The bulk of Isaiah chapter 5 (from verse 8 through verse 30) consists of a blistering Sermon Isaiah preached, part of a longer Message really. This Paragraph is clearly marked by its use of a series of “Woes” announced by the Prophet. (Some Bible teachers label the whole Section “the six woes of Isaiah.”

Today, since yesterday we focused on verses 1-7 (God’s Vineyard), we’re going to notice each of those pronouncements. These six indictments (for that is exactly what they are) actually reveal WHY God is going to reap havoc on His Vineyard, on Israel … because of their “wild” sinning.

Are you ready to begin?

Some scholars think the six woes represent an intentional progression into sin, digression into sin! (One “wrong” leading to another “wrong,” each being worse than its predecessor!) Although honestly, it’s hard to distinguish “little” sins from “big” sins, even if such a dichotomy exists.

First … “WOE unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.” Isaiah 5:8-10

This presents love of money. Rich people buying house after house, no matter who they hurt in the process. Looking out for “number one.” This looks like “real estate” has become a new god for the people! Until only the rich tycoon lives on a vast expanse of his own creating!

But God says He can empty those houses, all of them! Even the mansions among them! And those pretty (likely wrongly acquired) vineyards, God can withhold the rain and warmth … and they will produce very little!

Remember that in Israel God has bequeathed to each family a plot of land. Land that has here somehow been “taken” from them. (Think of the Naboth’s Vineyard scenario of King Ahab’s day.)

Second … “WOE unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.” King James Version, Isaiah 5:11-13a

Here is the love of “strong drink,” alcohol from morning to night! As a lifestyle! And (as is usual) they added (wild) “partying” to that mix. The (sensual)  “music” and the (gluttonous) “feasting!”

But God here directly says this is one of the reasons WHY His people have been sent into captivity! (Assyrian Captivity for the Northern Kingdom, Israel. And later, Babylonian Exile for the Southern Kingdom, for Judah.)

No “knowledge” of God … leads to sin, de facto.

Third … which I would call “serial sinning” … ” WOW unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: that say, Let him (God) make speed (hurry up), and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!” Isaiah 5:18-19, brashly confronting, challenging  Almighty God!

Sins have now piled on top of sins … to the point they have become “heavy!” Too many sins to just “carry” in one’s arms! They need an ox to pull them, they are now so ponderous!

They now have to “tow” them (their many iniquities) with cords! Even with ropes, strong ox-cart ropes! All the while “doubting” God! As in: “We have not seen him do anything lately!” Sheer Blasphemy! Irreverence to the maximum!

Wow!

Fourth … a reversal of values! “WOE unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

This sin is self-explanatory. What God once called “good,” is now considered “bad” … by these erring folks! (Sounds like contemporary society, doesn’t it?)

Then fifth … “pride!” No doubt here either. “WOE unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21

Whereas we should be humble, lowly … fully dependent on God! An attitude like that depicted in Proverbs 3:5-6 is optimum. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” 

Last of all … one more imprecation … “WOW unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” Isaiah 5:22-23

They reward the wicked! They denigrate the righteous! They place as “heroes” the most “vile” of men and women! (America, take heed!) And it appears that their perverted judgment is tainted by strong drink, once again!

And here’s the root of this sixth injustice: “Because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Perennially ignore God’s Word … and soon a society will no longer honor the “righteous” of the land!

What a list!

Thank you, Isaiah, for preaching the Truth!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Oh, how very much the Bible says about vineyards, grapes and the “fruit of the vine!”

But Isaiah the Prophet may be at the vanguard of that great “agricultural metaphor,” applying it especially (and originally) to Israel.

And the Book’s “classic” Passage in this respect is found in Isaiah 5:1-7, today’s Text.

“Now will I (Isaiah the Prophet) sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.”

Verse 7 identifies the “focus,” the “identity” of God’s vineyard here. “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.”

Wow!

But even earlier in his Corpus (Book) … Isaiah has indirectly labeled God’s people (Israel) as a “vineyard.”

Read this please. “The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the VINEYARD; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.” Isaiah 3:14, Jews abusing (cannibalizing) Jews, figuratively (not literally) of course.

Now I know today’s Text is lengthy. But it (in some detail) describes a process, up to three years’ duration in fact, a farmer preparing his “vineyard” to bring forth that sweet tasting product, pure “grape juice.”

