Isaiah 5 and the Seven 'Woes'

The prophecy of Isaiah and God’s judgment toward Judah and Jerusalem, the southern kingdom, continues in Isaiah 5. In the previous blog entry on Isaiah 4, I touched on the analogy the Bible uses of the vine and the vineyard. As we know from the New Testament, Jesus made this analogy much easier for us to decipher when He told us that He was the vine. Israel is the vineyard, as we will see in this chapter. God uses a similar analogy in Romans 11 of the Jews with an olive tree in place of the vineyard, and warns us as Gentiles not to boast against the natural branches as we have been grafted in. If God cut away the natural branches, His chosen people, He would certainly cut out the branches grafted in as well. I mention this because there are many Christians who do not understand God’s eternal covenant with the Jews. The anti-Semitic nature of Satan even affects Christians, who ought to be able to see the error of their ways in God’s Word. Sadly, being a Christian doesn’t mean that person is grounded in the Bible. I know many Christians who have not read the Bible in its entirety! That amazes me as it is God’s instruction manual of life for each of us. Some of these people are avid readers and will knock out a non-fiction novel in a weekend. I know, for I was one of those, and the Holy Spirit convicted me through that behavior to read the Bible. Though I did not understand what I read at first, it gave me an ongoing zeal for the study of His Word. I mention that here because this is a tough area of the Bible dealing with God’s judgment on the Jews for disobeying Him. I just want to emphasize that this should remind each of us that it could be us just as easily, and we should sympathize with their plight rather than boast against them.

This chapter also contains the “Seven Woes.” As usual, let’s start by reading the chapter for an overview, and then, we can go back for a verse-by-verse analysis:

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. 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? 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.
Impending Judgment on Excesses
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." 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. 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. 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." 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! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! 22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, 23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man! 24 Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, And the flame consumes the chaff, So their root will be as rottenness, And their blossom will ascend like dust; Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore the anger of the LORD is aroused against His people; He has stretched out His hand against them And stricken them, And the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. 26 He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly. 27 No one will be weary or stumble among them, No one will slumber or sleep; Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, Nor the strap of their sandals be broken; 28 Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses' hooves will seem like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind. 29 Their roaring will be like a lion, They will roar like young lions; Yes, they will roar And lay hold of the prey; They will carry it away safely, And no one will deliver. 30 In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, Behold, darkness and sorrow; And the light is darkened by the clouds.
Isaiah 5:1-30 (NKJV)

Let’s start by discussing the first four verses:
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. 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?


In the first verse, who is “me?” Well, it’s not capitalized so that gives us an idea that it is not God or Jesus. Who wrote the book? Isaiah is singing to Jesus, a song about Jesus regarding the vineyard of Jesus. Where is that very fruitful hill? It is the mountain of God, Mt. Zion, which will one day be the highest place on earth. Jesus prepared the land for cultivating by digging it up, clearing the stones and planting the choicest of vines. Remember what God did for man in the beginning. He created the world for Adam, and then when the land was just right, He put Adam in the land. In a similar manner, He had non-believers live in Israel before the Jews took possession. The Jews walked into a land flowing with milk and honey, prepared for them. In the same manner, He has reminded us, “I go to prepare a place for you.” God always prepares our way for us! All of the metaphors used here describe how God did everything to the land to have it bear good grapes. Once again, we talked about this in the discussion on Isaiah 4. Jesus is the Vine. Let’s review John to see this analogy:

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 15:1-8 (NKJV)

God reminds us in Isaiah 1:4 that He has done everything to make the vineyard produce good grapes. As always, He has done it all for us, and we so often don’t see it. When I read these verses, I can apply them to my own life just as easily as I apply them to the Jews. God has done so much for each of us. I am so convicted for all of my complaints, and I am so sorry how often those complaints come shortly after I am praising God for the wonders He has done in my life. This is a great reminder that He never makes mistakes and everything that we endure is for a purpose! Remember what Jesus said in His last statement on the cross…”It is finished.” In Greek, that is “tetelesti.” He has done it all. There is nothing else we can add to the equation, other than our willingness. If Jesus did everything, how did the vineyard produce wild grapes instead of good grapes? Because in this analogy, the grapes have the ability to make decisions. These grapes decided they did not want to follow the Vine. The grapes, as I said in the previous blog, are the Jews, God’s chosen people. Onward to the next three verses:

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.

