Isaiah chapter five, see this is a song to the well-beloved as far as vineyard. Isaiah chapter five, notice verses one through seven by way of introduction here this morning. Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved 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 I'll go too. 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. I will lay it waste, that it shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars 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." As we continue our journey through the book of Isaiah, I want you to notice here, just by way of reminder, I remind you that chapters one through three, we saw the judgment. As the Lord says, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. He wanted to cleanse. He wanted to reach out and wanted them to repent in Judah. But also then we saw in chapter four, there's a restoration after. after the judgment through a holy remnant. And now we're going to see in chapter five, we see the song of Isaiah. And what I think is interesting, notice here, verse one, it says, now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. Notice verse two, he fenced it, all of these things, pronoun he. Then drop down to verse three, then it says, and now all inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, there's a change here as far as the personal or who the personal pronoun I applies to. Now it's referenced to the Lord. I pray you betwixt, judge, I pray you betwixt me and my vineyard. So we see here this message of Isaiah. And again, verse one, he says, now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. Notice my well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. I want you to notice with me Deuteronomy chapter seven. As we see a reminder here of all the blessings that God had for the nation of Israel, I want you to understand very clearly that with all the blessings, Israel and Judah in particular did not return to the Lord in exchange for all that they had received from him. Notice, first of all, why the Lord chose him. And let me remind you that what we saw in Romans 9 through 11, there's one elect nation. There is no Gentile nation that is elected by God. There's one elect nation, and that's national Israel. But I want you to understand, again, as far as Romans 11 says, there's one olive tree. Unbelieving Israel is broken off. Believing Israel is grafted back into that tree. But also, we as Gentiles, when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are grafted into the same tree. Very clearly, we see that's God's plan. So I want you to see here, as far as national Israel, all the blessings that they had, but they did not Remain faithful to the Lord. It says in verse 6 of Deuteronomy 7, For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. This is why I say there's only one elect nation. There is no Gentile nation that's elected by God. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people. but because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Also notice with me chapter 31, Deuteronomy 31. And here we see a reference to a song that Moses sang. And so we see a very similar theme as far as Isaiah chapter five. Notice it says here in verses, Let's just start in verse 24 to give us a little bit of the context here. It says, And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be therefore a witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion. Notice God knew ahead of time. Moses even prophesied this here, for I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord, and how much more after my death. Very interesting, Moses knew this ahead of time here. Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in your ears and call heaven and earth to record against them. For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song until they were ended. Chapter 32, verse one, give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain. Notice this teaching, this doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass, because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. Notice the music of the Lord will give praise to God. It says, they have corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of His children. They are a perverse and crooked generation. That's interesting. We saw that in Philippians 2. That's where Paul is quoting this. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee and established thee? Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father, and he will show thee, thy elders, and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance." Acts 17.26 says that God divided up the land, the earth, according to the people. It says, when he separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Even in the dividing up of the nations, God divided things up based on the nation of Israel. Why? Because of the promises that He had made to Abraham and Israel's forefathers. As you go back to Isaiah chapter 5, you notice here it says, the end of verse 1, My well-beloved hath a vineyard and a very fruitful hill. When we think about the statement of very fruitful hill, I think of the 12 spies that went in to spy out the land. And it says that they came back carrying grapes that two men, it took two men to carry. Now, I've never seen a grape cluster like that. The grapes of Eshcol, it says two men were carrying it. Now, I understand they had a little ways to carry it, but that was a pretty large cluster of grapes if two men are carrying it. God had promised this fruitful hill, this fruitful land, the land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham. It says in verse two, and he fenced it, all these things that God did. I want to remind you again, these are prophetic similitudes, word pictures. Where does it say that God totally fenced up the nation of Israel? They had fenced cities. So again, we see this picture here of his defense, but all these things that God did in this language here in verse two, it says 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 wine press therein. