Isaiah 5:23

VII. WOE TO CROOKED JUDGES

"(Woe to them) that justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him."

The first three words of this verse are not in the text but are most certainly understood. Thus there are seven of these woes pronounced upon apostate Israel. Even the judiciary of wicked Israel had become corrupt; their judges had become evening wolves (Zephaniah 3:3). There could be but one answer to the problem of such a wicked society; and that answer was at once announced by the prophet; but it must not be supposed that Israel alone would suffer the terrible judgment announced here for the sinful kingdom (Amos 9:8). The judgment of Israel, as is also the case of many judgments of God upon wicked peoples throughout history, was a type of the eternal judgment itself. Thus, as we shall see in the final paragraph of this chapter, there will appear elements of both the judgment of Israel and that of the eternal judgment also.