Isaiah 5:20
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
God sends a prophetic alarm: “You are mixing what I separated.”
Hidden Truth — “Woe” Is Not a Threat, It’s a Lament
The Hebrew word “woe” (hôy) is not an angry shout. It is a grieving cry, the sound someone makes when watching a loved one destroy themselves.
God isn’t screaming at His people. He is weeping as He warns them:
“If you blur the line between light and darkness, you will lose your ability to recognize either.”
This is exactly what happened to:
Israel, Judah, the early churches in Revelation, and the modern Church today
When you mix, you eventually forget.
If we sit down and compare apples to apples, the truth becomes painfully obvious:
we haven’t just repeated Israel’s mistakes — we’ve perfected them.
Idolatry wasn’t rare in ancient Israel.
It was tolerated.
Walk through a marketplace in Isaiah’s time and you’d see trinkets and miniature gods of every flavor.
Whatever your desire, you could find a deity to match it:
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want to worship the sun? dozens of idols
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want to worship trees? carved symbols everywhere
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want to honor animals, food, fertility, seasons? endless options
And behind all of it was the most popular god in every generation:
the god of self.
That’s the idol that lives closest.
That’s the idol we excuse the fastest.
Inside many Jewish homes, children grew up participating in cultural customs with the same innocence our children do today:
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decorating trees
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lighting symbolic objects
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festival colors
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exchanging gifts tied to seasonal myths
The problem wasn’t that they stopped talking about God.
The problem was that they didn’t stop imitating the nations.
They talked the talk.
They failed to walk the walk.
And the leaders allowed it.
This pattern didn’t stop in Isaiah’s day.
It resurfaced in the early Church.
When Constantine legalized Christianity, the hunted Church became safe — and in their relief, they let down their guard.
Instead of resisting the flood of pagan customs entering the faith, many believers felt it would be ungrateful to “make a fuss” after finally receiving freedom.
To speak out would feel like spitting in the face of the emperor who ended the persecution.
So mixture entered… quietly.
And once mixture enters, it multiplies.
Over the next 2,000 years, the compromise grew into the fully formed holiday traditions we defend today — even when they contradict the very Scriptures we claim to love.
It is the same drift we see in the modern “hyper-grace” movement:
soften God’s standards, justify what He forbids, redefine what He calls holy, and rename what He calls sin.
In Isaiah’s time, priests softened God’s boundaries.
People justified what God condemned.
Leaders excused compromise.
And the entire nation called their mixture “worship.”
They didn’t stop honoring God.
They simply added other influences to the altar.
Isaiah’s warning is not against atheism.
It is against confusion.
It is against redefinition.
It is against mixing darkness with light and pretending it is all the same.
Because here is the danger Isaiah shouts:
Light wasn’t rejected — it was redefined.
Good wasn’t abandoned — it was renamed.
Darkness didn’t take over — it blended in.
And this —
this
is the very heart of your December theme.
Not an abandonment of God.
But a blending that hides Him.
Not a rejection of truth.
But a rewording that distorts it.
Israel didn’t say, “We no longer worship Yahweh.”
They said,
“We worship Yahweh — and…”
And as soon as you add the and,
darkness starts wearing the clothes of light.
Scripture repeats the same message: God separates what the world blends.
Where Have I Mixed the Two?
Ask yourself:
● Where have I called something “good” simply because it feels traditional?
● Have I ever softened a truth because culture normalizes it?
● Do I justify what God forbids because “everyone does it”?
● Are there areas where I’ve blended light and darkness without realizing?
● What practices comfort me more than God convicts me?
Let God shine a light on what you may have tolerated.
Or will you use 'Grace.' or 'New Covenant,'
as one of the many excuses we create?
| Spiritual Connections | Verse |
|---|---|
| God separated light from darkness | Genesis 1:4 |
| what fellowship has light with darkness? | 2 Corinthians 6:14 |
| expose the works of darkness | Ephesians 5:11 |
| cast off the deeds of darkness | Romans 13:12 |
| light shines in darkness; darkness cannot overcome it | John 1:5 |
Isaiah isn’t describing atheism.
He’s describing religious people who:
redefine good and evil
rename darkness “light”
relabel poison as “sweet”
justify traditions that God never approved
blend worship with culture
choose comfort over clarity
This is the same drift Israel experienced
and the same drift the modern Church is repeating.
Refuse the Blend
Pray: “Lord, show me where I have mixed what You separated.”
Then ask:
✔ Is this custom from God… or from culture?
✔ Does this tradition reveal Christ… or hide Him?
✔ Does this practice pull me toward holiness… or comfort?
✔ What have I excused because it’s familiar?
This isn’t legalism. This is clarity. This is light.
Abba,
Expose the places where I’ve called darkness “light.”
Pull the veil off anything I labeled as ‘good’ that isn’t from You.
Let Your truth cut through my habits,
my traditions,
my assumptions,
and my comfort.
Teach me to see with Your eyes,
to love what You define as light,
and to reject what You call darkness —
even when the world paints it beautiful.
Make my worship pure.
Make my heart sharp.
Make my life unmixed.
Amen.
Questions?
What does the key words this week tell you? What is something you learned you didn't know before today? What traditions immediately came to mind as you read this week? Remember conviction from God should always pull you into his presence not away. What do you think God is calling to be culled from your 'traditions'? What makes it so hard to walk away from these traditions?
Last question. What do you really stand to lose?
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