“WOE” MEANS “WHOA!”
ISAIAH 5:8-23
INTRODUCTION
A. The word “woe,” which means “great sorrow and distress” and the word “whoa,” which means
“cease or slow a course of action or a line of thought” seem to have nothing in common, except their
sound.
B. In our text, Isaiah pronounces seven woes on the Judah, but for context, we must notice vv. 1-7: God had
planted them with the choicest and did everything possible to empower them to bear good fruit, but they
brought forth wild grapes—oppression instead of righteousness. As a result, he will take down its hedge
and allow it to be trampled down. He would not prune it or water it. The nation would go into exile, but
more (vv. 13-14).
C. I fear that Isaiah’s description of Judah can, in many respects, be applied to our own nation if it
does not turn from the path it is now following. Is God calling out to America “Whoa” or “Woe”?
D. We will note seven transgresses of Judah, which could be lifted from television, newspapers,
and social media in America. [Note the word woe occurs only six times. I have chosen to take
those described in verses 22-23 as two separate groups.]
I. WOE TO THE MATERIALISTS (vv.8-10)
A. One definition of “materialism” is preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than
intellectual or spiritual things.
B. Jesus asks a question to which we need to give a subjective answer, not a catechismal one
(Matt 16:26).
1. A catechismal answer is “One who gains the whole world and loses his own soul gains
nothing.”
2. The subjective answer is “If I gain the whole world and lose my soul, I have lost the only
thing that will survive beyond the grave.”
II. HEDONIST (VV.11-13)
A. Running after pleasure leaves no room for pursuing the things of God (v. 12a).
B. Running after pleasure leaves us empty (v.13):
1. “Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side
effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of
one's surrender to a person other than oneself” (Victor Frankel. Man’s Search for Meaning).
2. “Happiness is like a cat. If you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come. But
if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it rubbing against your legs and
jumping into your lap (William Bennet).
III. WOE TO TAUNTING SKEPTICS (VV.18-19)
A. A pious pretense of faith is not faith. In chapter seven, God offer Ahaz a miraculous sign to
confirm his word and strengthen his faith. Feigning faith and possibly even referencing
Scripture, he refused. It is not faith to refuse to ask for what God offers.
B. There is an impious skepticism that is nothing less than a taunting challenge of the Almighty
(John 6:25-41).
IV. SITUATIONAL ETHICISTS (V.20)
A. Those who call evil good and good evil can be heard to say, “That’s your reality,” suggesting
that there really is no such thing as absolute reality. It is this theory which promotes gender
neutrality, homosexuality, transgenderism, to name only a few of the sins of those who call
good evil and evil good.
B. Situational ethicists are from the Humpty-Dumpty school of definitions: “A word means what I
say it means.”
V. WOE TO SPIRITUAL SNOBS (V.21)
A. A spiritual snob will reject truth because of the source—"not of us” (John 9:13-34).
B. Jesus took dead aim at spiritual snobbery in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector
(Lk 18:9-14).
VI. WOE TO DEBAUCHEES (V.22)
A. Homeless drunks are held in contempt while honoring those who can afford a bottle of wine
costing a quarter of million dollars.
B. Heroes at drinking remind us of the annual tragedies associated college fraternities. [At least
one hazing death a year has occurred on a North American college campus every year from
1954 to 1957 and 1959 to 2017–and many years, multiple deaths have transpired.( Copyright
THESTATEHOUSEFILE.COM for 9/17/2017]
VII. WOE TO PERVERTERS OF JUSTICE (V.23).
A. Isaiah is speaking of bribery of judges and kings.
Big Money has a stranglehold on our country’s political system that is destroying our democracy.
Today in Washington, and in our state capitals, too often Big Money calls the shots. Moreover, this
problem is not a partisan issue. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle as well as
presidential administrations of both parties are frequently guilty of unduly favoring the desires of
their Big Money donors over the needs of their constituents. The truth is, we have a system that
thrives on corruption, and it’s getting worse all the time [America’s Political System Thrives on
Corruption. Bruce Berlin, Huffington Post, March 24, 2027.
B. Bribery is big business for big business: Some of the major companies fined or sued for alleged
violations of th Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the last several years include Walmart,
Bristol-Myers, Goodyear, Avon, Hewlett-Packard, and Siemens.
CONCLUSION
A. Is America too big to fail?
B. Who will bail it out?
C. Certainly not God!
