Isaiah - Verse By Verse

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.

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:19 (NIV):  "to those who say, 'Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it.  Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it.' "

Thought:  To me, it is very easy but quite unfortunate that mankind mocks God.

Question:  Do I feel I have the right to know all God's plans?

Under the control of sin, as described yesterday in verse 18, men may say that God really has no plan.  They rationalize that God never "rises up" to resist them, so they may do as they please.  But they fail to understand that the fruit of their own rebellion will destroy them.  God need not ever "destroy" them--sin does that itself.  Their arrogance is unlimited here.  In a way, they acknowledge God's existance, yet by their wrong choices, they truly deny Him in the deepest sense.  The new testament verse 2 Timothy 3:5 comes to mind:  "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof..."  To empty God of all His power is to strip Him of His basic nature--it is to reject Who He is in every sense of the word.

This verse has an arrogant, mocking tone:  "let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it."  As if "we" were in charge!  God's plans are not subject to man's knowledge nor to man's timetables!  "Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it."  This is a blatant attitude of entitlement and control.  As if "we" needed to see and know God's plans!  Wo do they think they are?  By saying this they imply that because God does not openly or quickly act He therefore must not be taken seriously at all.  This is an inflated ego at work--this is ultimate selfishness. 

It is much more appropriate for God's creatures to meditate on the fact that God is the eternal Creator and humans are but temporal beings.  Let's get back under God's Holy authority!

They mockingly call God "the Holy One of Israel" when, in truth, He is indeed the only and very Holy One!  What is meant by God's Holiness?  Definitions of holy all seem to simply come back to the pure and perfect character of God.  But one ancient definition states:  "that which must be preserved whole or intact, that cannot be transgressed or violated."  It's meaning is here connected to a sense of health and wholeness.  So we are not off track to say that the words "holy" and "whole" are somewhat synonymous.  God is "holy" in the fact that He is completely, whollly, without flaw and all that He does is equally pure. 

It is this Divine Holiness that separates us far and away from God.  He is high, very high, above us; we are low, extremely low down, and it is the worst of sins to put ourselves on the same plane as God.  "Woe" comes to those who act and think this way. 

Prayer:  Oh, Holy God, forgive me when I am even tempted to begin to demand from You Your plans, Your timetable, Your intentions.  Help me, rather, to humble myself appropriately as Your servant, a cleansed sinner and object of Your mercy.  Help me to trust You instead, and to rest peacefully in Your powerful care.  Amen.   

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:18 (NIV):  "Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,"

Thought:  To me, there is an awful lot of deception at work producing an abundance of evil today in our country.

Question:  Do I coddle sin in my life?

Given the context, that is, the judgment and humbling process of proud mankind and the rise of God in His Day to establish His holy righteousness in the land, this verse is a very interesting warning to all who read:  "Woe to those who draw sin along..."  This is the third "woe" listed by our prophet, Isaiah.  Sin is avoidable, but often we make a conscious choice to accept it.  Often we go even further and coddle it, feed it, nurture it along, until it grows and becomes much more complicated, involved and dark.  Our whole treatment of sin in this way draws it "along with cords of deceit."  We are deceiving ourselves, lying to ourselves, when we allow sin in the first place.  How?  To choose sin is to choose to believe in an idea that does not come from God.  We convince ourselves that somehow this idea/choice is better than what our Holy Father has offered to us.  At any point we have plenty of opportunity to turn away from this deception and return to God, but quite often we "draw sin along" by going further into error.  We develop "cords of deceit", that is, stronger, thicker ideas to defend our wrong choices.  These "cords", in turn, end up binding us more tightly to the sin and we are held captive in sin, away from God.

"Cart ropes" implies, to me, that a heavy load is being pulled along now; "wickedness" has heaped itself up!  Certainly there is "woe" to an individual who is caught in this condition.  And, again, it has been his own doing, created by his own choices, the "woe" of which is an automatic consequence to him as a result of his decision.  So let's not be blaming God for this, or any other woe!  God simply allows the natural consequence to flow, or rather backlash, from the person's choice.

Prayer:  Father of justice, I praise You for Your ways; for allowing the woeful consequences of sin to bring grief and suffering.  Through that grief and suffering I have been made to return to You.  I am sorry for every time I have turned my back on You, so willfully, and chosen to sin!  I also thank You that through Christ, I can find forgiveness, healing and restoration to You.  Amen.

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:17 (NIV):  "Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich."

Thought:  To me, the entire earth is "weighed down" with the not-too-pleasant effects of man's deeds.

Question:  Do I look forward to a better day--a better earth?

After all judgments have ceased and God has been elevated, peace will come rolling in and incongruently, the ruins of the greedy will serve as pastures where sheep and lambs will feel at home.  Man's doings will be forgotten and his so-called marvels of construction will become ruins. 

To me, this verse paints a very contrastive picture:  previously the houses of the rich were built closely together and the land was inaccessible, probably privately owned, (Isaiah 5:8), but now the gentle sheep have moved in to peacefully graze.  There is a fundamental difference between the effects of mankind's domination of the land and God's holy influence! 

I think what our current environmentalists long for and attempt to promote today is achieved much more successfully by God's sovereign control!  Once God is "exalted by his justice", (yesterday's verse, Isaiah 5:16), He will bring our planet back to its original purposes and His creatures will once again roam peacefully.  

What a wonderful "Day" that will be!

Prayer:  Great God, how I appreciate Your Holy control of our planet!  One day You will restore tranquility to our earth.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:16 (NIV):  "But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness."

Thought:  To me, to see God demonstrate His holiness will be one great and special Day!

Question:  Do I want to see God exalted?

"But"...a small but important word!  Though men are humbled (verse 15), and this because of their own arrogance and sin, God will be elevated and exalted.  How?  By His perfect justice.  Webster defines "justice" as:  "conformity in conduct or practice to the principles of right or of positive law; regard for or fulfillment of obligation; rectitude; honesty...adherence to truth of fact...the quality of being just or reasonable; rightness; equitableness...(and) one of God's attributes, by virtue of which he wills equal laws and makes just awards."  Synonyms include:  "equity, fairness, faithfulness, honor, impartiality, integrity, justness, law, lawfulness, legality, propriety, rectitude, right, righteousness, rightfulness, truth, uprightness and virtue."  God will act by reacting to what man has done and His reaction will be correct and perfectly righteous.

Though He uses woes to open their eyes, yet God acts with pure justice, giving them EXACTLY what they have earned and/or requested.  He does not strike out unfairly.  His every action, even judgment, is done in a way that will demonstsrate His holiness.

Prayer:  Holy Father, thank You for being Who You are:  utterly flawless and uncompromised by error or sin.  May I ever worship Your holiness!  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:15 (NIV):  "So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled."

Thought:  To me, mankind could definitely use a good humbling!

Question:  Do I have a clean fear of the Lord?

The Lord's Day will exalt the LORD; therefore it must also humble those who oppose God.  Eyes need to see God in a new, clear way, in order to be truly humbled.  God will accomplish that Himself--making Himself visible through judgmental "woes".  Finally, they will see God.

There is so much pride in mankind--so much independence from God.  Today we are characterized by an almost complete lack of fear of God.  We have forgotten Who He really is.  God has given us so much comfortable ease in our living; we have become like a spoiled, indulged child.  We have no respect for His authority, no sense of His power.  All we perceive, like a child, is our next burning desire:  when will we get what we want?  We are blind to the coming of the Day of the Lord!  But it will come, whether we are ready or not, and it will indeed be a Day of humbling!

Prayer:  Lord, keep me humble before You.  Make me to see Your power.  Cause me to respect You and fear You appropriately, before Your Day brings its woes to the disobedient and rebellious!  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:14 (NIV):  "Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite and opens its mouth without limit; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers."

Thought:  To me, more people need to realize how imminent hell is.

Question:  Have I been lifted away from hell by Christ? 

This context, beginning in Isaiah 5:11, is the continuation of the "woe" of excessive drink.  As we traced through verses 12 and 13 we found how excessive drink can lead to other excesses:  in celebrations and in pride.  The result of these excesses are want, hunger and thirst!  Today we see that at the end of this downward spiral is an enlargement of death!  One step away from starvation, parching, separation from God and exile is the grave.  We see an "enlarged" grave into which are drawn "nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers."  These are the "celebrants" of verse 12, whose unchecked behavior goes overboard.  With so many failing to own God, hell enlarges to accommodate them, even expanding "without limit".  Down they all go into an eternity of wrong behavior, unchanged and alone without God.  And all this because of an initial pursuit of escapism through drink.

There is a progression here:  begun in verse 11 and carrying on through to this verse (14) and "concluded" in verses 15 and 16.  That "progression" is really the full unfolding of the consequences of excessive drinking as a behavior.  Hence the word "woe."  God has not designed this woe; rather it is man-made by man's own behaviors and choices, and, equally, will bring "matching" degrees of consequences, all the way to death.

We get exactly what we seek.  We get exactly what we ask for.  We bear the exact consequences of all we do.  We are paid exactly what we invest.  We reap exactly what we sow.

Prayer:  Oh, Lord, my prayer is that You would take over my desires that I would make all choices pleasing to You so that I may reap You and all Your goodness forever!  Amen. 

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