Let’s get this established first. This is the message of the day (is 5:20-21):
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.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
On a global evil this is exactly what is happening. Black is white, white is black, good is bad, bad is good, etc… The God of heaven has some words for this: Woe to you.
This is what was happening in the region of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. All that is righteous and good was now evil and what was evil was now good. But why?
God says that Israel and Judah were like a precious vineyard. He created good soil, put a stone wall around it, planted the finest vines and pruned and cared diligently for the plant, yet it only produced worthless grapes. So after a season he says enough.
Then he declares that he will uproot the vines and tear down its protective walls and it will no longer be pruned, weeded or tended to. It will become a wasteland.
Of course he isn’t talking of a grapevine but rather the judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem. They have become full of greed buying house after house and land after land so much so that the land and houses are empty. They drink from early morning to late at night, partying and celebrating with no awareness of what is happening. The leaders and dignitaries have no knowledge of the LORD. He is about to bring judgment and send them all into exile, but they don’t even know because they have become fools.
But their destruction will be sure because the LORD’s anger is burning against the people. He will bring justice and righteousness and that means in this case he will need to bring judgment.
So he summons the nations around them. The nations are ready and eager to execute God’s judgment and carry Israel off into captivity. It’s a sad day. The worst being that Israel doesn’t even care. They have no idea.
A Few Thoughts:
1. If God does this for his holy nation, how much more will such things happen to the Gentile nations who practice evil for prolonged periods of time? We should open our eyes, see, repent and not be proud that we think it won’t happen to us. Or that God would not allow us to suffer as he is going to rapture us out before hard times come (tell that to Ukraine right now).
2. This text in the beginning is hard to figure whose voice is whose. Is this Isaiah describing what the LORD is saying or is the direct revelation from the LORD? It’s not a huge issue because the message is clear – God is announcing pending judgment on Judah.
3. People will say that it is the environment that makes people good or bad. But here is a case where God himself provided everything for Israel’s care and success, but because their hearts were rotten, so was the fruit. They made their choice to do evil even though everything for their flourishing was available.
