Today’s Reading: Isaiah 4; Isaiah 5; Psalm 115; Psalm 116; Jude 1
Scripture: Isaiah 5:20-22
20 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.
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
and champions at mixing drinks,
Observation: Wow! This sounds so much like what is going on in our culture today. Things that are truly good are called evil -- there is a reversal of so many values today. And those who are "wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight" are common and celebrated in our culture. And the reference to "champions at mixing drinks" is even true!
Application: We are called to swim against the tide of our current cultural flow. We need to recognize that our culture is headed in the wrong direction and not allow it to influence us.
Prayer: Lord, help us to stay keyed in to You and to Your character and to stand in sharp distinction to the destructive direction of our cultural confusion. Strengthen us, Lord.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 comment:
There are other "Woe to" verses that struck me out of today's reading also. Some of the ideas mirror the passage you discussed. The book of Jude 11 says, "Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion." The following verses indicate clearly that these people are in the church (even leaders of the church) yet they are under God's judgement. I got to thinking about the 3 things mentioned by Jude that were grave sins in the lives of these persons. The "way of Cain", "Balaam's error" and "Korah's rebellion". Cain was angry that his offering wasn't accepted by the Lord and his brother's was. He envied his brother and murdered him as a result. On a deeper level though, he was angry with God for not giving him His blessing on his (Cain's) terms. His sin wasn't only envy but a sense of entitlement. He felt God owed him the blessing even if he didn't earn it with obedience. We have so many people today who have a sense of entitlement. Regardless of how they live they believe they are entitled to all they desire "just because". Balaam was a man who compromised his godly values for monetary gain. His great sin was greed and the lust of the flesh. His own comfort and pleasure meant more to him than obeying God. Korah was a man who wouldn't submit to the spiritual authority that God had put in place. He felt spiritually superior to Moses and resented Moses' leadership. He was "wise in his own eyes" and had a heart of rebellion (self-determination). We don't often think of self-determination as the same thing as rebellion but I believe it is. When we choose to make our own decisions without submitting them to God, we are rebelling against him. Whenever we rebel against God-ordained authority in our lives we are doing the same thing. We all need to guard against these 3 sins in our own lives and train our children to do so as well.
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