Pleasure Party of Destruction

The second “Woe” Isaiah mentions is toward those who live in a party mentality most of the time.  They love their beer, wine, and hard liquor.  They live for the time they can lose their mind or minds to feeling nothing.  They want to lose control, and be out of control.

Even when these “Hearty Partiers” are sober they are living for the moment they can let it all go.  Personally, I have never been able to understand why anyone wants to lose it all.  All their money.  All their purity.  All their senses.  All their  ability to be in control of themselves – They have worked in factories, offices, differents business forms, and under someone elses control, yet they want to lose control through these drunken parties.  No sense.

The New Living Translation (NLT) calls this word “Destruction”.  In verse eleven of Isaiah 5 we are told, “Destruction is certain for you who get up early to begin long drinking bouts that last late into the night.”  Just the mere act of getting drunk is going to lead to destruction; the destruction of your  life and maybe someone else’s. 

Many of the children of Judah in Isaiah’s day were living in a ‘party mode’.  The land was wealthy.  They were wealty.  They had it made.  Nothing could happen to “God’s people”.  Afterall they had God’s assurance that He would never leave them or forsake them.  “We have it made in the shade”, and “Who is this prophet anyway, that he should go around telling us what to do?”  “We are God’s people.  We are free to do as we please, as long as it does not violate our consciences.”

These, had their music, and Isaiah calls it “Lovely music” (v. 12, NLT), “…But they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider the work of His hands” (NKJV).  One thing is abundantly clear in this “Woe”, and that is; that it is calling for the destruction, through captivity of God’s people as a nation.  They had forsaken God for their pleasures.  DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND EVEN REMOTELY FAMILIAR?

We have professing christian people being advocates for the drinking of alcoholic beverage.  “Well! the Bible does not have any provisions forbidding it”, “There is nowhere that Scriptures say, ‘Thou shalt not drink beverage alcohol”.  Just because it does not out and out forbid it is no reasont to defend it.  I could use that same argument for slavery, abortion, polygamy; there is nowhere the Bible forbids those either.  They are definitely forbidden by principle and the teachings written in Scrptures.  One of those principles could be seen here in this text.  If you are for godly things, and the things of God, then you will not drink, because you know that one can lead to more, which can lead to drunkenness.

Isaiah’s words are written for the future when he writes, “Therefore my people have gone into captivity…”.  They will in one hundred plus years go into captivity by Babylon.  They are presently in captivity to their pleasures and lusts, and Isaiah says, “Because they have no knowledge”.  Hosea the prophet wrote, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”, and previous to that he wrote, “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land” (Hosea 4:6a, 1b  NKJV).  Why is it that Judah has no knowledge.  They have so gotten into their pleasures, their wealth, their material possessions that God is only secondary.  They will give God some notice if it fits into their schedule. 

When you lose your knowledge of God; it is because you have gotten away from Him, forsaken Him, His Word, and prayer and worship of Him.

Hear what the prophet writes according to the NLT in verse 14, “The grave is licking its chops in anticipation of Jerusalem, this delicious morsel.  Her great and lowly will be swallowed up, with all her drunken crowds.  In that day the arogant will be brought down to the dust; the proud will be humbled.  But the LORD Almighty is exalted by His justice.  The holiness of God is displayed by his righteousness.  In those days flocks will feed among the ruins; lambs and kids will pasture there”

In the United States of America we have a major problem with people departing from God for their pleasures, and still keeping God in the equation.  God tells us quite clearly that there is destruction, “Woe” in doing that.  If you want to have a clean heart, clear mind, and be in control there is nothing like turning your whole life over to the LORD who died and rose again for you.  His name is Jesus.  This Jesus Christ is the one who will judge you in these matters.

Read Isaiah 5:11-17

House to House

We have seen God’s love for the Vineyard He built and established.  He planted the best vines.  He cared for, tilled, and built a vineyard around the vineyard, then the vineyard produced nothing worthwhile, only wild grapes.

