Woe to the Wicked

Isa. 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Now, of course, we are living, I feel, in an age in which we are really calling evil good and good evil. Men who try to stand up for something that is decent and moral are made to look like fools in the paper. If people who are interested in decency and morality get together and decide to do something about child prostitution, child pornography, and some of these other things, then the papers begin to say, "Oh, a threat of Nazism or something, and here they’re wanting to rule." And they’ll have a picture of Khomeini and they make them look like a bunch of half-witted idiots, you know, that are trying to force moral standards, their own moral standards, upon everyone. All we’re saying is we’d like to have a decent place to live. We don’t want our children to be exposed to the Playboy cover girls when they have to go to the store to buy a quart of milk. We don’t want them to have to deal with the wicked, vile imaginations of perverted men when we send them out to the playgrounds. We want some laws that will really deal with these perverted men who want to display themselves and shock these precious little daughters of ours who are eight and nine years old. We feel that the sickos ought to be put away and should not be a threat to our children. And so we’re made to look like a bunch of fools and prudes and idiots.

Yet, the gay community gets together and they have a large banquet in Los Angeles to raise funds in order to lobby for certain legislation that will bring a liberalization for their activities and the Governor comes to speak, and the papers herald it as a glorious event, a step of progress for these people. And you don’t find a lot of overtones and threats in the papers of all the evil that will take place because the gays have had this big fund-raising dinner and they’re going to have money to lobby against legislation that would restrict and restrain their activities to their own kind. But this is heralded in the paper as a marvelous thing. Woe unto those that call good evil and evil good, the editors of our liberal press today. Boy, it’s right there. I could go on, but I won’t. It’s easy to climb on your little box and really wail.

Woe...

הוֹי

hôy

hoh'ee

A prolonged form of Oh! (akin to of crying out after); oh!: - ah, alas, ho, O, woe.

Some people lead others astray by their perverted values. Evil - for example, adultery, idolatry, materialism, murder, and many other sins forbidden in the Scriptures - is often held up as being good. Those who say such things are under the threat (woe) of God’s judgment.

unto them that call...

אָמַר

'âmar

aw-mar'

A primitive root; to say (used with great latitude): - answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command (ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use [speech], utter, X verily, X yet.

The same class of hardened rebels of Isa. 5:19 who have no sense or consciousness of right and wrong. Everything they feel like doing is right in their own eyes. They completely reverse evil and good, darkness and light, bitter and sweet (cp. John 3:18-22).

evil...

רָעָה רַע

ra‛ râ‛âh

rah, raw-aw'

From properly to spoil, breaking to pieces; bad or (as noun) evil (naturally or morally). This includes the second (feminine) form; as adjective or noun: - adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, + displease (-ure), distress, evil ([-favouredness], man, thing), + exceedingly, X great, grief (-vous), harm, heavy, hurt (-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief, (-vous), misery, naught (-ty), noisome, + not please, sad (-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked (-ly, -ness, one), worse (-st) wretchedness, wrong. [Including feminine ra’ah; as adjective or noun.]

good,...

טוֹב

ṭôb

tobe

From do or make good, well; good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well): - beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, X fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, X most, pleasant, + pleaseth, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well ([-favoured]).

and good... see good above.

evil;... see evil above.

that put...

שִׂים שׂוּם

śûm śı̂ym

soom, seem

A primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of applications, literally, figuratively, inferentially and elliptically): - X any wise, appoint, bring, call [a name], care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, + disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, + name, X on, ordain, order, + paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), + regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, + steadfastly, take, X tell, + tread down, ([over-]) turn, X wholly, work.

darkness...

חֹשֶׁךְ

chôshek

kho-shek'

From to be dark, withholding light; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity.

for light,...

אוֹר

'ôr

ore

From causatively make luminous; illumination or (concretely) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.): - bright, clear, + day, light (-ning), morning, sun.

and light... see for light above.

for darkness... see darkness above.

that put... see that put above.

bitter...

מָרָה מַר

mar mârâh

mar, maw-raw'

From causatively make bitter; bitter (literally or figuratively); also (as noun) bitterness, or (adverbially) bitterly: - + angry, bitter (-ly, -ness), chafed, discontented, X great, heavy.

for sweet,...

מָתוּק מָתוֹק

mâthôq mâthûq

maw-thoke', maw-thook'

From implication to relish, be sweet; sweet: - sweet (-er, -ness).

and sweet... see for sweet above.

for bitter!... see bitter above.