(By the way, notice that Isaiah is “singing” this Analogy/this Sermon! “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.” He is now a troubadour! (A “poet” who both “writes his lyrics, and then sings/performs them!” Folks, Isaiah indeed is a multi-faceted Man of God!)

(Another quick “aside,” see what our little hero (Isaiah) calls “God,” His “Lord” in this Passage!  “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.” God as his “Well-Beloved!” And as one would suspect, “Beloved” is merely a synonym, from the same root verb. (“Dod” in Hebrew, meaning “to boil.” In the sense of red-hot love, fervent adoration, zealous worship!)

The scholars tell us its takes a vine-grower a year to prepare the ground, removing all those stones! This “clearing” enough fruitful earth (using the larger of those rocks to build the walls) … is much more time consuming that I ever thought!

Then it takes yet another year to build the winepress and tower! Finally (at season’s end) planting the vines! Twenty-fours months, and not a swallow of grape juice yet!

Then, in year three … the “harvest” (ideally) would be reaped!

God sure has a lot invested in His Vineyard, in His people, in Israel!

And … the moral of the Poem/Song … when the grapes finally came … they were not enjoyable (sweet) at all, but “wild” a Hebrew word (“beushiym”) meaning both “stinking” and “worthless.”

Wow!

So … what’s God to do with this “disappointment?” He (anthropomorphically) wonders out loud … “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” Isaiah 5:4

So, get ready … judgment is coming!

“And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” Verses 5 and 6, referring to the coming Assyrian nd Babylonians invasions of Israel and Judah. Through the hands of kings like Nebuchadnezzar … God is chastening His “people.” Breaking up His “vineyard!” (“I WILL TELL YOU WHAT I WILL DO…” Staggering when spoken by the Almighty!)

Wow!

But why?

God wanted pure righteousness, yet Israel gave Him smart-talk, an outcry! Sheer stubbornness and disobedience!

Serious business!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Christian friend, what kind of “fruit” are you bearing … to the Glory of God?

In my opinion the most thrilling part of Isaiah chapter 4 is its description of a coming brighter Day for our planet! The Era of the Reign of Jesus Christ God’s Son here on earth, a thousand glorious years in fact! Usually called the “Millennium!”

But Isaiah (in his short fourth chapter anyway) gives us but a glance at that awesome Kingdom,  but what a majestic view he presents! (When one considers the whole Book of Isaiah, however, he or she gets a much fuller view of the Millennium. I dare say the most explicit view of those centuries available in all the Word of God! Isaiah is truly a “Prophet” in this traditional sense, revealing the future!)

Well, tell us Isaiah: “In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” Most of the chapter, Isaiah 4:2-6, today’s Scripture.

“In that day” … after the Second Coming of Jesus to earth, when He reigns in Jerusalem for the previously mentioned 1,000 years! (Someone hum/sing a few lines of “What a Day That Will Be!”)

The Metaphor “Branch” (as in “the Branch of the Lord”) means “JESUS!” It is one of the Old Testament Prophets’ favorite Titles for the Saviour. (Also see Isaiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15! Then look at Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12, all speaking of King Jesus.)

Then notice Isaiah’s avalanche of adjectives (nouns too) describing Jesus … “beautiful.”

“Glorious!” 

“Washer away of sins!”

“Purger of (innocent) blood!”

“Creator” as well!

Wow!

Plus … what I didn’t have space to say yesterday … “And the LORD will create upon EVERY DWELLING PLACE of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a CLOUD and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming FIRE by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” Verses 5 and 6, astounding!

This Phenomenon is Nothing Other than the “Shekinah Glory” of the early Old Testament. That Cloud (by day) which also became a Fire (by night) … accompanying ancient Israel across the wilderness!

It is the Visible Presence of Almighty God!

But in those olden days … the Pillar (after the conquest of the Land) only rested at the Tabernacle/Temple! Just that one place! 

But in the future, during the Millennium (if we take Isaiah literally here) this Cloud will rest on “every dwelling place.” I understand this to mean “every single home!” So do many of the older commentators agree! So does anyone who reads the King James Version, I suspect. (But not always the newer translations!)

The Very Presence of God … no longer in just one place … but in every place, every dwelling!

Wow again!

Much like the single golden Candlestick of the Old Testament Tabernacle (by the time Revelation chapters 2 and 3 were written) had become “seven” golden candlesticks … representing the Churches … and Jesus walking in the midst of them! (John writes: “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw SEVEN golden candlesticks; and in the MIDST of the seven candlesticks one like unto the SON OF MAN.” Revelation 1:12-13)

God’s Shekinah Glory hovering on/over every single house!

Much like God the Holy Spirit hovers over/indwells every single Believer in our age! 

Thrilling!

A Jesus-follower “covered” by God’s Presence?

God’s illuminating Light? 

God’s warming, protecting Aura? 

Yes … the Shekinah Glory … providing prudence and protection … for each individual home in the (Millennial) Holy Land!

Well … Isaiah has already begun his “eschatology” collage/composite … he being a Millennial Preacher indeed! Let’s take careful notes as we trek through the 66 chapters of this great Believer, this premier evangelist of the Old Testament! We will learn a lot about that coming Golden Age yet to engulf the earth!

“Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

After Debbie (my Wife) read yesterday’s Lesson, she quipped; “Write one tomorrow on the sins of the MEN, please!” We both smiled. And yet … that’s exactly the way the Holy Spirit directed Isaiah, to exposit the sad condition of the men, too!

It’s just that this Paragraph (today’s Text), though short, spans a chapter break in Isaiah’s little Volume. Church history teaches us that Isaiah himself did NOT put chapter divisions in his Work. They were added later (around 1550 AD) to help us locate certain paragraphs/sentences/clauses/phrases.

Now … here’s Isaiah’s bleak prophecy regarding the men of Israel.

Isaiah 3:25- 4:1 … “Thy MEN shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. And her (Jerusalem) gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”

Wow!

The men, they (apparently the majority, though obviously not all of them) are killed in battle!

The coming (fierce) Babylonian army will massacre thousands upon thousands of Israel’s (Judah’s) men! Look again at the Text … “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” Haughty women yes, but dead men! Yes, the “wages” of sin is DEATH, both physical and spiritual! (But again I remind you … God did save or spare a “remnant” in Israel, the relatively few godly women and men who stood true to the Word!)

Next Isaiah depicts the deep lamentation that will follow the attack (attacks) against Jerusalem. “And her (Jerusalem’s) gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.” (The very same Gates that are later rebuilt in Nehemiah’s day … after the Captivity has ended!)

The verb “be desolate” used here essentially means “to be empty!”

Jerusalem ruined!

Her army, her judiciary, her work force … gone!

Dead!

And the women to men “ratio” will be such that … so many women and so few men (still alive) … that: “In that day SEVEN women shall take hold of ONE man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”

Wow!

Every Jewish woman wanted to be married, bear children. Not to do so was considered a disgrace, in fact. In the Biblical culture of the Ancient Near East.

But there were not enough men available, sin and death having taken their toll!

So, Isaiah predicts, “seven women” will chase one man! Not that he is that handsome or wealthy … but that he is (simply) alive, available!

She says to him: “Let me marry you, please. It will cost you nothing. I’ll pay my own way. Just give me children! Just give me your name!”

How’s that .. for mentioning the men?

Oh yes, what men?

The Lesson today, the emphasis?

God judges not only individuals … but Cities as well! And if enough Cities are wicked, the whole Nation will fall. Psalm 9:17 applies: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Just an afterthought … if the vain women of Isaiah chapter 3 dressed so fashionably, so ostentatiously, maybe even so seductively … simply to “attract” the men … it turns out that there were very few men left (after the devastation of war) to allure! All that effort for so little avail!

Yes, always … God’s Judgments are “true and righteous!”

There is an ultra-interesting Paragraph in Isaiah chapter 3 that begs for further investigation! Clearly it is a stinging denunciation directed strait at the women of Israel. (To clarify, at “some” of the women of Israel, certainly not ALL of them! There were yet many godly ladies in the Land, even in those dark days prior to the Babylonian Captivity. Isaiah’s Wife, whom he lovingly nicknames “the prophetess,” comes to mind as one example. See Isaiah 8:3 for proof.)

Still, let me show you what I mean about today’s Scripture, preaching to a group of vain women … note the vocative “daughters of Zion.” 

“Moreover the LORD saith, Because the DAUGHTERS OF ZION are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.” Isaiah 3:16-24

What a writer, Isaiah the Prophet!

He begins by charging this elite group of being “haughty!” The word (“gabahh”) is translated “proud” once in the King James Version. And both “higher” and “exalted” several more times. The very opposite of being humble, lowly, or meek!

Even their demeanor, their “gait” (their “walk”) advertises their self-centeredness. “Walking with stretched forth necks!” (My Mom used to say “stuck-up.”) And the verb “mincing” likewise means “skipping, taking little ‘prissy’ steps!” Show-offs!

My lexicon says “wanton,” the adjective describing their “eyes”, means “ogling, lusting,” inviting (but clearly in a lewd way)! Flirtatious!

The same kind of woman described in Proverbs 7:10-21, a long paragraph but well worth reading, every word! “And, behold, there met him a woman (much like our Isaiah 3 woman today) with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. (“Ogling” all the boys!) So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. (Meaning that she has been to “Church!” She is quite “religious!”)  Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. or the goodman (her husband) is not at home, he is gone a long journey. He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech (quite persuasive) she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.”

But, back to today’s Isaiah 3 Text … the emphasis in our Pericope is this woman’s attire, her dress! I mean in detail! Things like … “tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.”

Wow!

Her feet and ankles and legs and wrists and arms and ears and nose and head … all lavishly adorned! (“Overkill,” again my parents would have judged the situation!)

The word “bravery” in verse 18 means “glory, splendor, excellence (in the sensed being very expensive), these women “living” for their “wardrobe’s sake!”

A few definitions may be in order …

“Tinkling ornaments” … anklets, bangles! (“Noisy” to draw even further attention! Maybe a little like Paul’s “sounding brass, or tinkling cymbals.”)

“Cauls” are ornamental “bands” worn around one’s head! (This Hebrew word is used only here in all the Bible!) Whereas the New Testament says a woman’s “hair” is her glory! (1 Corinthians 11:15)

“Round tires like the moon,” nobody knows exactly what Isaiah meant here. One teacher guesses: “crescent head ornaments.”

“Mufflers” were “long pieces of thick cloth that you wear to keep your neck warm.” Maybe “dressed like a Queen,” might express this level of extravagance!

“Tablets” may be “exotic perfumes,” often believed to be aphrodisiacs! Ultra expensive fragrances, again here worn to excess! Some of them apparently wore different “ointments” on different parts of their bodies! Vanity personified!

“Mantles” are overcoats.

“Wimples” may be “veils.” It’s translated that way once in the King James Version, anyway. But again, it is only used twice in the whole Bible. (Isaiah is in rare form today! A precise, even technical vocabulary!)

“Crisping pins” are “bags,” what we’d now call “purses.” Some of these, even in our culture, sell for hundreds of dollars apiece, down at the Mall!

“Glasses” are simply mirrors! (For self-admiration, no doubt! Primping!)

Wow!

But … how does this wardrobe line up with verses like, say 1 Peter 3:3-4, also written to women? “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but of a meek and quiet SPIRIT … which is in the sight of God of great price.” 

Or to 1 Timothy 2:9? “That the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; NOT with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.”

Wow!

Man looks on the outward appearance!

God looks on the heart!

But … what does God have planned for these “showy” women? Who so neglect the spiritual to emphasize only the physical?

Again, Isaiah is specific.

The Lord will “smite them with a scab,” Isaiah 3:17. Maybe (one scholar believes) a disease of the scalp, rendering them bald!

The Lord will “discover their secret parts.” A euphemism for the soon coming “captivity” (when the Babylonians ravaged the whole Nation, Judah) … stripping the people naked and forcing them to march (in such a humiliating state) to a distant, foreign land!

And all that ostentatious garb? “The Lord will take away” every bit of it! (Verse 18, “sur” in Hebrew … meaning “turn aside, take off, remove, eschew!”)

Judgment!

“And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink.” All those perfumes didn’t help too much, did they?

And … “burning instead of beauty.” Sun scorched bodies, ruined (beyond repair) on that long trek to Babylon! No longer lovely!

Wow!

All this (to me) gives Mathew 6:33 new impetus. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” What things? Like clothes and food and houses!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

By the way, Amos the Prophet also denounced feminine hypocrisy! Though he was hard on the men, too! Read Amos 4:1-3 … “Hear this word, ye kine (feminine gender, “cows” really, the women) of Bashan (wealthy, proud, conceited), that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow (feminine again) at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.”

Wow!