Isaiah was commissioned by God to proclaim 6 Woes against the Nation of Judah for their blatant rebellious sin against God. Each woe a judgment for these sinful acts against God. Woe means a devastating sorrow. So, when God proclaims, “woe to”, He is pronouncing devastation to come to those committing such treacherous acts. Because God is perfectly righteous, Holy, and Just; He cannot overlook sin and evil without punishing it.
Modern ideologies want to teach either that Christ was just a man with great ideas who lived once upon a time or that He only spoke with grace and mercy. So, quickly they want to dismiss His perfect Righteousness requiring obedience to His Holy commands. Many say that He would never condemn anyone. Yet, if that were the case, if justice did not demand a price be paid for sin, why would He have died on the cross to pay the price for all who would believe in Him? Still for all those who deny Him or blatantly sin without regard for their sins, is there not still a judgement for that sin?
Did not Christ Himself proclaim, “Woe to the world because of offenses! (Matthew 18:7). “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matthew 23:7) Woe [a]to you when [b]all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets (Luke 6:26).
Everyone wants to see Jesus as the Humble Sacrificial Lamb full of Mercy and Grace. However, is He not the Lion Of Judah, the one whom John described in Revelations with these words, “ 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire” (Rev. 1:14). Flaming Fire that will bring judgement to all who refuse His gift of salvation.
Who is to blame?
Some would want to blame God for all the evil in the world. Afterall He is Sovereign! Still in His Sovereignty, He knew that without choice we could not love Him or gain pleasure in His Glory. Our joy could not be full, if we could not see all His Glorious attributes. Therefore, He gave us choice and we are responsible for our choices then. Just as it was for Judah and Jerusalem in their day, so is it for us individually and as a nation.
Isaiah 3: 8 For Jerusalem stumbled,
And Judah is fallen,
Because their tongue and their doings
Are against the Lord,
To provoke the eyes of His glory.
9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them,
And they declare their sin as Sodom;
They do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have brought evil upon themselves.
10 “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them,
For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
For the reward of his hands shall be [h]given him.
Brazenly as a nation, we flaunt our sins not only in our land, but also around the world. We kill babies on the altar of “self-adoration and sexual fulfillment.” Every deviation of sexuality is declared as human right necessary to fulfill one’s pleasures, ignoring God’s commandments. In that I am not proclaiming any superiority for I recognize the struggle all too well and it is only by God’s grace that I have any victory in this. Finally, recognizing that He is more precious and more satisfying than any lover could ever be. Still as a nation, we must also aspire to that goal, rather than glorifying sin as good.
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[a]On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [b]made a winepress in it;
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it waste;
It shall not be pruned or [c]dug,
But there shall come up briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, [d]a cry for help.
What more could He have done?
Had He chosen to never have created humans, perhaps; but then none would know the wondrous pleasures of His grace. Yet, if He had not allowed choice, we would never fully know of His justice or His grace. Throughout the ages He has proclaimed Himself through nature, through kindnesses and giving us the ability to reason, to love, to cry, and to experience joy.
He gave us a conscience, if only we would use it. Everything around us that is beautiful, good, majestic should awaken our eyes to see Him. But we prefer to remain blinded, thinking ourselves to be greater than we are. Hence declaring we do not need Him! Therefore, the mess we have created of His Universe and humanity, are our own fault. Woe to us—devastation and sorrow is all that deserve.
6 Woes that will Destroy our Nation
Woe #1: Isaiah 5
8 Woe to those who [e]join house to house;
They add field to field,
Till there is no place
Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9 In my hearing the Lord of hosts said,
“Truly, many houses shall be desolate,
Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath,[f]
And a homer of seed shall yield one [g]ephah.”
Greed! It is not merely the rich who are greedy in our nation; but the poor who wants more and more without working for it. Greed is the devastating notion that “I deserve to have everything without any responsibility. It is the new “entitlement philosophy”. Thereby, some of the rich are more benevolent than some of the poor. Those who violent take what others have worked for also fit within this woe. God’s decree? Famine and destitution if we do not heed His warning.
Woe #2 from Isaiah 5
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
That they may [h]follow intoxicating drink;
Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!
12 The harp and the strings,
The tambourine and flute,
And wine are in their feasts;
But they do not regard the work of the Lord,
Nor consider the operation of His hands.
13 Therefore my people have gone into captivity,
Because they have no knowledge;
Their honorable men are famished,
And their multitude dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself
And opened its mouth beyond measure;
Their glory and their multitude and their pomp,
And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.
15 People shall be brought down,
Each man shall be humbled,
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
17 Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture,
And in the waste places of the [i]fat ones strangers shall eat.
How much value have we had on drunken pleasures? Or entertainment? When considering reopening, the bars were given the green light which churches remained closed in so many areas of the country. As though bars and entertainment were essential and God not essential! But that is during covid-19. However, even before this, how many put rest, movies, TV, parties, and everything else as more important that time with God? Are we not as a society, a nation a people who place what we think is pleasure above God, not realizing that our hearts can only find full pleasure and satisfaction in Him?
Woe #3
18 Woe to those who [j]draw iniquity with cords of [k]vanity,
And sin as if with a cart rope;
19 That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work,
That we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,
That we may know it.”
Oh, the arrogant who mock God. Some dare to say that were He coming in judgement of our nation, He should have already. Have they not seen His pleading? The violence, the virus, the blood shed and the division are a result of His withdrawing His protective hand of grace one millionth of a mm away, so we might understand how devastating our world would be if He fully withdrew His hand of Grace. Yet, the hard hearted, arrogant fools taunt Him. His patience is unmeasurable.
Woe #4
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!
Is this not what we see all around us? Our news media is filled with this very thing. Declaring the democratic party as for the people, when they are the ones oppressing the black, making a mockery of law and order, and declaring themselves to be the “righteous ones.” Oh, do not get me wrong, there are those within the republican party just as bad; but it is more blatant at present among the democratic party. It has always been the democratic party who has found new ways to enslave the minorities through keeping them dependent on government. Yet, they declare the opposite of what is true.
Woe #5
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
Pride is always an abomination before God. It is thinking oneself worthy, when quite the opposite is true. When one has truly seen God’s Glory, Righteousness and Holiness, one must fall before Him in utter despair with a broken and contrite heart. Only then can one be cleansed, covered with the blood of Christ to rise again covered with the cloak of Christ’s righteousness. It is only then that one might bow before the Father’s throne as His adopted, redeemed, blessed, chosen child.
Woe #6
22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!
And to the judges and leaders who can be bribed, beware! God sees you!
Therefore
24 Therefore, as the [l]fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff,
So their root will be as rottenness,
And their blossom will ascend like dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them
And stricken them,
And the hills trembled.
Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
26 He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar,
And will whistle to them from the end of the earth;
Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.
27 No one will be weary or stumble among them,
No one will slumber or sleep;
Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed,
Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;
28 Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses’ hooves will [m]seem like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring will be like a lion,
They will roar like young lions;
Yes, they will roar
And lay hold of the prey;
They will carry it away safely,
And no one will deliver.
30 In that day they will roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
Behold, darkness and [n]sorrow;
And the light is darkened by the clouds.
[bctt tweet=”Will it be another nation that overtakes us? Or will we become overtaken by socialism from within, transforming us into another nation? Whichever, our fate will be sealed if we do not awaken, repent, and humbly call upon God.” username=”effiedarlene”]
Concluding Thoughts:
As a nation, woe to us if we do not hear God’s call to us. We have always been a great nation, developed on Godly principles; but when we forget that truth, we can quickly fall as did Judah. Let us stand strong as one nation, Under God Indivisible with Justice for all. I am proud to be a Christian and An American. Let me not forget all who died to give us that freedom or most importantly that Christ died to set me free. He must remain first.
We must awaken to our sins and bow before Him who is able to show us the way. It must begin with me. I must daily come before His throne, repentant of my own sin asking Him to wash me and transform me. Seeking Him must be my #1 priority every moment of every day. All that I do, I need to consider whether it brings Glory to Him. If not, then I must abandon that and let Him choose a better path for me. I must trust Him, even when I do not understand; because, I know His plan is best. Only in Him can I find fullness of joy. He is my greatest pleasure and treasure.
Twitterable Quotes
[bctt tweet=”As a nation, woe to us if we do not hear God’s call to us, repent and humbly bow before Him. It must begin with me in humility, prayer and seeking Him through His word of Truth-the Bible. ” username=”effiedarlene”]
[tweetthis]Only in God can I find true joy. He is my greatest pleasure and treasure.[/tweetthis]
[bctt tweet=”We have always been a great nation, developed on Godly principles; but when we forget that truth, we can quickly fall as did Judah. Let us stand strong as one nation, Under God Indivisible with Justice for all. ” username=”effiedarlene”]
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©Effie Darlene Barba, 2020
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Credits
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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