The Six-fold Woes: More On Woe # 2

 

Isa 5:14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself And opened its mouth beyond measure; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it. 15 People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. 16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness. 17 Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture, And in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat.

 

Isaiah continues with the second “woe” dealing with the revelers of this world. Those who live to drink and party. Their motto actually comes from a passage in Scripture…. A passage that is taken woefully (pun intended) out of context. The Apostle Paul was addressing the false teaching concerning the resurrection of the dead. If there is no resurrection, if there is no Day of Judgment, then one might as well, “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die.” He said in 1Co 15:32b, “If the dead do not rise, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"  Then he reminded the Corinthians and us to watch out who we hang around with. 33 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

Sheol, (read that hell) has enlarged itself for the revelers of this world. “wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. (Mt 7:13)

Other warnings in Scripture about the lifestyle of revelry come from Ga 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

And 1Pe 4:3-5, “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

 

If there be any reveler reading or listening to this, I know you are likely blowing it off. I get that! My prayer is that one day when you wake up with one of those hangovers, you’ll ask the question found in the old Peggy Lee Song “Is That All There Is? And God will answer you by saying, Oh no! Peggy was wrong! I have so much more for you. Confess your sin, repent of it, and come home to the life I intended for you to live.