Isaiah 5:18-24

¹⁸ Oy! Those who drag iniquity along with the cords made of lies and sin as with rope of the cart, ¹⁹ those who say, “Let him be quick; let him hurry his work so that we may see it and let it draw near and let the plan of the holy one of Israel come so that we may know you are right!” ²⁰ Oy! Those who call evil good and good evil, those who exchange darkness for light and light for darkness, those who exchange bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! ²¹ Oy! wise in their own eyes and have understanding before their own faces. ²² Oy! Heroes at drinking wine, and experts at mixing strong drink! ²³ Those who acquit the guilty because of a bribe and remove justice from an innocent one. ²⁴ For this reason as the fire’s tongue devours the stubble, and dry grass disintegrates in flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom be blown away like dust. Because they have rejected the instruction of Yahveh of armies, and they have treated the word of the holy one of Israel with contempt.

“let him hurry his work”

The arrogance of Isaiah’s audience is seen in this statement from their mouths. In essence, they were demanding that the LORD prove his power by going ahead and doing all the terrible things he said he was about to do. They were telling God to give them his best shot.

Sometimes the sinner consoles himself with thoughts like this. He thinks that if there is any truth to all this God stuff, he’ll believe it when he sees it. God should go ahead and commence smiting.

Oh, sinner, you do not want that. If you are well today, you do not want that loving fence of protection from the Almighty to be turned off and removed. Untold horrors await those who refuse his love, and will experience only his wrath.

Come to Christ today. Seek his forgiveness and his holiness. The fact is, the LORD has already hurried his work of judgment, and he placed all that judgment upon Christ. Christ has taken that judgment so you and I can be spared, but that blessing is only for those who seek refuge in Christ.

LORD, hurry your work of forgiveness and grace in our lives. We do not have to see hell in order to know that we do not want to experience it.