Lesson 4

Isaiah 5

As the prophet Isaiah ends this first section of his book, he turns to singing in an attempt to get people’s attention. We are told that in the Hebrew language, this is one of the most beautiful songs of the Bible.  So often songs and poems reach the heart, and Isaiah reaches out to the heart of His people.  This song is a parable which clearly and plainly explains its own meaning.  The God of Israel has lavished His love and labor on Israel and she has turned her back on Jehovah God.  Instead of the vineyard of Israel yielding delightful grapes of justice and obedience, she is yielding the wild grapes of wrath and bloodshed.  Instead of righteousness there is a cry of the oppressed and wronged.  Our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 21:33-46 gave a similar parable of the vineyard which referred to the whole house of Israel.  In our text Isaiah is announcing the impending fall of the Northern kingdom into the hands of the Assyrians and the fall of the southern kingdom into the hands of the Babylonians.  God had brought Israel out of Egypt and protected them for five hundred years, and Israel as a people and nation had failed to produce the fruits of righteousness.  The Assyrians and Babylonians would now pour into Israel’s land and lay it waste as God through Isaiah had warned.

Isaiah now moves on to identify the wild grapes in the six woes from chapter 5:8-23.  As God the Holy Spirit moves Isaiah to speak out against the sin of his day, it should sound a warning as to what is happening all around us in today’s world.  Sin has not changed;only the time and place are different.

In verses 8-10 we see the greed of the rich.  It would seem that people of wealth were ruthless in their acquisition of property.  The poor and the helpless were taken advantage of and left out on the streets. Today, covetousness and the drive to obtain the toys of pleasure are the driving force of our society.  God will bring leanness to the soul and to the nations whose desires focus on the accumulation of wealth.

The second woe in chapter 5:11-17 is against drunkenness and pleasure.  For twenty-eight years I represented an insurance company that wrote policies for total abstainers.  The death and destruction, along with those maimed for life by driving and drinking, is well documented in our society.  Is it any wonder our nation is heading in a direction taking us away from God with our government famous for its Washington cocktail parties.  It took five hundred years for judgment to fall on Israel. I do not think America has five hundred years to repent of our drunkenness and mindless drive to have a good time at any cost.  The drugs and total belief of the “me” generation has us on the road to sheol or hell.

The third woe is against those who deliberately provoke God in chapter 5:18-19.  This is to sin without conscience and to challenge God as if He does not exist.  This reminds us of Psalms 53:1, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.”  This is directed to those who speak lightly of  God and think they will get away with sin.  Look into creation and see  that He is a God of great detai, and remember not one word or thought will get by the God of creation.

The forth woe is against moral and spiritual perversion.  In Isaiah 5:20 we have those who attempt to destroy God’s standards of right and wrong.  Living together apart from marriage is sin, and our nation is deteriorating from within because God’s laws on this matter have been broken.  God has laid down certain laws, and to break them is to lose the blessing of God.

The fifth woe is against the clever fools(verse 21).  Having lost their sense of God-consciousness, they look at themselves as very clever.  God looks at them as conceited fools who assume they possess superior wisdom.  God hates above all else pride, which leads the list on the subject of sin.  Consider Proverbs 6:16-17, “These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him; a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.” Pride is the sin of Satan (I Timothy 3:16 and Isaiah 14:12-15).

The six woe is against the heroes of the bottle.  For the second time Isaiah directed by God, deals with the evil of strong drink.  Do you get the feeling that this was widespread among the idle rich?  History has taught us that drunkenness and unbridled luxury are signs of a decaying society.  It is interesting that Isaiah shows the perverting effect upon rulers and judges.  Alcoholism makes easy targets for bribery and corruption.  Do you really think Isaiah would be asked to speak at our National Cathedral in Washington D.C.?

In verses 5:24-25, Isaiah lays down again the reasons why God’s anger is aroused.  Sin is a great spoiler and so a people who allow it to go unchecked are rotten from their roots up the whole plant to the blossoms.  To reject God’s Word and go against His laws will bring the anger of God down on a people and a nation.  When God executes judgment even creation trembles.  That day is closer than most think.

Trusting God as Savior and Lord will keep us from the wrath that is coming.  Trust Him today and call upon His name as it tells us in  Acts 4:12 and Romans 10:9-10.