Isaiah 5:3-30

For Reading and Meditation:     Isaiah 5:18-25

We pick up from where we left off yesterday with the thought that "wrath" is not a defect in the divine character; rather, it would be a defect if wrath were absent from Him. Those who see God's wrath as petulance or retaliation, inflicting punishment for the sake of it, or in return for some injury received, do not...

God pronounces a woe on those who reverse moral standards, making sin respectable and suggesting that purity is something less than desirable. Herbert Vander Lugt cited three contemporary illustrations of how men tamper with moral distinctions. "First, I read an article which treated lightly the bad results of pornography, but deplored the 'puritanical attitude of religionists.' Second, I came across a newspaper account that told about a group of concerned parents who were trying to get an...

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. § Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. § Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak...