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Isa 5:8  Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

Those who "join house to house and field to field, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth", are those who hate their neighbor, and who consider themselves better than other men.

Bildad, in his self-righteous rant against Job, made this true statement about the evil spirit that is within us all:

Job 18:3  Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
Job 18:4  He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?

It is each of us who have thought of others as being much greater sinners than ourselves. It is we who have looked down on others as mere beasts, vile beasts, while at the same time thanking God that we are not such men. Then when our trials begin and we begin to be judged, it is you and I who think that Christ, "the Rock", should be removed out of His place of being our judge, and He really should do things our way instead of pouring out His wrath upon our self-righteous, rebellious, carnal-minded old man.

But Christ will not be "moved out of His place", and the earth will not "be forsaken for [us]", and we will not be permitted to "be placed alone in the midst of the earth" at the expense of our own neighbors and their homes and their fields.

There is an Old Testament example of how this spirit operates in this world in the story of Ahab coveting, and through the agency of his wife, Jezebel, taking the vineyard of Naboth for himself:

1Ki 21:1  And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
1Ki 21:2  And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
1Ki 21:3  And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
1Ki 21:4  And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

"And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread." Is that not a perfect fulfillment of Bildad's words to Job, "He tears himself in his anger"? Ahab wanted the earth to be forsaken and to be rid of Naboth for his, Ahab's, benefit. Ahab wanted Christ to remove Himself and His law of love "out of His place" of judging Ahab, just so Ahab could acquire what he wanted for himself.

But Christ will not be removed as the judge of this earth, and as our judge He declares these curses upon the kingdom of our avaricious old man.

Isa 5:9  In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

Ahab took the vineyard from Naboth by simply having Naboth falsely accused of blasphemy and having him murdered.

1Ki 21:4  And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.
1Ki 21:5  But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?
1Ki 21:6  And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.
1Ki 21:7  And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. 
1Ki 21:8  So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
1Ki 21:9  And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
1Ki 21:10  And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
1Ki 21:11  And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
1Ki 21:12  They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
1Ki 21:13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. 
1Ki 21:14  Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
1Ki 21:15  And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
1Ki 21:16  And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

The stoning of Naboth, who refused to sell his inheritance, typifies the death of Christ, who refused to deny His Father.

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:20  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
Joh 5:21  For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

While not telling us that these two resurrections are separated by over a thousand years, we are here told by Christ Himself that there are two resurrections, and the sum of God's word (Psa 119:160) informs us that the second resurrection, "the resurrection to damnation", does not take place until "the thousand years are expired".

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

They, too, "were judged... according to their works", just as God judged ancient Israel and as He is now judging us. So much for the false doctrine that faith and works do not work together in bringing us to know Christ and His Father.

The false doctrines of 'the Lord's vineyard' can bring forth nothing but "wild grapes" and more false doctrines which can produce nothing but wicked, self-centered, evil works, necessitating the wrath of the judgments of God.

Isa 5:10  Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. 

According to the commentaries, a 'bath' is a Jewish measure for liquids which equals seven and a half gallons. The point being made is that for ten acres to produce so little is to be totally unprofitable for the person who wants to 'join house to house and field to field so he can be alone in the earth'. Seven and a half gallons of wine from ten acres is very close to producing nothing at all.

"The seed of an homer": According to Barnes Commentary, an “homer” was a Hebrew measure for grain, containing about eight bushels.

"An ephah" contained about three pecks. Of course, to say that an homer of seed should produce about three pecks, would be the same as saying that it would produce almost nothing.

It takes four pecks to make a bushel. So we are being told that in this part of our lives we plant 32 pecks of grain, and we harvest only three pecks. That is a havest of 90% less than we planted. We tilled our ground and planted our seed, and we get back 90% less than we planted.

Here is how Christ puts this equation to Saul of Tarsus when he was at this state of his calling:

Act 9:5  And he [Saul of Tarsus] said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

This is again addressed to the old man within each of us, and the message of this verse is repeated in these verses:

Hag 1:5  Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Hag 1:6  Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Hag 1:7  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

That is the fruit of the ways which the wild grape doctrines of the Lord's vineyard produce. Those doctrines are lies, and they produce very self-centered works, which in the end bring forth nothing but death.

