Woe to those.

Isaiah 5:8-21, Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, until there is no more room, so that you have to live alone in the midst of the land! In my ears the LORD of hosts has sworn, “Surely, many houses shall become desolate, even great and fine ones, without occupants. For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, and a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain.” Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink; who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! And their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, nor do they consider the work of His hands. Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; and Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it. So the common man will be humbled, and the man of importance abased, the eyes of the proud also will be abased. But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy. Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and sin as if with cart ropes; who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come to pass, that we may know it!” Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink; who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Whenever you read six “woe to those” phrases in a row, you know that something serious is going on. We live in a time of amazing physical abundance while evil seems to be gaining ground over good. There is a limit to what a Holy God will tolerate. As in the days of Noah, Paul writes that people in the end times will be saying “Peace and safety” when destruction comes upon them like birth pangs. We cannot take a position of superiority, for all our hope is in Him. Are we simply seeking to show others that the Lord is on our side, or are we seeking His will in everything that we may be on His side?

Lord, we need Your wisdom, for we are as children in these evil times; as we uphold the rights of the oppressed and helpless, let us do so to proclaim Your name and to bring forth a harvest of righteousness, for those who are seeking You and do not know You.