God’s Warning to the World and to All Religious Men of Renown
Woe unto them!
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. (Jude 1:11)
  The study of ‘the woes’ in Scripture would take something that I do not have, a lifetime. Here are some interesting facts about the word ‘woe’ — there are sixty-five (65) verses with the word ‘woe’ in the Old Testament. Isn’t this a great fact? The word ‘woe’ is one number short of being fulfilled in the Old Testament in 6 – 5. Fulfilled in what? The double number of 6 – 6. Remember that six (6) is the number of man in unrepentant sin; therefore, the number six is glued to mankind. It is through the New Testament that we see this number completed in the 6 – 6 – 6. (Revelation Chapter 13) It is through the New Testament that the Old is fulfilled. It is through the New Testament that all that preceded comes to fruition.
  The culmination of judgment upon earth dwellers in the word ‘woe’ cannot be expressed sufficiently with other expressive words such as: great anguish, deep sorrow, and incomprehensible suffering; therefore, a small word was chosen by the Holy Spirit of God to express the promised time of the greatest and deepest lamentation of the body, soul, and spirit of all earth dwellers. This word ‘woe’ maybe small (three letters in the Hebrew, and four letters in the Greek) but it is GIGANTIC in its culmination.
  Here is another interesting fact about the word ‘woe.’ There are a number of verses where this word is mentioned more than once, however, there is only one place in Scripture where they are mentioned consecutively. This double ‘woe, woe’ is in the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 16, verse 23. Notice what this double ‘woe, woe’ is related to! Go ahead and guess before you read.
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, (Ezekiel 16:20)
That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them? (Ezekiel 16:21)
And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. (Ezekiel 16:22)
And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)Â (Ezekiel 16:23)
That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. (Ezekiel 16:24)
  The double ‘woe’ is directly connected to what God calls thy wickedness. The wickedness of taking what God calls my children and sacrificing them to their abominations. Wow . . . du’ya think that God was angry? Woe, woe . . . du’ya think that God WAS angry with those who built an eminent place, and a high place in every street celebrating their murderous acts of their own children. This double ‘woe’ is not to be taken lightly. All earth dwellers who make laws to enable the murder of the unborn acceptable, and all those who promote the murder of their children will rightly and justly experience double woes. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? (Psalm 94:20) Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; (Isaiah 10:1) WOE. WOE. GOD IS NOT SILENT!
  There are many woes in the Old Testament. The following references have been specifically selected to re-enforce the theme of this article.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:21)
Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: (Isaiah 30:1)
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:1)
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! (Ezekiel 13:3)
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe [be] to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? (Ezekiel 34:2)
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. (Matthew 23:13)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:14)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)
Woe unto you, [ye] blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! (Matthew 23:16)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (Matthew 23:23)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. (Matthew 23:25)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men’s] bones, and of all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:27)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, (Matthew 23:29)　
But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (Luke 11:42)
Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. (Luke 11:43)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over [them] are not aware [of them]. (Luke 11:44)　
  The Lord Jesus Christ (while on the earth that He had created) clearly spoke against the evil hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His time span. How much more do those of our time span deserve His words against their hypocrisy? God judges His sanctuary first. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1st Peter 4:17) His judgment will be much more than words. One of the promises of God is judgment! GOD IS NOT SILENT!
  Let us now look beyond the double ‘woe.’ What could possibly be more than a double ‘woe?’ It is the triple ‘woe, woe, woe.’ There is only one reference of a triple ‘woe.’
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:13)
    There is also another interesting fact in the amount of WOE’s in the New Testament. The word WOE is recorded in thirty-three verses (33). This points to the witness of God through the two (2) threes’ (3 – 3). Now, I’m going to add another zinger about the WOE’s in the New Testament. Although the word WOE is recorded in thirty-three verses, some verses have more than a single ‘woe.’ But the total WOES in the New Testament is forty (40). Why is this of interest? Because the number forty speaks of a period of time given by God for TESTING and/or TRIAL. Consequently, the time of mankind’s testing and trial is over in Revelation 8:13, And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!  Mankind has been weighed in the balances and has been found wanting. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. (Daniel 5:27)
   Whether you will be alive to experience the effects of a triple ‘woe’ is unknown, but those who will see the end deserve everything that they have worked so hard for. Their reward is sure. God is merciful and full of grace . . . and He is Judge. He has judged and He will judge. And His judgment will begin at the house of God.  WOE. WOE. WOE. GOD IS NOT SILENT!
© Copyright 2022, Mary Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely have ye received, freely give.Â
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJV)