The Six-fold Woes: Woe # 3 - Dabbling In Sin

 

Isa 5:18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope; 19 That say, "Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it."

The third woe: This woe could be summed up this way: “Woe to those who dabble in sin.” I think the best example of this woe can be found in those who thought that it wouldn’t hurt to take one peek at a pornographic website. ‘What can one little look hurt? I can stop viewing this at any time.”

 

And the sin that started out as a little tag-along piece of string (a cord of vanity) then turns out to be as strong as a rope that could pull a fully loaded cargo vessel. ( a cart rope.) It something in which supernatural help is needed to break free.

Pornography is a great example but any sinful habit will do. The gate is opened to full blown willful sinning when we first utter, “what harm can this one little sin do?”

Then, even when the sin is full blown, and God, (out of sheer mercy) withholds His judgment, we begin to think that our sins really don’t matter. We think, “if this sin is so bad why doesn’t God step in and do something about it.”

 

This is not just an individual thing. Entire nations can fall into this trap whereby they keep testing the mercy and long-suffering of God. “If this is so bad, why doesn’t the Holy One of Israel draw near and stop us?”

 

And so we fly the gay pride flags and rush to embrace their unholy cause in effect saying, “"Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it."

 

We forget the sobering truth found in 2Pe 3:3-12, “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,

 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

 

God’s final judgment continues on hold, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It will happen! Knowing this don’t be bound up in the cords of sin! Turn to the only One who can set you free. Turn to Jesus.

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.

The Six-fold Woes: Woe #2

 

Isa 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them! 12 The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands. 13 Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst.

 

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and by the grace of God, I ain’t goin’ back Jack! Woe to those who allow alcohol and partying (represented here by harps strings, tambourine, and flute) to wag their tail rather than live in regard to the workings of the Lord.

 

Such people are taken captive by their desire for debauchery, to the point that any knowledge of God and His righteousness is gone! Out of sight….out of mind….let the good times roll unchecked!

The once “honorable” man is famished from a lack of feeding on the Bread of Life, and his thirsty soul is dried up with the ravages of alcohol as opposed to being filled with the Living Water that is Jesus.

 

I see now that my past struggles with alcohol abuse was a means of escape from a reality that I, (for some reason or another) couldn’t deal with, but here’s the thing, every morning amidst the hangover….that reality, (whatever it was) was still “hanging over” me. No wonder they call it a hangover!

 

Thankfully, by the grace of God, I, like the prodigal, came to my senses. Confessed my sin, repented of it, and now, the only “hangover” I have is the cross of Christ hanging over me, assuring me of my forgiveness, and leading me to a new life in Christ.

 

To those struggling with addiction today. I say God knows; He cares. He wants to free you from this captivity and help you escape to the life He has created for you. Trust Him. Surrender to Him! He is the true Bread of Life and Living Water for your thirsty soul’

The Six-fold Woes

 

Isa 5:8 Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, Till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land! 9 In my hearing the LORD of hosts said, "Truly, many houses shall be desolate, Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant. 10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, And a homer of seed shall yield one ephah."

 

When you see the word “woe” in Scripture, you oughta think of the homonym “whoa.” Stop and consider the gravity of what is about to come down unless certain “ways” are changed.

 

This is the first of 6 woes pronounced upon the Israelites by the Lord and they are timeless pictures of things that “tick off” the Lord.

The first “woe” deals with covetousness. It’s the sin of never having enough. Here it is a picture of cornering the real estate market to the point that you own it all and you are able to put the squeeze on others whether it be houses or farm fields. Please note it’s not sinful to own property and make a living off of it. The problem is the motivation behind it. It’s when you want it all for yourself that it becomes a serious problem, often leading to serious sins!

 

Sins like murder as found in the biblical example of Ahab and Jezebel in 1 Kings 21 where Ahab desired the vineyard of his next door neighbor Naboth. When Naboth refused to sell Jezebel (Ahab’s wife) arranged false witnesses to speak against Naboth and he was stoned to death and the property was taken over by Ahab.

In a more contemporary example, just watch the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life,” and note the example set by the covetous thief Henry F. Potter!

God tells these covetous Israelites that they will have their mansions, but they will be without tenants. He said, “You can have your farmland but I’ll see to it that it won’t produce.”

The Bible calls the sin of covetousness idolatry. (Col 3:5) It’s putting “the desire for your neighbor’s possessions ahead of your desire for God! Woe to the person who does this, because payback is coming, if not in this life, then the next.

