WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: How do you feel when someone speaks severely to you? Does it make a difference if you feel it is deserved or not?

Doom and gloom
‘Woe, woe and thrice woe.’ One of many quotations attributed to William Shakespeare that he never actually said! That, and more, is our picture here: widespread doom and gloom. Isaiah certainly isn’t frightened to tell it as God reveals it to him.

The people of Judah have flamboyantly disregarded God’s law and so will be brought down (v 15). The list of sins is long, and includes greed (vs 8–10), self-indulgence (vs 11,12), cynicism (vs 18,19), and moral perversion (vs 20,21). These people actually scoff at God (v 19). They seem to be challenging him to deal with their behaviour, but show no fear.

Hope remains
Isaiah calls the people to face up to the far-reaching consequences of their crimes, which will see a complete turning of the tables: their greed will be punished by hunger and thirst (v 13); their acquisitions will prove empty and fruitless (vs 9,10); the hedonistic ‘life’ that they run after will lead only to death (v 14); and their arrogance will result in a humiliating end (v 15).

But note the vivid picture of hope in verses 16 and 17.

Respond: Which of Judah’s sins might you also need to confess today? Pray for God’s light to be shed on any aspects of your lifestyle or attitudes which need to be changed.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-12-18