Tuesday 2021.08.17
In my OT reading for today, I began reading the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapters one through five. In these early chapters, Isaiah started to prophesy against the rebelliousness of the people of the Kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem.
Isaiah served the LORD as a prophet in the Kingdom of Judah through the reigns of four generations of kings, namely, Uzziah ben Amaziah, Jotham ben Uzziah, Ahaz ben Jotham, and Hezekiah ben Ahaz. Of the four kings, Jotham ben Uzziah and his grandson Hezekiah ben Ahaz were good kings who worshipped and obeyed the LORD, whilst Ahaz ben Jotham was an evil king who worshipped the pagan gods of the Canaannites, offering sacrifices and burning incense "on the hills and under every shady tree" (2 Kings 16:4 GNB). He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to the idols.
See my blog page Kings of Judah and Israel for a chart of all the kings who ruled over the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
Chapter five, in particular, records Isaiah's prophecy against the dwellers of Jerusalem and the people of Judah in the form of a parable about a vineyard planted by the LORD. This prophecy is often known as "The Song of the Vineyard". In this song, Isaiah pronounced six woes on the rebellious people, as follows:
Isaiah 5:8 NIV
Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
Isaiah 5:11,12 NIV
11 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. 12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands.
Isaiah 5:18 NIV
Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
Isaiah 5:20 NIV
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.
Isaiah 5:21 NIV
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Isaiah 5:22, 23 NIV
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
