Isaiah 5

Isaiah 5:1

3. Israel’s Punishment for Sin (Chap. 5)5:1, 2 In the song which Isaiah sings for his Well-beloved (Jehovah), he rehearses the tender care of the Lord for His vineyard. God chose the best location, cultivated the land, planted it with the choicest vine, protected it, and prepared a winepress in hope of a good harvest. Instead of the harvest He expected (obedience, thanksgiving, love, worship, service), He found foul-smelling, wild grapes (disobedience, rebellion, idolatry). 5:3-6 Indignantly the Lord asks Judah what more could He have . . . done, and why did He receive such poor returns. He then announces the punishment impending. He will take away Judah’s hedge of protection. The country will be invaded and laid waste. It will return to briers and thorns and suffer drought. All this looks forward, of course, to the oncoming captivity. 5:7 The cause is clear: when God looked for justice and righteousness from Israel and Judah, He got nothing but murder and the cry of the downtrodden. 5:8-10 In verses 8-23 we have six woes, continued from chapter 3. The woes are pronounced as follows: First Woe: Covetous landowners who try to corner the real estate market till there is an acute shortage of houses and land, yet the owners dwell in solitary splendor. The captivity will leave many houses empty, and the land will yield only fractional harvests. The grapevines growing on five acres of land will yield only five gallons of wine. Ten bushels of seed will produce only one bushel of grain. 5:11-17 Second Woe: Confirmed alcoholics who imbibe from morning . . . until night. They feast and carouse in total disregard of God and His works. It is for this kind of unthinking behavior that the exile is drawing near. The honorable men and the multitude will suffer famine and then death. No class will escape humiliation. But God will be vindicated by His righteous judgment when foreign bedouin shepherds feed their flocks in the ruins of Israel. 5:18, 19 Third Woe: Brazen liars and God-defiers who are hitched to sin and drag guilt and punishment after them. They challenge God to hasten with the punishment He has threatened on them. 5:20 Fourth Woe: Those who obliterate moral distinctions, denying the difference between good and evil. 5:21 Fifth Woe: Conceited men who cannot be told anything. 5:22, 23 Sixth Woe: Judges who are heroes at drinking and who pervert justice through accepting bribes. 5:24, 25 These wicked men who have no respect for the Word of God will be devoured like grass in a prairie fire. God will deal with His people in judgment, causing the hills to shake and the streets to be littered with carcasses. But there is more! 5:26-30 He . . . will whistle for the Babylonians to come. See their troops approachingin top physical condition, perfectly uniformed, well armed. The horses and chariots approach fast and furiously. The troops pounce like a lion upon the populace, then carry the people off into exile. It’s a dark day for Judah!