My middle daughter has recently started studying Latin at school and she absolutely loves it! My husband is also pretty delighted as he studied Latin at secondary school too and is thoroughly enjoying her translating the very same passages that he read when he was her age. It’s actually quite sweet watching them bond over something so obscure. She regularly teases him about the fact that he is so old that it was still spoken when he was a child. One of his favourite Latin words, that still gets occasionally used in his day to day speech, is eheu. I am told it means alas or oh no!
In Isaiah chapter 5 we find a similar sense of dismay, pity, grief being expressed using the word woe. It’s not really a word we use very regularly in our everyday speech but it is loaded with sighing, grief and trouble. Isaiah uses the word woe 7 times in this short section – so obviously I pictured the 7 dwarfs (or dWOEfs as I like to think of them.)
“Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.”
Isaiah 5:8
I shall call this first dwarf Greedy because he is never satisfied with his possessions. He must always buy another field or build another house – until he owns them all and is left alone. God warns him that his beautiful houses will be desolate and his fields not bear much fruit. Likewise, when we look to satisfy our souls with stuff we are left empty and unfruitful.
“Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
They have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.” Isaiah 5:11-12
Boozy is too busy partying away to really notice what is going on. He dulls the pain of real life with drink from morning ’til night but is oblivious to the danger he is in. Hunger, thirst and ultimately death will swallow you up when you try to quench your longing from the wrong source. Wine is a poor substitute for living water – it will leave you shrivelled up and hungover.
“Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. ” Isaiah 5:18-19
This next little guy I called Addicty because it describes him as pulling his sins along with ropes and cords of lies. Sin easily entangles us and trips us up – leaving us enslaved and bound. But this guy is not sorry for his state, denying the heavy cost of his sin almost daring God to come and punish him. Sounds a lot like 2 Peter 3v3-4 where we find a similar character following his own sinful desires and asking God “where is the promise of your coming?”
“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 5:20
Tricky is a con-man. Only, I suspect, he has fallen foul of his own con. Did you know that our conscience can be trained? If we ignore it’s prompting enough times it begins to become ineffective. It is vital that we teach ourselves the truth in order for our moral compass to function correctly otherwise we too can be fully persuaded that light is dark, that day is night and that evil is good. There are many areas in our modern society where this has happened – where evil is celebrated and righteousness despised.
“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!”
Isaiah 5:21
Proudy – he thinks he knows it all. He is super impressed with himself. Pride positions us as god of our own lives rather than living in humble dependence on Him who really does know everything. James 4:6 tells us that there is grace for the humble but that pride sets us up in opposition to God.
“Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!” Isaiah 5:22-23
Next we have Corrupty – he is a superhero for all the wrong reasons, famous for drinking and easily bought. He is not righteous and does not stand for justice but will bend for a bribe. God says that he will be burnt up like stubble and his legend rot away.
Isaiah sees all of these characters as aspects of God’s people who are living far from Him. God is not indifferent to sin. He does not let it go and turn a blind eye – there are always consequences. Isaiah tells God’s people that God will judge each of these characters for their wrong. My dWOEfs Greedy, Boozy, Addicty, Tricky, Proudy, and Corrupty are a bit of fun but our sin is far from fun – it is very serious.
For those of you counting you will notice there is one more woe missing.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah 6:1-5
It can be easy to spot sin in others – the speck in our brother’s eye, as Jesus described it. We might tut or whisper “eheu” under our breath when our friend blows it. We might disapprove of a celebrity behaving immorally or a politician exposed for corruption but Isaiah’s final woe, as he comes face to face with God, humbles us all. “Woe is me!” or as Paul puts it in Romans 3:23
” For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Talk about a cliffhanger! Next week we’ll look at how only God can take away Isaiah’s sin and make him clean.
Thanks for reading. Much love Rach x
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