Isaiah 5:24

The Consequences of Their Deterioration in Behaviour (Isaiah 5:24).

Isaiah 5:24

‘Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,

And as the dry grass shrivels in the flame,

So their root will be as rottenness,

And their blossom will go up as the dust,

Because they have rejected the instruction (Law) of Yahweh of hosts,

And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.'

This ‘therefore' looks back to the previous four woes. By their behaviour, attitudes, wisdom and self-indulgence these men have rejected the instruction of the mighty Yahweh of hosts, and have despised the word of the supremely Holy One. They have refused to listen to His voice. They have revealed themselves to be stubble and dry grass, the emptiness that is left when the former fruitfulness has gone. So will they be burned up and consumed, as the stubble is burned up in the fields once the fruitful yield has gone, and as the useless dry grass shrivels and collapses down into the flame.

The sad thing is their unawareness of this. They think that their lives are taking root and blossoming. But really their root is like stubble, a useless rejected waste, and their blossom is like dry grass, set to be burned to ashes.

‘Because they have rejected the instruction (Law) of Yahweh of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.' That is the essence of the matter. They have rejected the Almighty One and the Holy One. God is too big and too moral for them. They want to settle for something less. But that also reveals the greatness of their crime. They have rejected the One Who is over all, the only One Who can pull them from the morass in which they find themselves.