You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
11 There
is a crying [tsavachah] for wine [yayin] in the
streets [chuwts]; all joy [simchah] is darkened [`arab], the
mirth [masows] of the land ['erets] is gone [galah]. KJV-Interlinear
11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has
grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished. ESV
Isaiah’s description of the final days of history, continues. When people live in prosperous times, they often times do not see the advantage that those prosperous times give them for the purpose of growing in their spiritual lives.
It is far better and easier, to study and learn and grow up spiritually when life is at its easiest.
Unfortunately, too many, become unsatisfied with their prosperity or luxuries, and become greedy and selfish in life, and indifferent toward the one person who makes it all possible, namely Christ.
And so when the chips fall and life gets tougher, then there are two possible responses or reactions.
The first is the obvious, or should be the obvious, and that is to turn to God, to repent and begin the tougher task under the duress's of life for growing up in ones spiritual life.
But the second is the more common reaction to hardship. And, that is to complain, to become bitter, to whine about the loss of earthly things, which by the way are all temporary and unfulfilling, rather than to focus on the things of God, which are permanent.
And to demonstrate the unreasonableness of this reaction and the high degree that stubbornness can rise to even more, remember that in those fateful final days of history, the worlds population is dying off in droves, as the world itself is literally falling apart with all sorts of natural disasters.
But what is on the mind of people? Their wine. Their pleasures. The absolute inconvenience in their lives, that this end of the world situation is having on them!
