Isaiah 5:11-15 - Woe to those who are inflamed with wine

5:11,12

It is also a feature of a collapsing society that vices of various sorts become prevalent, and people put an enormous amount of energy and effort into doing wrong things. Here it is the effort put into heavy drinking that is singled out. They show great devotion to partying, but no devotion to the Lord.

5:13

So the people would go into exile. At this point the northern kingdom had not yet been overrun, but they would soon be conquered by Assyria. Sometime after Isaiah, Judah would go into exile after the Babylonian defeat. This would happen for “lack of understanding”. We need to understand the Bible, we need to understand God and His ways. Not to do so is a dangerous position to be in. Both high and low would suffer.

5:14,15

This verse describes things in a very dramatic fashion. Death would open up its jaws, many would descend into death. Again, both high and low. Brawlers and revellers are singled out here. There would be a general humbling of society. Society had become arrogant, and a society that becomes arrogant is one that can expect to be humbled by God.