“Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble
And dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust;
For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
On this account the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
For all this His anger is not spent,
But His hand is still stretched out.
He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation,
And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.
No one in it is weary or stumbles,
None slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the belt at its waist undone,
Nor its sandal strap broken.
Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it seizes the prey
And carries it off with no one to deliver it.
And it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.”
Isaiah 5:24-30 NASB1995
The final passage of Isaiah 5 describes the anger of the Lord against the people who have rejected the law of the Lord and despised His Word. It’s a frightening scene, first filled with fire and earthquakes, then an advancing army that roars like lions and carries off the self-absorbed people of Judah and Jerusalem from their lands, leaving devastation and darkness behind.
Who is this advancing army? The prophet Jeremiah, who succeeded Isaiah as a prophet near the end of the kings of Judah about 60 years later had this to say:
““Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”
Jeremiah 25:8-11 NASB1995
Many years previously, Moses had this to say in Deuteronomy to the people of Israel, when describing what would happen because of their disobedience:
““Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
“The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.”
Deuteronomy 28:47-52 NASB1995
This prophecy can be answered in the dispersal of the tribes in the north (Israel) by the armies of Assyria, followed by the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the armies of Babylonia. Here is what Enduring Word has to say about today’s passage in Isaiah:
a. As the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff: Stubble and chaff are both very flammable. God is warning of sudden, complete, and severe judgment.
b. Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel: Every one of Judah’s sins could be traced back to a time of rejecting and despising what God says. Man’s opinion was far more important to them than God’s word.
c. He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the end of the earth: God will call foreign nations to come and invade Judah, making them instruments of His judgment upon them.
d. They shall come with speed, swiftly…. No one will be weary or stumble among them…Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed…Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent: The armies God would call against Judah would be all business. They would be totally focused, prepared, and readied – while the strong men of Judah would use their strength for drinking contests! This would be a great mismatch, and a soft, drunk, and flabby Judah would certainly fall against such dedicated enemies.
i. If we will not be strong for our own sakes, or even for the sake of the LORD, should we not at least be strong for the sake of our enemies? If they are strong and focused against us, should we not be strong in the LORD, and focused on the LORD, to overcome such strong enemies?
e. Behold, darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened by the clouds: This is a distressing place. Why would the LORD put Judah in such a place? Because He loves them. These words were harsh but merciful; yet these words were a slap in the face to prevent total and eternal destruction. The only question is, “Will we listen to God’s warning?”
i. “God’s woes are better than the devil’s welcomes.” (Spurgeon)
Are we listening to God’s warnings? Here’s a pithy quote from C.S. Lewis:
Why is it SO difficult to obey the Word of God and trust in Him? Jesus said during His time on Earth that He fulfilled the law and then made it “simple” for His followers:
“But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.””
Matthew 22:34-40 NASB1995
Believers, including me, have often looked at these words and felt like they were an impossibility. I admit that I deeply, deeply love Jesus but I also love other things - my hubby, my late parents, the pets we have had, traveling, a good meal, peace and quiet, time with cherished friends, beautiful scenes in nature. So I am in disobedience to the greatest commandment because I am not giving ALL of that love! And I find myself in absolute despair over loving my “neighbor” as myself, when I see how foolish and evil human beings can be (a bit judgmental, right?). Well, I am not alone in this despair. Read what Paul says in Romans 7:
“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”
Romans 7:14-25 NASB1995
Paul is reminding us in this passage that the conflict between our two natures speaks to our woeful attempts to gain God’s favor and grace by trying to do all of the work ourselves. The gift of grace is given first, as noted in Romans 5:
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Romans 5:6-11 NASB1995
Darkness and despair are not victorious! We will, until the day of our death, be dealing with two conflicting natures, but the law of the Spirit in those who believe is winning the battle.
My next devotional examines Isaiah 6:1-2 - King Uzziah dies but the Lord God is on His throne.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer
Dear Lord - I was reminded again today in my study of this passage in Isaiah that Your gift of grace through Jesus Christ is the greatest gift that could ever be given to the world of sinners! Help me in my battle against my sinful nature and to move more and more to my inner self of the Spirit! Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 09/07/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 5:24-30.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. At the link referenced, the bibliography used by David Guzik can be accessed.