Isaiah 5:14

The Bible says in Isaiah 5:14-23, “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: 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 nigh and come, that we may know it! 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! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe 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!”

It says in Isaiah 5:14, ““Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure.” This verse answers the question as to why so many people go to hell to spend their eternity separated from God. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Notice that Isaiah 5:15 starts with the word “therefore.” This means that the verses that came just before Isaiah 5:15 give the explanation of why “hell hath enlarged herself.” And the verses that came just before Isaiah 5:15 are a continued description of the great sinfulness of the people of Israel. The reason that people will go to hell is because of their own sinfulness. God does not want anyone to go there. That is why God the Father sent His son Jesus to die on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the world. It says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” No one goes to hell because God put them there, but because that person refused to turn to Jesus and thus had to pay for their own sins.

Concerning the wickedness of Israel, this passage of scripture pronounces four woes against them. The first woe is found in Isaiah 5:18-19, “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: 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 nigh and come, that we may know it!” This is referring to people who sin greatly, but who deceitfully claim that they want to know more about the Lord and that they want to serve Him to serve Him. Whoever sins and does not repent of their sins is in a very dangerous situation. Those who have a religious façade, but who are living in sin in their hearts fall into this category. God wants honest worshippers, not those who hide their sins and who pretend that they serve God. That is why Jesus had strong statements to make against the Pharisees, who were religious hypocrites. For example, Jesus said in Matthew 23:25-29, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous.”

The second woe is found in Isaiah 5:20. It says, “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!” This verse demonstrates to us just how wicked some people are who have rejected God and His truth. They call evil good, and good evil. They twist things, and the real reason is because they hate God and therefore, they hate what is good because all good things come from God. Of course, there cannot be a good result to such an attitude. The Lord gives us His truth in order that we would benefit from it. Therefore, “woe unto” those who corrupt the Word of God and use their influence to teach others the opposite from what is true.

The third woe is found in Isaiah 5:21. It says, “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Wisdom comes from God. We can only gain true wisdom if we turn to Him and seek Him. That is why it says in James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” The Bible says in Proverbs 3:7, “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” And it says in Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”

The fourth woe is given in Isaiah 5:22 that says, “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.” It is interesting to notice that another “woe” about the use of wine and alcohol was also given earlier in this chapter. It says in Isaiah 5:11, “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!” In other words, out of the four woes given in this chapter of Isaiah, only one of them is repeated. The Holy Spirit is making an emphasis about wine and alcohol that many people in the earth would do well to heed. Alcohol and drugs destroy countless lives and cause unimaginable sorrow for millions. If only the people of the earth would obey just this one commandment of God and stay away from substance abuse, how much better life on earth would be.

The Bible says in Isaiah 5:24-30, “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.”

After pronouncing the four woes against the children of Israel, Isaiah 5:24-30 tells us exactly what happens to Israel, and what can happen to anyone as a result of having such woes pronounced against them from God. When God’s judgment comes, instead of increase and blessing, there will be loss and destruction. This destruction is described as “the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff.” It is also described as ”rottenness” and “dust.” The Bible makes it very clear that this judgment comes against this people “because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word.” Do not underestimate the importance of receiving the Word of God and accepting the Word of God. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.”

God became angry when His word was rejected. The result was earthquakes (“the hills did tremble”), and the result was death: terrible death. It says, “their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets.” It is important to notice the instrument that God used to bring this judgment upon the nation of Israel. God used other nations. God strengthened the armies of the other nations, and God brought those armies swiftly and mightily against the nation of Israel. The people of God were punished by the unbelievers and it was God’s will. In talking about these foreign armies and how God shall raise them up to come against Israel, it says, “And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 6:1-4, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” In these verses there are two things to notice about the seraphims: what they did with their wings and what they said. Though the seraphims are not like sinful man, there is a symbolism to the fact that the seraphims used four of their wings to cover themselves, but only two wings were used to fly. They were in the presence of the holy God, and probably humbled and reverently subservient in their worship of Him. If man were standing before God, man would be ashamed to be in the presence of the holiest of all beings: God himself. As a matter of fact, just becoming awakened to God’s existence is often the starting point for a human being to come under conviction of sin, and then to desire to repent of sin. The seraphims probably covered their face because of the magnificent radiance and glorious splendor of God.

It says in John 1:18, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” Even though we cannot see God, we can see the results of His existence and of His creative work; and thus the seraphims said to each other, “the whole earth is full of his glory.” When you look at the world, what do you see? What do you dwell upon and what do you think about? Do you see the failures, and injustices, and sinfulness of man? The seraphims looked at the world and saw the glory of God. May the Lord open our eyes so that we also may see the glory of Christ in the world around us.

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