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." I've never had wild grapes that I can never remember. But from what I understand, wild grapes have a wild flavor. It's not like the sweet grapes that we sometimes can buy at the store. Sometimes we have horrible time buying grapes here in Crete. But again, you think about how many good things God did. Verse three, it says, Now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem. I want you to notice here the the one who's speaking changes. It starts with Isaiah and then it turns to the Lord in verse three. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah. Notice the message is specifically sent to them, but it also encompasses Israel as well in general. Judge, I pray you. He's the Lord is now asking for Judah and Jerusalem in particular to judge. betwixt him and his vineyard." That's very interesting. The Lord is asking the ones who were the recipients of all his blessings. He's asking them to judge. And that'd be like God saying, okay, Americans, I want you to judge something here. What more could I have done for you as a nation? You think about how our nation has been blessed over our history until at least the last hundred years. But here's the reality of this. I want you to understand, he's asking them, the ones who are going to be judged, I pray you betwixt me and my vineyard, what could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? What else could I do? Wherefore, when I looked at it, it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. So again, he's asking, what more could I have done? They're constantly saying, constantly complaining and murmuring in the wilderness. They're constantly murmuring, complaining. They're constantly turning away after false gods throughout their history. The Lord says, what else could I have done? Notice verse five, now go to. I want you to pay attention to what he's saying here. I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. He's telling them what I'm going to do to you. First of all, he says, 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. Notice with me Psalm 80. Psalm 80. I want you to notice here, there's this theme of the hedge of protection being broken down as far as Israel is mentioned, actually, in more than one place. Notice it says here in Psalm 80, verse 1. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Shine forth as far as reference to his glory, his glory shining down upon them, his blessing. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy strength and come and save us. Notice this statement about repentance. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Notice again the statement, Turn us again, O God, of hosts, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, reference to the exodus out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. So literally this is a picture of, in fact, Judah is the pleasant plant, But this vine that was brought out of Egypt, as far as the Exodus, God took them out of Egypt and 40 years later, he planted them in the promised land. Of course, in the time of Joshua. Now prepare its room before it and its cause it to take deep root and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it. The boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. Again, word pictures to describe the blessings that God had placed upon the nation of Israel. She sent out her bowels unto the sea and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her hedges? We just saw that in Isaiah 5, that God was going to break down the hedge of protection around Israel so that all they that pass by the way do pluck her. So you think about our idea of open borders today. They're trying to as far as our nation, are doing that to destroy us. The boar out of the wood, doth waste it. Notice the wild beast of the field, doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down. They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself." Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of that. So will not we go back from thee, quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again. Notice the third time. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts. Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Notice also Ezekiel 22. Ezekiel 22. I want you to notice verses 30 and 31, and I want Go back and look briefly at the context. Ezekiel 22, verse 30 and 31. I remind you that this is later, much later than Isaiah. So Isaiah is prophesying the coming judgment of Judah. And now we're seeing that this judgment is in progress. It says in verse 30, and I sought for a man, just one, a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy, but I found none. There was no intercessor for the nation. Therefore, if I poured out my indignation upon them, I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God." So here we see that as God was destroying the hedge, it says there's no one to make up the gap, to make up the gap in the hedge, this hedge of protection. From what I understand in this culture, they would often plant a hedge of thorns right around the around the vineyard to protect it, to keep animals out of it that would destroy the grapes and the vines. It was very interesting. God says, I will remove the hedge. God literally was making up gaps in the hedge of protection around the nation of Israel. Why? Because of their wickedness, God says, I'm going to break down your protection. I'm going to break down all of these things. Now, as I mentioned in the context here, it's very interesting that Throughout