God’s Accusation Against the Wicked

Isaiah 56 Part III

And the finale of Isaiah 56 is God’s accusation against the wicked. We read in verses 9 – 12

9 Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest! 10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. 11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain. 12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.”

Israel’s watchmen are referred as blind men lacking knowledge of God. They are wolfs disguised as shepherds devouring the poor, crippled and all the other outcasts. They are shepherds who do not understand the needs of the people they pasture. They are selfish, and make themselves fat on the ignorance and innocence of others.

Let us examine ourselves. Are we like the pompous, religious men of the OT and Jesus’ time who were like ‘the blind leading the blind’. Their thoughts were constantly focused on growing richer and powerful while laying heavier and heavier burdens on the common man.

The above verses clearly shows that God is well aware of the greed and selfish pride of the wicked, pretentious ‘men of God’. There is an underlying threat to these people for denying the outcasts their rightful place in God’s sanctuary. We can safely assume that the Righteous and Just God who extends His hand of salvation to the pariahs of the community will also not hesitate to extend His hand of Judgment to these false shepherds.