God is now going to tell us what He is going to do to His vineyard. This is prophecy. To remind you, that word means to tell of an event before it happens, coming from the word “pro,” meaning before, and “Phanei,” meaning to speak. In the following verse, He tells us that He will take away the hedge of the vineyard, and He will burn the vineyard. There are many different usages in the Bible of the word hedge. There are hedges of protection, hedges of correction and hedges of direction. When Satan went to the throne of God and asked to test Job, God removed the hedge of protection from Job. This is promising to us in more than one way. First, it is a reminder that we have a hedge of protection around us. Satan cannot attack us unless God allows that attack to take place. Secondly, if God does allow that attack to take place it is because He has a purpose in drawing us closer to Him. You can read more about hedges in the following verses: Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12 and Micah 7:1-7. In this passage in Isaiah, God reminds us that the Jews have enjoyed protection. Look back in the Old Testament and you will see this. The Jews continued to defeat the stronger and more numerous enemies, with God’s hand. As long as they followed God’s ways, they would have continued to enjoy that protection. The Lord gave them chance after chance to fix their ways, but as we can see from the previous chapters in Isaiah, that time of ease in their existence is going to be in the past very soon. Historically, this section of the Bible pertains first to the Babylonian captivity. The Jews returned from that 70-year punishment with a new zeal for the Lord, but it did not last. It then pertains to the time period which followed, when in 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the temple and Jerusalem. At that time, the Jews were spread to the four corners of the earth, and that is how it remained until 1948, when the Jews reoccupied Israel. In 1967, the Jews reoccupied Jerusalem. That hedge seems to have returned, at least for the time being, as Israel has won every skirmish in its recent history (apart from last summer’s stalemate with Lebanon). Look at all the metaphors of what God said He would do to the vineyard in the surrounding verses: He said He would:

· Take away the vineyard’s hedge
· Burn the vineyard
· Break down the vineyard’s wall
· Trample down the vineyard
· Lay the vineyard waste
· Not prune the vineyard
· Not dig in the vineyard
· Briers and thorns will come up in the vineyard
· No rain will fall on the vineyard


Let’s look at each of these events and see how they apply to Israel:

· The hedge of protection is gone!
· The vineyard burns. Fire symbolizes judgment, and also test or trial.
· The wall is gone, allowing the enemies to have free reign
· Israel, once flowing with milk and honey, became a wasteland
· In the passage in John, we see how God prunes the branches or vines to get them to produce more fruit. If they are producing no fruit, He burns them and doesn’t bother to prune the branches. Here, having seen no fruit, He stops pruning.
· He no longer digs…He is not planting any new grapes.
· Briers and thorns will choke the plants remaining in the vineyard. He is walking away.
· The remaining plants will receive no water. He is not going to feed them anymore.

We can look at Israel in 2007 and see that this does not apply to them now. Though we do know that blindness in part has come to the Jews and most of them are unable to see Jesus as Messiah right now, we also know from the Bible that will change when the Tribulation begins. They are protected in their land, and He will feed them and prune them again! Next, we begin a section that discusses the impending judgment on excesses. It begins with the first of the seven “woes.” I will start by listing the seven “woes,” so we can keep a look out for them when we read:

1. Woe to those who join house to house
2. Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may follow intoxicating drink
3. Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as if with a cart rope
4. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil
5. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight
6. Woe to men mighty at drinking wine
7. Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man


Let’s start with a discussion on verses 8-10:

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."

As I mentioned before, this is a judgment on excesses. How much do we need? Much less than we want. God tells us in His Word that the love of money is the root of all evil. Most rich people spend a majority of their time trying to make more money and worrying about how to keep the money they have. God can bless people with wealth, though poverty can be more of a blessing than wealth. This may seem like circular logic, but as God tells us that it is harder for a rich man to go to heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, and knowing that we most often find God in our brokenness, than the logical conclusion is that it is better to be broken than on top of the world! This passage specifically tells us that people have added house to house and field to field and filled the land. There is not a place to dwell alone in the land. This sounds like a southern plantation to me, and those “plantations” shall be desolate, beautiful homes that no one even lives in. They have cut out the little man, and if this was for the purpose of combining strengths, it would be different. The sin involved here is covetousness, the tenth commandment, and we know from Colossians, that is idolatry:

5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5 (NKJV)

The final verse has to do with what the land produces. Ten acres shall produce a bath (a bath was a measurement that was roughly equivalent to 6 gallons) and 6 bushels of planted seed would only produce one bushel. God made their land infertile. This demonstrates God’s punishment for their sin…a famine. Let’s go on to another excess:

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.

