Isaiah 5:18

III. WOE TO CYNICAL MATERIALISTS

"Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as it were with a cart rope; that say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work; that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!"

These verses are the language of scoffing materialists who use one of Isaiah's favorite names for God, but in mockery. These fearless sinners even dare to challenge the eternal God to "Do his thing in their presence!" Strangely, the words suggest the mockery of the leaders of Israel who challenged Jesus Christ to come down from the Cross. The mention of cords of falsehood and cart ropes, as Hailey stated, suggests that the "people are slaves to their idols and their sins ... They are harnessed with their falsehoods and their idolatry."[9] Archer compared the picture given here to that of a group of pagan worshippers "drawing the cart of a great idol in festal procession. Those backslidden people dragged along their idol of iniquity, challenging the Holy One of Israel."[10]