Year 8, Day 355: Isaiah 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Isaiah 5 returns us back to the standard chapter among the prophets.  Through Isaiah, God tries to explain to Israel what is wrong.  God tells them how they were cared for, loved, and cherished.  He tells them how they were planted in the perfect spot, which had been prepared just for them.  He tells them how He provided them with opportunity after opportunity.  There was so much love and potential!

The opening section of scripture is then followed with a section about the coming judgment.  God promises that since the people did not prosper when they had every reason to prosper, that He is sending a nation against them to judge them. 

I love when I hear people take sections of scripture and use verses like these to talk about how mean and uncaring this proves God to be.  It only proves our own hypocrisy!  After all, when we have something that breaks, doesn’t work like it is supposed, or otherwise doesn’t live up to our expectations, how often do we throw it out or replace it with a better version?  Is God being all that unreasonable here?  Absolutely not!  If I have labored long and hard to get something to work, I am either going to fix it, toss it and start over, or replace it!  It isn’t mean or uncompassionate at all!  It is how things work.

Look at what it is that the people are doing that is upsetting the Lord.  First, they are adding house to house and field to field.  In other words, some people are taking over other people’s resources.  The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.  That angers the Lord.

Another thing they are doing is chasing after strong drink and pleasure.  They are after the party.  They want the sensation of fun and new and exciting.  What does the Lord say about this?  They don’t see where the hand of the Lord is at work.  They aren’t even looking at the deeds of the Lord.

This is why God promises exile to His chosen people.  They had every advantage to make the best of life.  Yet, they turn away from Him and care more about their own life and their own passions than His.  They corrupt justice and pervert fairness.  Instead of taking their bountiful provision and making the world a better place, they horde God’s provision and turn their back on the world.  Why wouldn’t God want to judge them?  Why wouldn’t God want to judge others like them?

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