11. WOE TO JUDAH - Isaiah 5:8-30

 

Having seen what the fruit of his Beloved’s vineyard was, the prophet now begins to develop his theme. He begins to show exactly what the fruit of the vineyard of Judah was, doing so with six woes (5:8,11,18,20-22). These woes depict the major sins of the people, for they are covetous, debauch, unbelieving, untruthful, proud and unjust. Because of such sinfulness in Judah, God will come in judgment upon the nation (5:13,14,24).

Such is Judah’s fruit, a sixfold catalogue of corruption (Jer 2:21; Hos 10:1). A Woe is attached to each feature of Judah’s sin, for great is the judgment and tragedy it would bring upon the nation (5:9,13-15,24-27).

 

Please Read Isaiah 5:8-30

 

Verses 8-10: Greed is to be seen in the peoples desire for more and more land and their blatant disregard for the Law which safe-guarded the poor and ultimately proclaimed that all the land actually belonged to God (Lev 25:23). We are pilgrims on earth and materialistic greed is a denial of that (Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11).

What God will do as a result of Judah’s sin is revealed to Isaiah, to whom God has spoken. The great homes will be emptied and all that has been accumulated will be laid waste. God will remove all that the greed of the rich has accomplished. Because of God’s judgment, the land would not yield enough to keep the people and so it would be abandoned.

QUESTION: Is there any relevance in these verses for the church today? If so, please explain how?

 

Verses 11-17: The second woe is pronounced against those that party and drink alcohol continually. The life of these people in Judah was all caught up in the party scene. There was no concern for God, and the people did not recognize the judgment of God heading their way. The attention of Judah was elsewhere and so they would soon be caught out.

In judgment, God would bring the people into captivity. Isaiah speaks as though the captivity had already happened, pointing to the absolute certainty of the judgment. The people would not know of the coming captivity, for they refused to listen to the warnings given. Yet it is absolutely certain.

The people would hunger and thirst, with the grave swallowing up many in the captivity. The men who boasted in their parties and in their drunkenness (Amos 4:1-3) would be brought low, while God would be exalted. God will be shown as righteous and holy in His punishment of sin. The work of judgment will be completed, and in place of the people and their nation will be wastelands. All that remained would become feeding grounds for sheep and shelters for passing strangers.

Verses 18,19: Cynicism in religion was another feature of life in Judah. Scoffers abounded and these dragged their sin around behind them like oxen pulling heavy carts. The life of sin is not easy, the picture painting just how laborious it is. The people even taunted God by saying, ‘let this judgment come and then we will believe you.’

QUESTION: Can you identify with the situation found in Isaiah 5:19,20? Please explain how?

 

NOTE: INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY QUESTION HERE: Does Isaiah 5:20 reflect in any way the situation that we find in the world today? Please explain your answer giving examples.

 

Verse 20: The wicked in their attempts to justify their behaviour stood reality on its head. In the darkness of their hearts, the wicked were convinced that they were right before God.

Verse 21: The people had relied upon their own thinking as a guide and not what God had said (Pr 3:7). They had become fools, denying God (Ps 14:1; 53:1; Mt 7:26). They had departed from the Source of all true wisdom in order to trust their own finite wisdom.

Verses 22,23: Corruption is the final feature of life in Judah found in this passage. They were drunken cheaters who accepted bribes and then called it justice. Behind their corruption was the love of money (Pr 17:15; 1 Tim 6:10).

Verses 24,25: Because of the sins that the people had committed and their continual rebellion against God, God would judge the nation. As they had rejected God, so God would reject them (Hos 4:6) until He had destroyed the nation.

God’s wrath had been kindled against the nation for some time, yet they had continued in their rebellion against Him. After all the previous judgments God was still angry. God would yet vent His wrath further against Judah. Though He had struck them with fearful judgments, His wrath was still kindled against Judah, with worse to come.

Verses 26-29: God would rally the nations from afar to be the instruments of His wrath against Judah. They would swoop down on Judah before they knew it, and Judah would not be delivered. The enemy were ready to fight, being a well equipped, fit and unwearied army, greatly eager to wage war (even to not sleep). Nothing would stand in their way as they come against Judah with great aggression and hostility.

Verse 30: The enemy would come swiftly with much rage against Judah. Judah would look for a deliverer but find none. Only destruction and heartache were to be found, for all hope would be lost under the darkness of despair.

 

Individual Discovery

What does Isaiah mean when he says that he is ‘undone’ in Isaiah 6:5?

 

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04/06/2007

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