Isaiah 5:20 – Bad Fruit: Reversing Reality
The word ‘woe’ means sadness, crying, and screaming. This is what comes to the bad fruit described in these verses. Today we look at the bad fruit of those who reverse reality. Woe to those who call evil good. Evil means that which is bad, which is wicked. These nasty people say that what are truly good things are really evil. And the evil, wicked things — they’re good. They also say that that which is light is dark, and that which is dark is really light. They say that which is sweet is bitter, and you shouldn’t like that. But that which really is bitter, they say is great, it’s cool, you should like this. They reverse everything. They make everything backwards. That’s terribly wicked. In fact, that goes back to the first sin in the world. That’s what the devil said, when he was inside the serpent, to Eve.
All the creation tells of God, but it’s a fallen creation. But even those who aren’t believers know something about good and evil because they themselves bear within themselves the image of God. It’s broken, it’s messed up, it’s marred. Yet one can still discern that the image of God is there. But that’s all that people in the world had outside of Israel, outside of Judah. But with whom is Isaiah speaking? Not to those in the world. It’s to Judah and Jerusalem. God provided His Word among them. It is God’s Word which told them and tells us today what is good and what is evil.
The leaders and the people as a whole rejected the counsel of God in the Bible. They decided that that which was good was disgusting to them. They decided that evil was appealing. That which the Bible calls good was demeaning. To some, it was discriminatory, to others, it was a terrible thing. But that which was evil, that was cool, that was trendy. So it is stated by many today. Woe to them because they are saying exactly what the serpent did in the garden.
Questions
- What does woe mean?
- What did the serpent say to Eve in the garden?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that we have the perfect Word of God.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.