Class Notes on Isaiah 5:8-24, The Six Woes

Isa 5:8-10 Woe to you who add house to house // and join field to field

till no space is left // and you live alone in the land.

9 The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing:

"Surely the great houses will become desolate, // the fine mansions left without occupants.

10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine, // a homer of seed only an ephah of grain."

 

• Isaiah describes the fruit of the vineyard using six woes.  As if to answer what went wrong, Isaiah holds ups six clusters of wild grapes in verses 8-25 (Ortlund, 2005).  What is the first woe or problem with the fruit?
• The people are consumed by consumerism, wealth, an addiction to things
• They have beautiful homes, but it doesn't lead to justice or righteousness (vs 5:7)

• Judgment?  Homes will be desolate and the fields will produce virtually nothing, no wealth

 

Isa 5:11-14 Woe to those who rise early in the morning // to run after their drinks,

who stay up late at night // till they are inflamed with wine.

12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, // tambourines and flutes and wine,

but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, // no respect for the work of his hands.

13 Therefore my people will go into exile // for lack of understanding;

their men of rank will die of hunger // and their masses will be parched with thirst.

14 Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite // and opens its mouth without limit;

into it will descend their nobles and masses // with all their brawlers and revelers.

15 So man will be brought low  // and mankind humbled,  // the eyes of the arrogant humbled. NIV

• Second woe / reason for bad fruit
• Hedonism or pleasure seeking (the party animal)

• Judgment?  Exile, hunger, thirst, and only the grave will enlarge its appetite

 

Isa 5:18-19 18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, // and wickedness as with cart ropes,

19 to those who say, “Let God hurry, // let him hasten his work // so we may see it.

Let it approach, // let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come,  // so we may know it.” NIV

 

• Third woe / reason for bad fruit
• The cynical believer (if he really is a believer).  The description sounds like religious people who really don't believe.  They go through the motions, but all the time they are really looking for reasons not to believe, so that they can continue in their secret sins

• Judgment?  There is not judgment listed after this woe.  Quite possibly it deserves no response.  The fulfillment of God's prophecies, in his timing, are sufficient in themselves

 

Isa 5:20 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. NIV

 

• Fourth woe / reason for bad fruit
• They were changing the definition of morality.  In today's terms, abortion is called choice; homosexuality is just a lifestyle; adultery is called "consenting adults"; sex before marriage is testing one's compatibility with a partner or just having a date

• Judgment?  Woes three through five are judged in a general sense (with woes one, two, and six) in verses 25-30, which is essentially the Assyrian destruction of the Northern kingdom and the Babylonian destruction of the Southern kingdom

 

Isa 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes // and clever in their own sight.

 

• Fifth woe / reason for bad fruit
• Pride and conceit, and to a certain extent, thinking you are smarter than God

 

Isa 5:22-24 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine // and champions at mixing drinks,

23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, // but deny justice to the innocent.

24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw // and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,

so their roots will decay // and their flowers blow away like dust;

for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty // and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

 

• Sixth woe / reason for bad fruit
• The verses seem to be focused on judges who relish in their machismo
• Maybe helping the poor and the downtrodden is considered too far below their manhood

• Judgment?  The judges are consumed by God's fire because the rejected his law and spurned his word

 

APPLICATION:  It is not hard to see the relationship of Israel to the USA in these verses.  These verses are specific to Israel, but Jesus' and Paul's use of the vineyard motif are much more general to people groups (nations).  Change starts with individuals.  The issue isn't the size of the house, but what have we rejected in pursuit of the house.  Do our lives project Jesus to others?  Are we honest in our relationships with people?  Are we involved in helping the poor and downtrodden?