this passage, we see that there are various ones that God had sought for somebody to make up the hedge from. And I'll just give you the list here. First of all, the priests, the princes, the people, and the prophets. So when you think about all these people that God had looked to to find somebody to make up the hedge, it says in verse 26, her priests have violated my law. Verse 27, her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. Verse 28, her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying thus said the Lord, Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. Notice verse 29, the people, the people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery and have vexed the poor and the needy. Yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. When you understand what God is saying here, he says, I've looked at all this nation, trying to find somebody to stand in the gap as an intercessor for the nation. God sought for a man among them, but he found none. Therefore, if I poured out my indignation upon them, I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. As you go back to Isaiah, I want you to notice again, as far as this statement, It says in the end of verse 5, it says, it shall be, as the hedge is taken away, it shall be eaten up and break down the wall thereof, and notice it shall be trodden down. So this hedge of protection would be removed from the nation. And I will lay it waste, and it shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds that there will rain upon it. Notice it's going to dry up the vineyards. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah his pleasant plant. And look for judgment, but behold, oppression. For righteousness, but behold, a cry." I want you to notice with me at Matthew 21. I want to show you the statement that Jesus makes in relation to this. This is a reminder of one of the parables we saw in our study of the Gospels. Matthew 21, I want you to notice here, Jesus is actually using the same theme to announce what was coming as far as the nation of Judea at this point. Notice verses 33 and following. Here in another parable, there was a certain householder, this is a reference to the Lord, God the Father, which planted a vineyard, Isaiah chapter five, hedged it round about and digged a wine press in it and built a tower and led it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. I believe this is representation, the tower is a representation of the temple. Of course, the husbandmen, the people, who were given the stewardship of this land. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants, the prophets, to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another." Again, this is why Jesus said in Matthew 23, that upon this generation comes all the blood of all the martyrs of the prophets. Again, he sent other servants more than the first and they did unto them likewise. Last of all, he sent unto them his son saying, they will reverence my son. And I remind you that last of all, in the last days, it says in Hebrew chapter one, God, the father sent Jesus Christ, his son. And he noticed here, The expectation was that Israel would reverence God the Son. But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said among themselves, this is the heir, come let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. I remind you that part of the inheritance was the land. They have seized upon the inheritance. That's exactly what they were doing in the first century, that's exactly what they did in 1948. Again, I want you to notice here, they're seizing upon the inheritance of God the Son. And they caught Him and cast Him out of the vineyard and slew Him. Obvious reference to the crucifixion that would take place a short time after He spoke this. When the Lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh. Notice, the Lord of the vineyard, God the Father. The Lord of the vineyard cometh, says, what will He do unto those husbandmen? So when we say, actually I misspoke there, the householder is God the Father. The Lord of the vineyard is the Lord Jesus Christ. What will we do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render unto him the fruits in their seasons. They knew exactly what they should receive. God already said all of these things in the Old Testament. God already judged the nation in relation to Babylon and Assyria. Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing and is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, broken off, Romans 11, as we've already seen, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whosoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. When the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. Isaiah spoke of them also. As you go back to Isaiah chapter five, notice again, he emphasizes, it's not going to be pruned. It's not going to be digged. There's going to be no care for it. There's going to come up briars and thorns. There's going to become all kinds of wickedness as far as wicked things in the nation of Israel. So the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. What are we talking about as far as the pleasant plant. I believe very clearly we see that the reference to Judah, Judea, the fact that David of course came from the tribe of Judah, but beyond that I believe it's because of Messiah coming from Judah. I believe that's why the Lord says here that the men of Judah is His pleasant plant. It says, He looked for judgment but behold oppression, for righteousness but behold a cry. That's exactly what the Lord found when He came. When He came in In the first century of Christianity, of course, as he came, he was incarnated. It says he was looking for judgment, for justice, but he found oppression. He was looking for righteousness, but he found people crying out because of the oppression that they received. Again, you notice here very clearly the ties to Christ's earthly ministry, even the destruction then of Judah, Judea in 70 AD. Now notice here in verses 8 and following, now we see that there are six woes, if I remember correctly. Six woes, and this is very similar to what Jesus does in Matthew 23. So when you think about the ties between Isaiah and so on, remember I said that Isaiah saw two mountain peaks. He saw the Babylonian judgment, then he saw also the coming of the Lord and the judgment of Israel in the first century. Notice he says, first of all, in verse 8 through 10, 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." Notice how many times he has woe with exclamation point in this chapter here. Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field. That kind of tells me what we see in our day. All the rich are buying up properties, buying up farmland even here in Nebraska. They're buying up land. Notice they're joining house to house. They have houses in various places. I remember seeing a statement after Black Lives Matter BLM was creating all kinds of chaos in our country, that the founder or the director of that, I don't remember, had four mansions. Adding house to house, field to field, till there be no place that they may place alone in the midst of the earth. I believe there's a push today towards all these 15-minute city, freedom cities, I'm sorry, I mislabeled it. All these freedom cities, that's why they're burning up places, by the way. That's why they're burning up Los Angeles, that's why they're burning up various places. All these fires are to drive people out so they can plan their 15-minute cities. Notice, woe unto them, they join house to house and lay field to field. Verse nine, in mine ears, saith the Lord of hosts, of a truth, many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, the mansions without inhabitant. So all these expensive houses, all these houses that they've accumulated, there's going to be no inhabitant. They're going to be left empty. Why? Because of God's judgment. I remind you that we saw the beginning of chapter four, that there would be a seven to one ratio, women to men. So we think about all these men that have been killed in the attack from Babylon. the conquering by Babylon. He says, in mine ears, notice of a truth, many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair without inhabitant. Now, I want you to pay attention carefully to verse 10. Now, we don't follow some of these measurements. And so I looked this up to make sure I understood what was being said here in verse 10. Yea, 10 acres of vineyard. So this goes back to the Lord's vineyard here. 10 acres of vineyard shall yield one. Now, we often pronounce it bath. I'm sorry, the bath is in the bathroom. This is called a bath, a measurement for wine and all that. So just a little correction of our English here. So shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. First of all, you notice 10 acres would yield one bath. How much is a bath? A bath is seven gallons, four pints. Notice in 10 acres. Seven gallons of wine in 10 acres. Did you hear that? So what's the normal production? I thought this was very interesting. Normal production in one acre produces three to five tons of grapes, 450 to 750 gallons. So in 10 acres, how many gallons? 7,500 gallons, potentially, normally, out of 10 acres of vineyard. 7,500, and they're going to get seven gallons? Look at the economic ruin. I've said this before in another chapter. I believe here in America today, we have deceived ourselves into thinking that we are not going to experience the economic ruin that so many have in our world. We're not going to experience it, really, with $37 trillion of debt. All it takes is a pin to pop that big bubble, and we're going to have economic ruin like we've never seen in America. Notice that also the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. What are we talking about there? An ephah, ephah is one-tenth of an homer. Did you pay attention to that? So they're gonna plant an homer of seed, and they're going to experience a harvest of an ephah. That means a 90% loss of what they put in the ground is what they're going to get in the harvest. I wonder how many nations could go very long like that. Having a tenth, and the wine was even less than that, the land producing a tenth of what they put in the ground. So we see very clearly that this economic ruin would come upon this land. Again, this is what God's saying. Woe unto you because you're adding house to house and laying field to field this greed that they're experiencing in this land. God says, I'm gonna put this greed back on you. 10 acres of vineyard are gonna yield one bath. and Sedim and Homer is going to yield an ephah, economic ruin. Notice verse 11 and 12. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink. They continue until night, till wine inflame them. And the harp and the vial and the tablet and pipe and wine are in their feasts. Notice all the party music. But they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. Notice that's the key to this whole thing. Notice Proverbs 20. I want you to notice verse 1. We have a day in which we live that modern-day Christianity talks about their beer-brewing parties and all that kind of stuff, and drinking alcohol is becoming very accepted in modern-day Christianity. I want you to notice what the Bible says about that. It says in chapter 20, verse 1, wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. I remember clear back in my Bible college days in our biblical ethics class. And what they basically did, the professor, Dr. Monford Kober, went through various issues of our day. I remember once he was dealing with the issue