The Vineyard Song Part 3

 

Isa 5:5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it." 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

 

The word “keep” is not found anywhere in our text today, but I’m going to talk about it anyway.  The word “keep” in Scripture almost always carries with it the idea of treasuring something so much that you put a hedge around it to protect it. For instance, to “keep” the Commandments, is to treasure them, and of course if you treasure them, you will desire to obey them and you will have godly sorrow over the times you fail.

 

God’s commandments are all about doing the right thing! Behaving the right way toward your fellow man, and toward God. The people in the day of Isaiah did not act justly toward others or live in righteous fashion, so God says,

“If you won’t “keep My commandments (treasure them) then I will “take away the hedge,” I will no longer “keep” you. I will break down the wall! The devil, the world, and your flesh will have easy access. They will come and go as they please  and trample you down!”

 

“I will no longer work up the soil or prune you, (Read that, “I will close your spiritual ears of the understanding of My Word. This is what God would later tell Isaiah in Isa 6:9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'

In addition, “the cares of this world, (briers and thorns) will crowd out my Word.”

Finally, I will turn off the sprinkler. I will withhold rain; I will turn off the flow of My Holy Spirit.”

It’s classic judgement from God, where He basically removes His restraints and gives us over to our flesh, the world, and consequently the devil. We are reminded of this in Ro 1:24. The people no longer glorified God or give Him thanks and so: “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,”

 

“God gave them up.” He did it in the days of Isaiah and historically He has consistently given His people over to their own ways when His judgment falls. Know this beloved! Beware of it beloved, and ever remain vigilant in worshiping, thanking, and glorifying God in all you do!

It is a terrible thing when God removes His hedge of protection from His precious vineyard. (The church) The prophetic Word is muted and the world, flesh, and the devil infiltrate the church with their compromising doctrines. It’s as if there is no difference between the world and the church. STAND ON THE WORD! Jesus said in Mt 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

The Vineyard Song Part 2

 

Isa 5:3 "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.  4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?

Welcome to the courtroom of God! He is the Judge in this case and the defendants are the caretakers of His church (the vineyard)  The Judge, in His opening remarks, begs for the caretakers to come up with some shred of evidence to excuse the lack of fruit from His vineyard. Name something more He could’ve done to produce a tasty, bountiful crop.

The defendants are dumbfounded. They have no answer. God had given them the Torah, (the Law) the prophets, miraculous deliverance from their enemies, grace, mercy, truth, forbearance, material blessings, a land of milk and honey, He has even given them time to repent! He is as the Psalmist wrote in Ps 103:8-13, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.

If these people in the days of Isaiah are without excuse, what about us. What more could’ve God done for us? He gave us His only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins, and then sent us the Holy Spirit to equip us to bear fruit in His vineyard.

God pleads with us just as HE pled with His Old Testament church! Please judge between God and His vineyard. He has given us all we need, but we must ask ourselves, “Where’s the fruit?”

The Vineyard Song Part 1

 

Isa 5:1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.

 

Every time I read this portion of Isaiah, I am transported to just about any Christian coffeehouse. There’s a musician strumming on a guitar and he or she will say something like, “Here’s a song I wrote about………..yada, yada, yada.

 

Well here, the musician is God and it’s a little song He prophetically wrote about His Well-beloved Son, (Mt 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

In this song, His Son was given a vineyard, (the church, Old Testament and New. He had such high expectations for her as HE gave her everything she needed to be blessed.

 

The soil was fertile, the prophets digging up the ground and clearing it of stones with the preaching of the Law and the call to repentance. It is just like John the Baptist “preparing the way of the Lord!” with his preaching of repentance.

A tower is erected, which is a picture of the cross on Calvary towering over all the vineyard. Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He even built a winepress, expecting the vineyard to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

But all He got was sour grapes. Have you ever eaten wild grapes? They are the epitome of something very sour.  Believe me, you will know the difference between a wild grape and one that is properly grown and cultivated.

 

This song could be written for us in the church today. What have we NOT been blessed with in the spiritual realm. Forgiveness of sins, the promise of eternal life, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us through the Word of God, the means of grace, etc.

 

With all this given to us, we must ask ourselves what kind of wine are we producing for the Vinedresser?  Is there joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control evidenced in our lives?

 

Or are we turning out the sour grapes of the works of our flesh? Ga 5:19 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.

It’s a battle I know, but we must ask ourselves, will we be led by our flesh or by the Spirit of God?