Now  when we get to the next three verses we see a “Woe” pronounced against the people of Judah.  This is a ‘Woe’ very similar to the first ‘Woe’ against Babylon in Habakkuk 2.  God is not pleased with land grabbing from any source, but especially by His own children.

This practice which is addressed is one of financing a place, the debtor being unable to pay  the debt, then the creditor repossessing the property, and adding to their land, houses, business.  Many today would think, “Now, what is wrong with that?  That is just capitalism”.  It is in fact capitalism run amuck.  God does not tolerate evil against His own people.  When the people of God profit against the well-being of others of God’s people there is a great miscarriage of right going on.  Sometimes what is legal is not right.

This woe is warning of judgment coming on them.

A few years ago I worked in a Manufactured Homes sales location repairing trade-ins, repos, and such to get them  ready for resale.  The man I worked with; and who actually gave me the joy, to help me out while between pastorates, and a pastor himself; was speaking to one of the salesmen, and I was listening too.  This salesman was telling of a possible sale to a couple whose credit was not very good, and how they were going to increase the price of this single wide home from 22,000 dollars to 27,000 dollars,  and give them a high interest rate as well.  Now, that is injustice.  I do not think God was smiling down on that that day.  Someone will say, “Well, that is the way financing is done”.  Maybe, but it is against the people who need help the most.  You read the Scriptures and you will see God does not smile on that.  You can see it in verses 8 – 10 of this text.

We must be more sensitive to the needs of the less fortunate among us.  God forgive us if we are not.

Read Isaiah 5:1-10

God’s Disappointment

Isaiah was a singer as well as a prophet.  There are many portions of the book which are songs or poetry.  It would probably be correct to say that a majority of the book is in song form.  Have you ever been in a position you could not think of anything to say, but a poem came to mind, so you penned it down?  Well, it was about the same for the prophet, only his is God-breathed.

The source of this song, of course, is Isaiah’s grief and sorrow over the spiritual condition of his people.  He could have said with the apostle Paul, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved” (Romans 10:1).  Jeremiah the prophet also, had the same burden, “O, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people” (Jeremiah 9:1). 

Isaiah has seen plenty of vineyards and he knows the Scriptures which tell him Israel is like a vineyard, “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it”  Psalm 80:8;  “ Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;  And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance” Psalm 80:14-16. 

Isaiah desires to sing to his “Well-Beloved”, and his Beloved is the one who owns the vineyard.  You will note that he mentions the good land the vineyard is on.  It is good for a vineyard to grow the fruit of the vine; “On a very fruitful hill”.  The Well-Beloved dug and removed the stones from the ground.  He planted the best of vines.  He built a tower to watch over it and to have the “winepress” in it.

Can you imagine the sorrow and grief the Well-Beloved must have had when he sees the “wild grapes” rather than the nice juicy, sweet, clusters of grapes He was so expecting, and justly so.

The point here is God’s Disappointment with the Nation Judah, the city Jerusalem, and we need not read into this that God did not know this was going to happen.  Even though God knows all things; He is still disappointed at times.

God is well pleased when we come to Him through His Son who died for us on the cross, taking the sin which was mine and yours, receiving the judgment for those sins, dying, being buried, carrying our sins away; then rising again for our justification.  Being made just as though we had never sinned.  Do not let your fruit be wild grapes.

Further Blessing to Come

We looked at the Branch and who that is.  Of course, it is Jesus.

Note in these next few verses the blessings which will come to the Nation for the glory of the LORD.

• Ones remaining in Jerusalem will be called holy;
• They are “recorded for life in Jerusalem”;
• The Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion;
• The bloodstains will have been cleansed by a purifying judgment;
• There will be a ‘Canopy’ of glory over the city – “a cloud by day”, and “…flaming fire by night”;
• They will have shelter from the heat of the day, and from the storm and rain which will come.

The Branch will be glorified in fulfilling all the promises of God.  Let those of us who are saved by grace through the death, burial and resurrection continue to trust in the God of Israel who keeps all His promises.

SEE ISAIAH 4:3-6