of alcohol, he emphasized that one out of 10, the statistics at that time, maybe it's even more today, I don't know, because there's more acceptance of drinking alcohol, but he said that one out of 10 people would take a first drink, will end up as an alcoholic, as the world calls it, as a drunkard. One out of 10. Well, I remember that the picture that he gave us was this. How many of you would get on an airplane, understanding that one out of 10 of the seats will drop out of that airplane? How many of you would get on that airplane? And yet, you think about one out of 10 people. And again, I didn't check out what the current statistics are on that. But at that time, one out of 10 people will become a drunkard, according to what the Bible calls it. Many are deceived. Notice also chapter 23, verses 19 through 21. This is, again, teaching of Solomon for his son. Hear thou my son and be wise and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, gluttons. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Notice Solomon gives a warning to Rehoboam here, he says, don't be among those who are winebibbers and gluttons, the drunkards. Notice then verse 29, this poetic description here of drunkenness. Who hath woe, who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes, they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. We're gonna see that reference in Isaiah 5. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself to the right. Notice, we're not even to look at the wine. I remember, I think about all these beer commercials that were on, you know, football games, all these beer commercials, you know, the good life. It's like, yeah, they don't show the drunkard, They don't show the drunkard, he can't keep a job or whatever. Notice again, look not upon the wine when it is red, but it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself to the right. At the last, notice it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. So why shouldn't we take the first drink? Because we don't know when the adder is gonna strike. We don't know when the poisonous serpent is going to strike. and cause all kinds of things that are mentioned here in this passage. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Think about the immoral behavior that comes from drunkenness, and the perverse things that come out of people's mouths when they're under the influence of alcohol. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. This risky behavior that they will take as they're under the influence of strong drink. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beat me, and I felt it not. They get into fights, but they can't even remember it the next morning. Notice it says, the last part of this, when shall I awake? Notice this power of addiction here, I will seek it yet again. I remind you what Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 says, that we are to not be drunk with wine wherein is excess. but we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Here's one reason why I do not take a drink. I try not to be in control of anything, even medications. Think about this. There are many people who are addicted to medicines, but here's the reality of this. Here's why this is so important. The more we are controlled by something in our flesh, the less we are able to be filled with the Spirit of God. Can I remind you that the family, The teaching about the family follows, Ephesians 5.18. Again, I want you to understand, as you go back to Isaiah chapter 5, the judgment is announced here because of their drunken parties. It says at the end of verse 12, here's why this is so important. As they're in their drunkenness and their partying, notice, they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. They are ignoring what God is trying to do. And in this case, I believe they're ignoring the judgment that's coming. How many people in our day will go out and get drunk after working their week? They'll spend all weekend drinking strong drink, alcohol. And I want you to understand what they're doing is they're trying to ignore their problems. Their problems are even worse come Monday morning. But here's the reality of this. God says, you are forgetting the work of my hands, the operation of my hands. You're not seeing, you're not regarding my work because of your drunkenness. Notice then also verses 13 through 17. Notice he emphasizes here the consequences of their activities, their choices. Therefore, my people, his chosen nation, are gone into captivity. Notice, bondage, because they have no knowledge. The cause of this bondage is no knowledge, no knowledge of the truth. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Notice, 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. Psalm 917 says, the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. How much is America remembering God? Oh, we have our party scenes at churches. We have our rock music and all that kind of stuff all over America. But here's the reality of this. How many churches have a preacher that stands in the pulpit and says, thus saith the Lord, unless this nation repents, we're going to experience the same judgment that Israel, that Judah experienced. Hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure. I wonder how many of these people that are escaping with strong drink. in modern-day Christianity are not even saved themselves. Oh, they made this profession of faith. They repeated a prayer, but there's been no evidence, no fruit in their lives. God says they are not saved. Verse 15, the mean man, the average man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. Notice he's going to bring down this proud nation. We've already seen this in Isaiah. The Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment. God, that