Woes – Fearless Living

As we have seen, Chapters 1-39 have had a host of prophesies about the coming Messiah, Jesus and a serious list of grievance God had against His people Israel. They and the nations that surrounded them had committed a host of sins against God. Isaiah lists the grievances in the forms of Woe’s. Each of the woe’s are caused by their neglect of God’s ways and God Himself.

Here are a few examples of a few of the Woe’s pointed out by God through Isaiah:

Isaiah 10:1-2 Woe to those who make unjust laws,
    to those who issue oppressive decrees,
²to deprive the poor of their rights
    and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
    and robbing the fatherless. God is pointing out how they are making their lives miserable with unjust laws, oppressing people and not caring for the widows and orphans.

Isaiah 28:1 Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards,
to the fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley—
to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine! God is telling them PRIDE is the root of their problems and their pride will lead them to destruction.

Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
    who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
    and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
    or seek help from the Lord. God is pointing out that they are foolishly putting their trust in others and in the materials of war instead of putting their trust in Him.

How are you treating others? Jesus tells us how we are to relate to God and others. Matthew 7:11-13 puts it this way, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹²So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Luke 10:27 “He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” James points us to God’s point about the widows and orphans in James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.“

What are you taking pride in? Proverbs has a lot to say about pride and its effects on our lives. 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” 29:23 “Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.” Do you feel you are so self-sufficient that you can do it all yourself? Paul reminds us of how Jesus views self-sufficiency in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Where are you placing your trust? Psalm 31:14 “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 68:2“Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Romans 15:13 gives us the benefit of trusting in God, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.“

From age to age man’s nature does not change. Each person has to confront their own sin and be reconciled to God. God is always there waiting to receive us and be the answer to all our woes. Turn to Him and trust in Him for life.

Linda

The book of Isaiah is filled with prophesies pointing the people of Judah to their near future along with the distant future. The amazing thing about these is we can see many of them already fulfilled in their history and in Christ’s coming. Along with these are prophesies that are still future to us. We can see God keeps His promises, and we can look forward with hope to the future outlined for us in scripture.

In today’s passage from Isaiah 5 we have a series of ‘Woes’ delivered by Isaiah to the people of Israel. He gives God’s the charges against them and the result of their disobedience. The Message translation uses the word doom which I think aptly describes their problems.

5:8 Doom to you who buy up all the houses
and grab all the land for yourselves—
Evicting the old owners,
posting no trespassing signs,

5:11 Doom to those who get up early
and start drinking booze before breakfast,
Who stay up all hours of the night
drinking themselves into a stupor.

5:18 Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,

5:20 Doom to you who call evil good
    and good evil,
Who put darkness in place of light
    and light in place of darkness,
Who substitute bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

5:21 Doom to you who think you’re so smart,
who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!

These warnings were given about 100 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of the Jews to Babylon. If we look at each one- these same accusations could be leveled against people in our day. Sin is sin – it has not changed over the centuries. What has changed is the ‘fix’ for our sinful condition. Jesus came to bring light, hope and redemption for our sin sick souls. We do not have to settle for treating others poorly, being addicted, wallowing in evil and lies, doing evil instead of good and over thinking ourselves! Jesus came to save us from our sins and call us to repentance. He came to provide a way for us to rid ourselves of these sinful habits and replace them with justice, mercy and hope. Christ is the Holy one, the Only one, who can Save us. Cling to that truth and place your hope in Him. God keeps His promises and we’ll see his plan of redemption unfold in the next chapters as we receive prophesy after prophecy about Messiah, our Savior.

I love the words of Micah 6:8 which stand in contrast to these woes in Isaiah 5. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” These words and actions lead to life, hope and blessings from God. God wants so much more for us than the Woe’s of the world.

Linda