You are probably familiar with Jesus’ words: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).
God applies that principle in Isaiah 5 to those who have been given much. What if we have been given sufficient resources to acquire property in abundance? Is the acquisition of property the reason why God gave us abundance?
Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is room for no one,
and you are left to live alone
in the midst of the land!
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. (Isaiah 5:8-9)
Why did Isaiah pronounce a word of judgment on this kind of behavior? In the case of Isaiah’s audience, the land belonged to God and was supposed to return to the original heirs on the Jubilee, or fiftieth year.
Those who had means were dispossessing the poor and reducing them to servitude.
It is not an accident that the tenth commandment deals with covetousness (Exodus 20:17) and that Paul equated this spirit with idolatry – the placing of ultimate value in this world.
Obsession with Entertainment
One Christian leader was asked what he believed was the predominant spirit of America. It was his conviction that a spirit of entertainment permeated American culture.
The elite class in Jerusalem were able to devote large amounts of time to entertainment.
Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger in the evening
to be inflamed by wine,
Whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine,
but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord
or see the work of his hands!
Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge;
their nobles are dying of hunger,
and their multitude is parched with thirst. (Isaiah 5:11-13)
Entertainment is like candy. It is something we can enjoy in small doses, but a constant diet of entertainment will ruin our health.
We can spend so much time entertaining ourselves that we have no energy left to pay attention to what God is doing. Isaiah’s prediction was that people would end up in exile, because they didn’t know the Lord.
Knowing God is more than an intellectual understanding of Biblical principles. To know God is to know Him by experience in a personal relationship with Him.
Gaslighting
The term “gaslighting” is used frequently in the media. It comes from the 1938 stage play “Gas Light” by British playwright Patrick Hamilton.
In the play, a husband manipulates his wife into questioning her sanity by:
- Dimming the gas lights in their home while denying they’re flickering
- Moving objects and insisting she misplaced them
- Telling her she’s imagining things
- Isolating her from others
His goal was to make her seem insane so he could have her institutionalized and search their attic for hidden jewels.
Gas lights were not present in Isaiah’s day, but gaslighting took place all the same.
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)
If we are being treated like the wife of the man in Patrick Hamilton’s play, there is a way to protect ourselves.
(1) We can learn what is good by daily reading the Bible and paying attention to what God desires from humans.
(2) We can live in the light. This is God’s word on the matter.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7).
Reflections
You are probably like me and ready the Bible every day. When I pay attention to what I am reading, I frequently receive instruction from the Lord that I need.
This daily reading of the Bible is like preventative medicine. It keeps me aligned with God and helps me avoid the confusing messages of modern life.
There is one key aspect in this process. I must follow God’s directions. It does me little good to know His will and pursue my self-centered desires.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 