Here, God is speaking of excessive behavior. They rise early in the morning and drink all day and are inflamed by wine. I like the word “inflamed” to describe their drunkenness. The New Testament reminds us that there will be no drunkards in heaven, and with fire as a symbol of judgment, the fire has inflamed these drunkards. Their focus has changed from providing for their families and working by the sweat of their brow to excessively drinking. While on the subject of drinking, I will add my two cents worth on the Biblical view. We all know that Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding at Cana. We also know that He said He would not partake again of the cup until the wedding supper of the Lamb. Many try to make you believe that these times involved grape juice, not wine. If it would have been grape juice, it would have said grape juice. It is not a sin to drink alcohol...it is a sin to drink excessively. But the New Testament also tells us that if something causes a brother to stumble, we should not do it. As a Christian, it is better to have that drink in the privacy of your home if there is a chance you will make another stumble. If we are using that drink to cope with the difficulty of our day or the difficulties in our lives, then it is problematic, as Jesus is the solution, not alcohol. This is one of those sins that carries its own punishment. Look at the life of an alcoholic and you will see a wreck in every direction. All the family members and friends are affected, not to mention the alcoholic. There are many sins that carry their own judgments. As we continue in the section of verses above, it then turns to musical instruments, and says, these and wine are in their feasts. These are not referring to the Feasts of Moses, but most likely, feasts honoring other gods. I have heard some people say that all music glorifies God. Obviously, that is not accurate. Here, as it says, they do not regard the work of the Lord, or attribute their lives to what He is doing in them. Let’s do Isaiah 5:13-17:


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. 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’s prophecy came at a time when the northern tribes were already in captivity with the Assyrians. Soon after this prophecy, the southern tribes began the 70-year, Babylonian captivity. You can read about the end of that captivity in the Book of Daniel. Though spoken in past tense, this was a future event. They went into captivity for lack of knowledge…not academics, but knowledge of the Lord. Sometimes, we rely on God’s love and disregard His judgment, but remember, He is perfect in His love and perfect in His judgment. The honorable men are famished, as there is no spiritual food remaining. All are thirsty for the Lord, though they have been trying to fulfill that thirst with wine, other gods and possessions. Sheol has grown larger. That is the Hebrew word for hell or death, and the equivalent in the Greek is Hades. This does not refer to the lake of fire and brimstone. Here, He speaks of their glory, multitude and pomp. Those words all point to pride, God’s least favorite sin. How many times do you see in the Bible how a haughty look angers Him. The Babylonian captivity will certainly do what God is threatening here…to humble each and every Jew. God will be exalted in judgment…not because He enjoys punishing us but because He knows the effect it will have. Punishment will draw many of the Jews back to serving Him. Though we may have difficulties understanding the seeming dichotomy of a loving God and a judging God, the two are the same. Even in judgment, He always shows grace. Let’s go on to verses 18 and 19:

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."

I struggled with this section, as I could not get a handle on some of the terminology like “cords of vanity.” Both J. Vernon McGee and William MacDonald said that it referred to brazen liars and those who defile God openly. I can see the metaphor working as these people pull sin toward themselves with every fiber of their being. The following verse is much easier to see. Those sinning are tempting God to hurry up and judge them. I have seen this kind of behavior in other places in the Bible. A strong example is Sodom and Gomorrah. The people there simply did not care. I have also seen that behavior in our world today. There are so many people who claim to be atheists who will make great claims like, “If you don’t like it, God, do something about it!” I think that comment is amazing in many ways. First, when an atheist is talking to God, you know he really isn’t an atheist. We know the difference between wrong and right. God has pre-wired us to know. What we want to be right doesn’t change God’s mind, nor does it change His punishment for our sin. Let’s finish the “woes” in verses 20-23:

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! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! 22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, 23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!