is holy, shall be sanctified in righteousness. So as we understand this, God's going to bring down this proud nation and he's going to be exalted himself in judgment. God will share his glory with no one. And as our nation exalts itself against God and exalts itself in pride, God is going to bring us down. Notice God, that is holy, shall be sanctified in righteousness. You know, we have this attitude. God is love. And so we accept this idea, we believe this lie, that because God is love. The Bible does say God is love. But He's also a holy God, He's also a just God, He's also a righteous God. His holiness is not going to allow Him to totally overlook what our nation is doing. We have blood on our hands, as I've said so many times. Then shall the lambs feed after their manner. What's that say? They won't have a shepherd. They're not gonna want her feeding wherever they want to. Notice the lambs, the helpless ones. They're gonna feed after their manor. Wherever they want, they're gonna feed. Why? Because nobody's gonna be controlling those fields anymore, back in verse eight. And notice the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. Strangers, non-Israelites, will go in and take possession of emptied houses. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope. Notice presumptuous sin. As we see here, this presumptuous sin. Notice, woe unto them, exclamation point. End of verse 19. That say, let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it. Let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it. What are they saying here? First of all, it says, notice unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope. This is like the gay pride parades in our culture. The picture here is, They have this cart that they're pulling through the streets, parading their vanity. Probably that's reference to pulling their idol through the streets. They're parading their sin publicly. That sounds like America. Blow into them. They draw a nickel with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope. And notice what they're saying here. Hurry up! We want God's judgment! We want to see it! "...let him make speed. Hasten, Lord, hasten thy work, that we may see it." Notice this blasphemous pride and arrogance. "...and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it." Notice they feel invincible. How many atheists? Someday I'm going to stand before God and I'm going to tell him. No, you're not going to tell him a thing or two because you're in hell already. Think about that. Let it make speed and hasten his work that we may see it. This is a mockery of the message of God's prophets. How many professing Christians will mock and oppose preachers standing on a street corner proclaiming the truth of the word of God? That happens all over America. So-called Christians, why don't you go back to your church? Why don't you believe it? I believe in Jesus. You do? Then why are you opposing me when I'm proclaiming the gospel message? Doesn't make sense. Verse 20, woe unto them. They're called evil, good, and good, evil. Put darkness for light and light for darkness. 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. Notice how many woes he's emphasizing here. Woe unto them that are mighty to strong drink, to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. Again, notice this alcohol here, which justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil. So now the person who's defending themselves is the evil one because they shoot somebody who's trying to rob them. They put darkness for light and light for darkness. Light and darkness are mixed up here. We have this perverted morality today. They put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes. Our education and philosophy in America. We've become wise in our own eyes. God says, woe unto you. that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight. I remind you that prudence means cautious. Yeah, they're prudent in their own sight, not in God's eyes. Verses 22 and 23 go together. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. Notice, which justify the wicked for reward. What is the reward here? It's a bribe. Oh, none of our judges are bribed, right, in America? None of them are. Oh, that never happens in a Christian nation like America, right? None of our congressmen are bribed, are they? For reward. Thomas Massey might be the exception. That's where we are in America. We are justifying bloodshed in Palestine. For reward. The tune of millions of dollars in some cases. Joe Biden, by the way, leads. Oh, that's Republicans. No, Joe Biden. Last I saw, Joe Biden is the one who's received the most from the Israel lobby. Justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. Notice with me Leviticus 10. I just actually saw this yesterday. It was my own personal Bible reading. All of a sudden, I remembered this. I thought about this passage. This is right after, Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, were killed by God. Fire consumed them. Notice it says here in verses eight through 10. Leviticus 10, verse eight. The Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Notice verse 10. This is what grabbed my attention as far as Isaiah chapter five, verse 20. and that you may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. Notice also Proverbs 31. This is teaching for Solomon. Proverbs 31, from teaching of his mother. Proverbs 31, verse four and five. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. I wonder how many are leaders. Avoid alcohol. Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Back in Isaiah chapter five, we see again, they justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. Righteousness of the righteous from him. As we look at these last verses here, I want you to notice, as we see the destruction again, that's mentioned, the nation that was given so much. Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble. Notice word pictures here. God's destruction. The destruction of God's chosen nation by way of the Chaldeans of Babylon. As the fire devoureth the stubble. So think about that word picture. Pay attention to what God is describing here. Fire is going to consume them. And the flame consumeth the chaff. Notice, as the flame consumeth the chaff. The chaff is what blows away from the grain. Fire consumes it, burns it up. So the root shall be as rottenness. As I was working on the trees back here in the ditch, it was actually a smaller tree. And I noticed there's no buds coming on and everything. And so as I was pushing on the tree, trying to cut it off at the bottom there, All of a sudden, it just snapped off at the roots. It's like, oh, there's rottenness in the roots there. Notice, he says, the root shall be as rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up as dust. Think about all the vines, the blossoms, because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts and despise the word of the Holy One of Israel. Now, I wanna remind you that Nathan told David in 2 Samuel 12, that because he had despised the word of the Lord, despised God's commands, judgment was gonna come on his household. Notice this. When we think about a man after God's own heart, despised God's words. This is like somebody hearing the preaching and saying, I don't care about that. Notice the consequences of despising God's words. 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. Notice past tense, hath smitten them. And notice this is very interesting, the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. It's very interesting, there's an earthquake that is mentioned in Amos 1.1 and Zechariah 14, verse five. An earthquake. in the years of Uzziah, as far as an earthquake. Evidently, early in the years of King Uzziah. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Notice, the Lord is still angry at the wicked every day. That's what Psalms say. But notice his hand is still stretched out. It's like Jesus praying over Jerusalem. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I've longed to bring you and gather you in. All this, for all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out. And he, notice, the Lord will lift up an ensign. An ensign is a military banner. He's going to lift up an ensign to the nations from far. Specifically, this is Assyrian Babylon, and the later application, of course, would be the Empire of Rome. To the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth. Notice, from afar, from the end of the earth. And behold, they shall come with speed swiftly. Now, this hissing here is like the sound of a serpent. In fact, chapter 7, verse 18 gives us a picture of this. Isaiah 7, verse 18, and it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. Hissing is a thing of contempt, but it's to call them in. He's going to hiss from the end of the earth, and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly, coming in quickly, 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. This 900-mile journey from Babylon would happen quickly. Notice they're going to move in quickly. God's gonna bring them in. Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. The picture here is they're coming in with weapons ready. They are ready to deal with the nation of Israel, Judah. Their bows are bent, their horses hooves shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. Notice all these descriptions that describe the Babylonian military coming in to destroy the nation. Their roaring shall be like a lion. It's very interesting. The lion and the eagle were two symbols of Babylon. The 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. Gonna spoil the land, haul off the booty of war. 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." This is going to be a dark time. But this never happened in America, right? We're the most powerful military in the world, are we? Again, I'm asking the question. Notice the judgment upon the nation of Judah was God using an ensign to call in a foreign power. Well, it seems like we're at odds with China right now. Oh, I know, it's a tariff war. Tariff wars often lead to real war. Russia, Iran. Can we handle all three of those? You might as well throw in North Korea also. I wonder if God has raised an ensign for our nation. I wonder if he's hissing to bring them onto from the end of the earth for our land. Are we so high and mighty as a nation of America to think that we're above God's judgment? I keep saying this in our study of Isaiah. If God did this for his chosen nation that he said he loved in Deuteronomy 7, if God did this for the only elect nation in the entire history of this world, If God did that for Israel, his chosen nation, his plant that was specially planted in the land of promise, you don't think he's gonna do this for any other nation like ours? Lord, I pray that you'd help us to understand the hour in which we are as a nation. Lord, I believe our nation, our nation has violated so many, so many of thy commands, thy laws of righteousness. Lord, as even as mentioned, it's been mentioned the bloodshed that we have on our hands. God, I pray that you'd help us to wake up to understand again the hour in which we live. Holy Spirit of God, I pray that you bring application to our hearts here today. And Lord, I pray that if somebody here today does not truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that today would be the day of salvation. Lord, that they're truly trusting what Jesus Christ has done, and not their own things that they can offer you. Lord, I pray that you'd help us with these things, in Jesus' name, amen.