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.
7 But they
['el-leh] also have erred [shagah]
through wine [yayin], and through strong drink [shekar] are out of the way [ta`ah];
the priest [kohen] and the prophet [nabiy'] have erred [shagah] through
strong drink [shekar], they are swallowed up [bala`] of [min] wine [yayin], they are out of the way [ta`ah] through strong drink [shekar]; they err [shagah] in vision [ro'eh], they stumble [puwq] in
judgment [p@liyliyah]. KJV-Interlinear
7 These also
reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel
with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they
reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment. ESV
Even though God promises a remnant will survive, Isaiah here, makes it clear that the ones who survive are not perfect people. They fail just like everyone else.
But as for the ones who profess belonging to God, they demonstrate their ingratitude and obstinence which is described using the behavior and character of a drunk.
To err, refers to the staggering and imbalance of one who is intoxicated. This condition also applies to the vision and judgment of people who lack truth and therefore lack discernment.
Everyone is subject to failure in life. We all have our flaws. But there is only one way to overcome those flaws, and that is to learn Bible doctrine and live within the spiritual realm, which we call fellowship.
Without truth in our soul then we have only the fog of life which distorts reality, making everything we see, subject to our intentions, desires, imagination, and personal views. All of which are distorted.
Because, when truth is absent, then lies are all that we have to guide us. And that results in a distorted life.
Which simply means that we live off balance, or intoxicated, as it were.
Swallowing the wine means our intent is to avoid truth and pursue the bad views of life.
We see the wine, we want the wine, we pursue and drink the wine. The same principle applies to untruth. We see it, we want it, we pursue it.
To swagger, reel, and stumble, are the results of a life without doctrine.
Now this has nothing to do with drinking, but when you do not pursue the learning of Bible doctrine, then your demeanor is no better than that of a drunk.
And one more principle is being taught here.
When the end of days for a person, or nation, or history, or whatever, comes at any point in history, then the teaching and understanding of Bible doctrine takes a turn for the worst. It becomes distorted and tainted by the failure of the ones who are supposed to be teaching truth, but of course, are not.
This means that there will be many views, many religions, many philosophies, many opinions, and to those who do not really pursue learning, and take a more passive approach or indifferent approach, or an approach that is far less than genuine, then the teaching even legitimate teaching, will be lost in the fog of the noise of all other views.
The person who is not really interested, who is simply passing through, and does not want to dig out the truth, then these verses will apply.
But for those who dedicate themselves to listening, to the objectivity of learning and testing and discerning, then the truth will eventually become clear to them, and their life will be far better.