I discussed this in an earlier blog entry, but will reiterate. We see often in the Bible mention of people who are doing what is right in their own eyes. Though we are pre-wired to know the difference between good and evil, we often try to do what we want to do. Look at the Garden of Eden. God told Adam to stay away from one tree and where did Adam have to go? As you walk out the door, if you tell your son not to stick a bean up his nose, even if he has never thought of sticking that bean up his nose before, when you come back, you will probably be going to the Emergency Room to have a bean removed from someone’s nose. That is sin nature. If sin did not involve pleasure, it would not be so attractive, but Satan has taken all that God made that is good and he has warped it. Sex is a great example of this. In God’s plan, sex is something beautiful that exists between a husband and wife. The two shall be as one. Satan took that beautiful thing and corrupted it. We can see it everywhere on this planet that he has been given dominion over for a time. Pre-marital sex is at an all-time high. A majority of couples either don’t get married, or have sex with each other before marriage. Many couples divorce and God has told us that the only reason for divorce is infidelity. Remarrying is adultery, otherwise. Homosexuality has become accepted by the world as another lifestyle. This sin, and the rest will never be accepted by God. That makes me so thankful for His grace in being able to forgive any sin! The next verse and woe is in verse 21. This once again highlights the sin of pride…people who are wise in their own eyes. As much knowledge as men have gained through the centuries, all that knowledge does not compare to the knowledge of God. Don’t forget, one of the things God cannot do is learn. He knows everything. In verse 22, the woe returns to those mighty at drinking wine or causing others to sin by serving those drinks. The 23rd verse shows that for profit, they will aid the wicked or hurt the righteous. This refers to the ninth commandment of bearing false witness. It also points prophetically to Jesus as in His trial, those who spoke against Him were taking away justice from the most righteous Man! With the “woes” complete, the chapter finishes with God’s judgment:

25 Therefore the anger of the LORD is aroused against His people; He has stretched out His hand against them And stricken them, And the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. 26 He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly. 27 No one will be weary or stumble among them, No one will slumber or sleep; Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, Nor the strap of their sandals be broken; 28 Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses' hooves will seem like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind. 29 Their roaring will be like a lion, They will roar like young lions; Yes, they will roar And lay hold of the prey; They will carry it away safely, And no one will deliver. 30 In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea.

God is angry with His people. They are still His people. He still loves them. That is a great reminder for us. Look at the depths God has gone to in the last 2,000 years to bring the Jews back. They are now in their own land, and we know the time is coming very soon when they will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah. They were, are and will be His chosen people. Where does that leave us, as Gentiles? God has not done anything for the Jews that He is not willing to do for each one of us! That is the depth of His love, but tighten up your belt for it is going to be a bumpy ride. The coming judgment hammers the Jews, as they lose the peace in their own land. The land becomes desolate and their enemies destroy the once beautiful country. While this points to the Babylonian captivity, it also points prophetically to the subsequent judgment. After the Jews return from Babylon and serve God, it doesn’t take long before the same issues arise again. When they fail to acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, God delivers a much more harsh judgment than the Babylonian captivity. The temple and Jerusalem are destroyed and God sends the Jews to the four corners of the earth. The prophecy applies to both events. He has stretched out His mighty hand against His people and even the hills trembled. God often speaks through weather and related events, and I’m sure an earthquake must have happened at this time. I love the next verse:

“Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. “

Many were killed in the process and their bodies were left in the streets. Not even that ended His anger, but His hand is stretched out still. That verse shows His grace! If they had just turned to Him, He was still willing to protect them. Sadly, the Jews did exactly as most of us…they were not yet broken. Sometimes we have to reach rock-bottom before we turn to the Lord. Once we have done that, He will never let us go. I think the 26th verse has more to do with the return that occurred in 1948…”He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 11:10 tells us “In that day there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people.” That banner is the Israeli flag with the star of David on it. David is the root of Jesse. The remainder of the verses in this chapter speaks of the swiftness of the Jews returning to the land. Has there been anything like that in the history of the world? A people banished from the land and gone for almost 2,000 years return to populate a land they had once occupied. That occupation of the land was quick, and it had to be as almost immediately, five Arab nations declared war on Israel. And as the verses go on to say, Israel roared like young lions against all their enemies and they have continued to almost every day since. This is not man’s plan, it is God’s plan. And in regards to Israel, it has only just begun! That’s similar to what He does in each of our lives!