Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are fearless at mixing beer, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.   Isaiah 5:20-23 HCSB

Woe and Woah are homophones. They are words that are pronounced the same, but spelled differently with different meanings. Woe means great sorrow and distress. Woah is what we say when we want a horse to slow down or stop. Now when I used to ride regularly, I knew that pulling the rein back was what stopped this 1000 pound animal, but I usually also said “Whoa”, giving the horse the verbal command to stop.

If you read our scripture passage and thought it sounded much like our world today, you’re right. The book of Isaiah was written between 740-680 B.C. Isaiah was a prophet sent by God to warn Judah to repent and reform. He warned them against foreign alliances and urged them to trust the Lord. He saw their social ills as symptoms of spiritual decline and warned them against such. Sadly, most scoffed at Isaiah and continued their sinful ways.

We are seeing a similar trend in our country today. We are seeing churches becoming tolerant of behavior that clearly goes against Biblical teaching. In Revelation 2:19-20 the church of Thyatira is told that God knows their deeds, their love, their faith and their service. But, what He holds against them is that they tolerate Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and whose teachings lead God’s people astray so that they commit acts of immorality.  As Christians, we are called to lead people to Christ. We are not to tolerate or participate in acts that lead people into sin and lead them away from the Lord.

If we read on in Revelation 2, the Lord tells them that He will throw those who tolerate her into great tribulation unless they repent. We have a pope that says that it’s okay for homosexuals to marry. The Bible tells is in Leviticus 20:13 that this is an abomination that shall be punished with death. We have leaders in our country promoting not only abortions, but full-term abortions, in Exodus 20 in the Ten Commandments we are told that we shall not murder.

The good news is in Revelation 2:24-25, we are told that for those who do not hold these teachings and have not known the deep things of Satan, we will have no burden placed on us. He encourages us to hold fast until He comes. We are told in verse 25, those who overcome and keep His deeds until the end will be given authority over the nations. If we say “Whoa” and stop ourselves from tolerating and even joining in we will not face the woe that is to come.

I want you to understand that I am not saying that we should hate the sinners of this world. On the contrary, we are told to love them, but we must hate the sin. We must not be tolerant and say it’s okay to dishonor God. When we do this we will suffer his wrath. The good news is, if we hold fast to God’s teachings and stay true to His Word, He will protect us (Psalm 91). He will take good care of us (Jeremiah 29:11). Even though it may look bleak, God’s got this and He’s working all things for our good as long as we love Him and are living our lives according to the purpose He has set forth for us (Romans 8:28).

If you are currently in bondage to sin and you know that you are grieving the Holy Spirit with the way you are living your life, it’s not too late. You can turn to Him. You can draw near to Him and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). He will send His Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you and help you to conquer that sin in your life.

If you are a church-going, Bible-believing Christian, don’t let Satan distract you. Don’t let him destroy your witness. Stay strong in God’s Word. Always have the Sword of the Spirit and be ready to strike. Stand up for what is right. If you read the Book all the way to the end, you will see that we win.

Today we all have a decision to make. Will it be woe and will we suffer because we tolerated sinful behavior and perhaps even went along with it? Will we call evil good and good evil? Or will we say, “Whoa! Enough is Enough!” and stand up for God and the truth that is found in His Word? Woe will come to those who don’t turn to God and stand strong in Him. But for those who stop their own evil and stop tolerating the evil perpetrated by others, God promises that they will be rewarded. Seems like an easy choice to me, but you will have to decide for yourself.

Have a great day!