We who want the earth for ourselves will only have seven and a half gallons of wine from ten acres of vineyards, and yet this is where our heart lies:

Isa 5:11  Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

How is it possible for a man to do so much work for so little return and still want to 'rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink and continue until night, till wine inflames him?' The answer is that when we are told "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes", we are being told that the Lord's vineyard is being judged spiritually and that it is sowing doctrines which produce nothing which spiritually fills our lives with a sense of comfort, peace of mind or a sense of purpose. The Lord's vineyard produces nothing which fills the hunger within us. It produces nothing to clothe our nakedness or warm our cold self-centered hearts, and what should be treasures in heaven are soon enough revealed to be taken from us by those who are peddling the Word of God for their own profit at the expense of our own physical and spiritual welfare.

At the Lord's appointed time we are given "eyes that see" that the Lord is taking away from us all we worked so hard to acquire and to achieve. But we simply cannot at first see that our great physical blessings are really a curse which keeps us from acknowledging how God works in the lives of His elect. Like Job and like King David, the Lord first gives us great physical blessings before taking them all away and humbling us as "a spectacle" before the whole world:

1Co 4:9  For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

This verse precedes our 'spectacular' judgment before the whole world:

Isa 5:12  And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

"The harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine" are just more of the things which must be taken from us before we are granted eyes that see and ears that hear. "[We] regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the work of His hands" even as He strips us of the things Isaiah has already told us God is taking away from the kingdom of our old man.

The loss of the entire kingdom of our old man because of his corruption has been the theme of this prophecy:

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 
Isa 3:2  The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

It is we as the Lord's own people, His own vineyard, who, with our own wicked and deceitful false doctrines, abuse and rob the Lord's people:

Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Being ruled over by women and oppressed by children is mentioned twice in Isaiah 3. Here it is again:

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

The leaders of God's people cause them to err for this reason:

Isa 5:13  Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

The leaders of God's people have no knowledge, and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are dried up with thirst because, as pointed out earlier in this study:

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 
Isa 3:2  The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

"The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water is being taken away" from "The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator." That is just another way of saying "their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are dried up with thirst... because they have no knowledge", and we "have no knowledge" because our leaders cause us to err (Isa 3:12).

This is all describing the slow torturous destruction of our old man and his rebellious, self-righteous kingdom, which the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ calls "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth" and this is what happens to her:

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 
Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. 
Rev 18:14  And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 
Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 
Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

It all gives our Creator the occasion He is seeking to destroy the kingdom of our old man who has had the hegemony over us until this time of judgment comes upon us and...

Isa 5:14  Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Isa 5:15  And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

These words are a reiteration of what we were told at the end of chapter 3:

Isa 3:25  Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
Isa 3:26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

This "mean man [this] mighty man... and... the eyes of the lofty" are all parts of the kingdom of our rebellious, carnal, old man within us, and "hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure" is just another way of how this whole message is conveyed to us in the New Testament:

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

As is always the case, the Lord Himself is working all of this after the counsel of His own will. It is He who has raised up this great storm, and He does so for the purpose of bringing us to our wits' end as He destroys the brute beast within us who was "made to be taken and destroyed". But after we are all brought to our wits' end, then He brings us to our "desired haven", which is to know Christ and His Father:

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

This is our desired haven; this is saving knowledge:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ is the knowledge we were missing in verse 13:

Isa 5:13  Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

This verse is true only of those who are immature and have not yet been crushed to powder and who are not destined to be overcomers who are now lifted up with pride in what the Lord has freely given them:

1Co 8:1  Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

"Knowledge puffs up... carnal... babes in Christ", against which pride Paul admonishes these very Corinthians in this very same epistle (1Co 3:1-4).

But in true Biblical fashion this verse is also true:

Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

There is no contradiction between those two verses of scripture. Both are true in their own order. Pride and the fear of men are all that keep us from accepting the knowledge of Christ and His Father when we are not, as yet, granted to overcome that fear of men.

Therefore:

Isa 5:13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

We will close with this admonition from our Lord, here from this same prophet:

Isa 51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

Psa 36:10  O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.