Isaiah 5:11
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
The woe falls on those who rise early in the morning to chase strong drink and stay at it until night, until wine inflames them, thus giving the whole day to drinking. That drunken revelry is accompanied by feasting and music, with pleasure seekers spending greatly to take up and create places for drinking. While pursuing drink they do not regard the work of the Lord nor consider what His hands have done, which is contempt for His revealed word and moral and spiritual corruption.
The verse describes Judah in Isaiah's time, in the closing years of Uzziah when Jotham was already bearing burdens of state, when pride, extravagance, oppression and wealth, love of display, open idolatry, and a life of intemperance and gross drunkenness among all classes characterized the people. That inward corruption through apostasy and rebellion was more serious than the outward perils from Syria and Assyria, the coming invasion, the fall of Samaria and scattering of Israel, and the sieges of Judah and Jerusalem. By inviting the judgments of God, those who should have been light-bearers among the nations made it seem that God's purpose for Israel would fail and that Judah would suffer the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, tempting the few true to God to lose heart in discouragement and despair. Their disregard contributes to lack of knowledge that leads to captivity, and because of it the Lord withholds the rain of heaven, so that great and fair houses stand desolate without inhabitants for years, once-productive orchards are left to ruin, honorable men famish, and the multitude dries up with thirst, as seen in Southern California.
The verse condemns the liquor traffic in wicked cities, where saloons deal out liquor that makes men insane, and thus reveals how the great Ruler regards city conditions and shows that liquor contributes to the curse and ruin of cities. It places guilt on men in authority and men of influence, and on communities and their rulers, when instead of cooperating with God to sweep away the curse of drink they permit open saloons to continue. Those rulers need to be brought under control to God, for they will have a serious account to settle with the great Judge of the earth, who will certainly punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. Its warning calls inhabitants of cities like Oakland to repent, to awake, believe His word, and become converted, and calls for active temperance work to remove the drink trade, warning that its words will be literally fulfilled in God's judgments on cities and the world unless people respond.