Isaiah 5:15-21

Passage: So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy by His righteousness. Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.

Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, to those who say, "Let God hurry, let Him hasten His work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it." Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

Journal: Yesterday, Isaiah admonished the sins of (1) greed and (2) revelry. Today, he exposes the sins of (3) arrogance [pride], (4) rationalization [self justification; cynicism; distortion], and (5) foolishness.

Arrogance is a continual breeding ground for serving Satan. It was Satan's own pride that was his downfall, for he desired to worship self rather than to worship God. So it is with his children, fallen man. Inherent within us is a desire to elevate self at the expense of a holy God. Yet God, in His perfect justice, will punish arrogance even as He exalts His own righteousness. ("But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy by His righteousness.")

Since the result of arrogance is sinfulness, man must rationalize his sin at the expense of repentance. It is at this juncture of man's depraved mind that he convinces himself that the bondage of entangled sin is superior to the uninhibited freedom of God. This is the greatest of all distortions. This sin of rationalization is deadly, an advanced cancer spreading undeterred without the curative remedy of salvation. Man convinces himself that the cancer is a good thing, for he has ownership of the cancer and does not believe it to be deadly at all. ("Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.")

Thus, as arrogance leads to sin and sin leads to rationalization, so the depraved mind convinces itself of its own wisdom. Yet, this wisdom is indeed foolish. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, and to acknowledge God in all one's ways. The wisdom of fallen man, as he seeks and finds sin, shows no fear of God and summarily rejects His ways. Thus, it is indeed foolishness. Such "foolish wisdom" is not curative of the cancer, no matter the magnitude of the dose ingested. ("Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.")