Isaiah Five
In previous lessons we studied how God entered into a covenant with his people. In that covenant he commanded them to worship him and him alone. He gave them land, leadership, ways of worship, and laws for governing the land, the leaders, and the people. In this way God began to redeem our relationship with him, with each other, with the land, and thereby overcame evil in all its forms.
In the previous lesson we learned how leaders led the people astray by not keeping he commands of the covenant. In light of that lesson, we can address the primary questions of this study. Where did we come from? We came from a people whose leaders have violated ustice and hurt those they were to lead. Who are we? We are leaders ourselves and we have sinned against our families, friends, and church. Where are we now? We are in the midst of a nation, a community, and even a church whose leaders and followers often do not care for one another. Where are we going? We are going to be judged with destruction just as Jerusalem was judged. What must we do? Repent, believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, fulfill the covenant by acts of love, and we will be saved.
In this lesson, we will study how Israel violated the covenant by disobeying the laws that governed the use of land. In the next lesson, we will see how the people of God could worship him while, at the same time, failing to keep the commands of the covenant.
Before studying a portion of Isaiah, chapter 5, be sure and ask your group members if they are faithfully following Jesus, reading the Bible and praying daily, and walking in his ways. Do any of your members need prayer that they might be more faithful? Are any hindered in their walk with the Lord? Are there ways that you can help them? For example, perhaps some of your members cannot read. If that be true, could some of you come together each morning to hear the Bible read and pray together? In future lessons we will study this more fully when we study Morning Prayer. But for the moment, let us begin this lesson with a prayer.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have created all things good and given the human race the land and resources we need to live and be at peace with you and one another. Please open our hearts and minds to you that we may receive the teaching of this lesson, to your glory and our joy. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Before reading the passage for this lesson, it would be good to know something of its author. Isaiah lived at about the same time as Amos and Micah, beginning his ministry some 740 years before Christ was born. He lived in Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, the southern Kingdom. Like Amos and Micah, he prophesied the destruction of his people for their violations of the covenant. Please read Isaiah 5:8-17 aloud at least twice and then discuss the following questions.
Isaiah 5:8-16
Questions for Discussion
1. According to verse 8, certain powerful people were adding "house to house" and joining "field to field." Although the verse does not tell us, how do you think they went about doing this? Do you, in your family, your church, and your community, engage in practices that rob other people of the necessities of life? What do you think, verse 8, the word "woe" means?
2. This question is similar to a question from the lesson Land and Work. Does your small group have any means, land or resources, that you can use to enable your members to work? For those who are church leaders: Are there ways you can work with your church members so that all have the resources, land, equipment, businesses, so that all can work and obtain the necessities of life? Also, if there are any among you who are political or community leaders, what do these verses tell you to do in regard to land and resources? Here you must ask God to help you, and further, seek the help and prayers of Christian friends, for in certain countries, it is very difficult and even dangerous to reform deep evils.
3. What, according to verse 9-10, will be the result of God's people treating each other so unjustly? A "bath of wine" is only about ten gallons. A "homer of seed" is about six bushels; an "ephah" is about three-fifths of a bushel. How do you think God would cause the land to produce so poorly?
4. In many communities, churches, and countries, powerful people have accumulated wealth and left others with almost nothing. Has the judgment of God fallen on your community, church, or nation for these sins? It is easy for Christians to blame others richer and more powerful than themselves for the evils of this world. All of us, however, have some resources, even if it is only the time and the strength to work. Unless the followers of Jesus, whether we be rich or poor, repent and begin to help each other, God's judgment may well fall on us. Consider these words of Jesus,
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep (Luke 6:24-25).
5. Verses 11-12 refer to the evils of endless drinking and loose living. Does the evil of alcohol affect your community? Are any in your small group subject to this evil? If so, help that person. Encourage that person to repent, lay hands on them, and pray that God's power deliver them from the evils of alcohol. What affect does alcohol have on your community, your church, and your family? This is a time for your small group to humble yourselves before the Lord, begging him to deliver your community and families from this evil, or the evils of any other addiction, and asking him to show you what you can do about it.
6. Considering God's good creation and all his good gifts, what deeds of the Lord and the work of his hands are destroyed by alcohol?
7. What does Isaiah, verse 13, think God is going to do to his people for their drunkenness, their revelry, their joining house to house and land to land? In light of your lessons on forgiveness and justification, how important is it to us that the judgment of God that should have fallen on us fell on Jesus Christ? And if we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, how important is it that we put that faith into action by repentance and good works? Let us give thanks to God that he has sent Jesus to die in our stead for none of us have kept his blessed covenant.
8. In our lesson on Sin, Corruption, and Death, we learned that God judged those who disobey him with death. What does verse 14 have to say about this?
9. Verse 15: Let us humble ourselves before the Lord. Let us ask him to have mercy upon us, for we have not kept his covenant. Let us, with Paul, recognize our true selves: "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25).
10. According to verse 16, God is perfectly just and righteous to judge us with death for our violations of his covenant. Nevertheless, how has he, in light of the lessons on forgiveness and justification, revealed his righteousness in Jesus Christ?
Let us pray together.
Heavenly Father, thank you that you have revealed you righteousness to us in Jesus Christ. Thank you that he went to the cross to set us right with you. Thank you that you clothe us with the righteousness of Christ, even in our sin, and thank you that you are overcoming our sin by the power of your Holy Spirit. Pour out upon us a spirit of humility, that we may, in our families, church, and community, restore the lost and broken to you and to each other. All this we ask in the name of Jesus, Amen.
The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
