“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil…” Isaiah 5:20 (KJV)
There’s a certain confidence people speak with when they’ve decided they are their own authority. You can hear it in the tone: “This is my truth.” “This is just how life is now.” “Everybody does it.” Little by little, labels start changing. Sin gets softened. Conviction gets mocked. Holiness gets called “too much.”
Isaiah 5:20 doesn’t whisper, it warns. God says woe to the flipping of names, because the moment we start renaming right and wrong, we aren’t just changing words… we’re challenging the throne.
Isaiah didn’t write Isaiah 5 from a quiet mountaintop moment. He was speaking into a nation that looked “fine” on the outside, but was drifting on the inside. Judah still had routine, religion, and reputation. People still gathered. Leaders still led. Business still moved. But underneath it all, there was a sickness Isaiah could see clearly: justice was bending, truth was being negotiated, and sin was being dressed up in better language.
The wealthy were stacking more and more land, power, and comfort, while others were being pushed aside. There was a lot of partying and numbing, like people were determined to stay distracted. When God’s warnings came, some didn’t tremble, they taunted: “Let God hurry up then… let’s see what He’ll do.”
That’s the climate Isaiah stepped into: a culture where people weren’t just doing wrong, they were relabeling wrong and calling it normal. When I read that, I don’t just think “back then.” I think: this sounds like now.
Today we’re living in a world that moves fast and feels loud. The news cycles through violence, instability, and fear. Social media can turn foolishness into a trend and brokenness into entertainment. If we’re not careful, we start absorbing it, until what once convicted us becomes “common,” and what once inspired us becomes “too much.”
We are watching, in real time, what Isaiah described: Sin renamed as self expression; Conviction mocked as judgment; Holiness treated like a problem; Truth downgraded to “opinions”. And in that kind of world, Isaiah 5:20 becomes a spiritual alarm clock.
Here’s the truth that steadies me: Our Heavenly Father is the King of kings and the ultimate power. He is not one voice in the room. He is the One who built the room. He isn’t negotiating with culture. He isn’t outvoted by trends. He isn’t confused by our preferences.
When God calls something good, it is good, even if the world calls it outdated. When God calls something evil, it is evil, even if the world celebrates it. When I remember who God is, I stop trying to manage my life with borrowed definitions. I return to the only authority that can’t be shaken.
Today you ask, “Lord, am I agreeing with Your Word or just repeating what I hear?” Take time and check your labels.What have you started excusing that God calls sin? What have you started avoiding that God calls holy? Let God’s authority set your boundaries, your tone, your choices, and your peace. When the King defines the standard, you don’t have to live confused, you can live clear.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, You are the King of kings and the ultimate power. Forgive me for the moments I’ve tried to rename what You have already defined. Give me a clean heart and clear discernment. Teach me to love what You call good and to turn away from what You call evil—without apology, without confusion, and without fear. Let Your truth be the light in my choices and the peace in my soul.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
