Isaiah 5:8-23--Woe to the Wicked

Isaiah 5:8-23
English Standard Version

Woe to the Wicked
8 Woe to those who join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
    and you are made to dwell alone
    in the midst of the land.
9 The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
12 They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
    or see the work of his hands.

13 Therefore my people go into exile
    for lack of knowledge;
their honored men go hungry,
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
    and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who exults in her.
15 Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.
16 But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
    and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: “Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 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!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will be as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts,
    and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

​26 He will raise a signal for nations far away,
    and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
28 their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.

---

This section begins a section of many woes that Isaiah proclaims for many groups of people on whom God's judgment is going to fall.  A "woe" is either "a condition of deep suffering from misfortune, affliction, or grief" or "ruinous trouble" (Woe Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster).  This first woe is against "the wicked," though the first thing that Isaiah mentions does not seem to be a wicked thing to us--marrying between tribes and clans, but it was the intent of the marriage that was at fault here.  The purpose of these marriages was to acquire more land and property and to steal the eternal inheritance that rightly belonged to another family.  Isaiah says that when the judgment comes, people with more land will be no better off, because everyone will be homeless and destitute when that time comes.

The next woe is towards those who are drunkards--we would call them alcoholics today.  The first think they want to do when they wake up is to get a drink and they can't go to sleep at night unless they've had something to drink.  They party and make music, but they neglect to worship the LORD for the good things that He has given to them because they are too busy chasing after strong drink and wine.

These are just some of the reasons that the LORD will let Him people go into Exile.  Many of the rich and powerful will die and go to the place of destruction in that day.  Those who are left will be humbled and humiliated, but the LORD will be exalted.  He is holy and just and righteous in all His ways.  The Land will be a place where nomadic shepherds will once again raise their flocks feed.  It will be as it was in the time of the Patriarchs before the Canaanites built their walled cities.

​The next woe is to people who bring about much iniquity and sin by the lies that they so easily tell.  They call on people to live for themselves in the moment and the blaspheme the LORD challenging Him to show up and do something if He is indeed real and really God.  God is going to show up and He is going to do something, and they aren't going to like it (and neither will all the people that believed the lies that they spread).

Next is a woe for those who call evil good and good evil.  We see this in other places in the Bible like Romans 1.  The wicked are not happy just being rebellious against the LORD, they must have others call what they are doing "good" and celebrate it.  They want to define "good" and "evil" for themselves.  "Good" to them is what makes them happy (their sin), and "evil" to them is what makes them feel bad (God's moral law that they know they are guilty of breaking).  God will not answer to us for how we feel on the Day of Judgment--we will answer to Him for how we acted and what we did with the Truth that He entrusted to us.  They would rather have darkness rather than light and bitter rather than sweet.  

The last "woe" will talk about today are those who use bribes to pervert justice.  The passage correctly identifies such men as usually being captives of strong drink and wine, because they are willing to do anything--even pervert justice--to be able to get that next drink.  We have many other kinds of addicts today as we have narcotics and other kinds of drugs and chemicals that are addictive in nature.  We also have addictions to things like gambling and sex (more on the sexual perversion of the people later).  All of this leads to many choices that harm us and defy God's good Law that He gave to us for His glory and our protection.

We'll pick up at verse 24 next time.