe.  As our wonderful prophet, Isaiah, will state later on:  "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.  Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' " (Isaiah 45:9)  And Paul, in I Corinthians 1:20 says, "Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"  And, once again in Isaiah, "...the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish...You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!  Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'He did not make me'?  Can the pot say of the potter, 'He knows nothing'?" (Isaiah 29:14 and 16.)

Prayer:  Lord, humble me if I begin to become "wise in my own eyes"!  Keep me in the realization that You are all-powerful, all-knowing and eternally existant, and that I am but a mortal creature whose life fades "like grass."  Amen.   

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:20 (NIV):  "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

Thought:  To me, we are truly blind when we give up on God's Word and God's ways.

Question:  Have I ever called "the gospel" simplistic or foolish?

As we continue in studying the "woes" of God, this being the fourth, we see proples' perversions.  They literally turn God's ways totally upside down.  This is where they arrive if left to continual sinning.

Their woe will come automatically.  It will be natural consequence.  They will self-destruct.  In blindness they proceed down the wrong road, rebelling against God, until the road circles fully to oppose every aspect of God.  Their woe is that they lose God in the process.  Without God we have nothing.  And that is woeful!

When we sin, we choose to oppose God.  When we oppose God, we embrace Satan and his evil.  Mankind is clever at rationalizing this opposition to God and ambrace of evil.  He intellectualizes his choices, reasoning with his own sense of desire and timing, instead of yielding to God's methods.  This reasoning becomes very complex, but here in this verse, God very simply states what they have done:  they have replaced good with evil, light with darkness and sweet with bitter.  In putting away God and seeking to please self they have ended up destroying all that is good and pleasant.

Perhaps we can think of some instances this verse reflects:  1) calling good evil and evil good:  the abortionists of our land say abortion is good for women and society.  But God says it is evil to murder and destroy life.  2)  putting darkness for light and light for darkness:  public schools can no longer teach about prayer or Christ.  But God's Word teaches that the very roots of good education begin with fathers teaching their children the precepts of God and His Word at every opportunity.  3)  putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter:  religions of today demand rigorous legalism and put people under heavy, bitter bondage.  But God's free gift of Christ is, by contrast, such a sweet and simple solution to all our troubles--even a child can become a believer!

Prayer:  Lord God, free me from any deceptions of sin that may be seeking to enter my mind and/or heart.  Cause me to look to You alone in every decision.  Bring to me Your goodness, light and sweetness.  Amen.

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