Tuesday, August 30: Isaiah 5- From Woes to Grace.

After reading this chapter I had to go back and check. Yes, God was speaking to His people. He explains in verse 7 that the vineyard is a word-picture for Judah and Israel. The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. But His people had fallen terribly, stuck in the mire of selfishness and sin.  The verse continues, And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

As the chapter moves on, God confronts the depravity within His people Israel through a series of woes.

11-12: 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. 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.

18: Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,

20-23: 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.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.

And what do these judgments reap? Therefore the LORD's anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets (25).

I sat with all this before me and shook my head. These were supposed to be God’s people, God’s beloved, the ones who knew God’s ways, who pledged obedience to God and who supposedly loved God with heart, soul, mind and strength.  What happened that they lived like this? How could they fall so far from the Lord?

The next thing I knew.  My thoughts shifted. If it could happen to them, it can happen again to those of us who follow God today.  If I am not careful, I can pervert God’s ways and find myself as far from God as Israel did.  

This sad word of ancient judgment became a warning to me…..be vigilant in my faith, to stick close to God’s Word, to listen to God’s Word as best as I can without the adulterating lens of my culture.

A second thought hit me. Grace is a wonderful gift. My words cannot express the wonder of God’s grace in my life and in the Scripture, particularly the NT. But I can so easily abuse grace and turn it into a license to sin and disregard God’s Ways… another warning sounded.

So I sat with God wondering; examining my life and the Christian community that surrounds and nurtures me.  Am I, are we, FAITHFUL. Capital letters FAITHFUL?!?

O, God, give me honest eyes to see myself and my faith community for who I am (we are). Now give me the courage and strength to change and move toward ever increasing faithfulness. In Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN.