Isaiah 1 - The Unpopular Gospel

Prophets tell us what we don't want to hear to point us to what we desperately need to know.

Faithlife.com

SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF tracing Israel’s monarchy in Samuel and Kings, we turn to Isaiah, where history gives way to prophetic interpretation. The kings had failed, the people had wandered, and covenant judgment was no longer distant.

Isaiah now interprets what those events meant: exposing sin and revealing God’s purpose. Judgment is coming—yet there is hope, for the LORD remains faithful and will bring salvation through judgment.

Isaiah 1:1–20 (NASB95)

     ¹     The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

     ²     Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;

For the Lord speaks,

“Sons I have reared and brought up,

But they have revolted against Me.

     ³     “An ox knows its owner,

And a donkey its master’s manger,

But Israel does not know,

My people do not understand.”

     ⁴     Alas, sinful nation,

People weighed down with iniquity,

Offspring of evildoers,

Sons who act corruptly!

They have abandoned the Lord,

They have despised the Holy One of Israel,

They have turned away from Him.

     ⁵     Where will you be stricken again,

As you continue in your rebellion?

The whole head is sick

And the whole heart is faint.

     ⁶     From the sole of the foot even to the head

There is nothing sound in it,

Only bruises, welts and raw wounds,

Not pressed out or bandaged,

Nor softened with oil.

     ⁷     Your land is desolate,

Your cities are burned with fire,

Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence;

It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.

     ⁸     The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,

Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

     ⁹     Unless the LORD of hosts

Had left us a few survivors,

We would be like Sodom,

We would be like Gomorrah.

     ¹⁰     Hear the word of the LORD,

You rulers of Sodom;

Give ear to the instruction of our God,

You people of Gomorrah.

     ¹¹     “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?”

Says the LORD.

“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

And the fat of fed cattle;

And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.

     ¹²     “When you come to appear before Me,

Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?

     ¹³     “Bring your worthless offerings no longer,

Incense is an abomination to Me.

New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—

I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

     ¹⁴     “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts,

They have become a burden to Me;

I am weary of bearing them. 

     ¹⁵     “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, 

I will hide My eyes from you;

Yes, even though you multiply prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are covered with blood.

     ¹⁶     “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;

Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.

Cease to do evil,

     ¹⁷     Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

Reprove the ruthless,

Defend the orphan,

Plead for the widow.

     ¹⁸     “Come now, and let us reason together,”

Says the LORD,

“Though your sins are as scarlet,

They will be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They will be like wool.

     ¹⁹     “If you consent and obey,

You will eat the best of the land;

     ²⁰     “But if you refuse and rebel,

You will be devoured by the sword.”

Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 82

Q. Are those to be admitted to the Lord’s Supper who show by what they say and do that they are unbelieving and ungodly?

A. No, that would dishonor God’s covenant

and bring down God’s anger upon the entire congregation.

Therefore, according to the instruction of Christ

and his apostles,

the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such people,

by the official use of the keys of the kingdom,

until they reform their lives.

Summary

The book of Isaiah represents a big genre shift as we read through the Bible this year. So far we've spent this year working our way through Old Testament narratives, recounting the history of God's people from creation all the through the rise and fall of the kingdom of Israel.

We're going to be spending the couple of weeks looking at two of the major Israelite prophets: Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Although we're having to page forward quite a bit to get to these books, we're picking up right where we left off from a historical perspective (we'll cover the books we've skipped past in a few weeks). These two men, separated in time by about a century, lived through the final chapters of the kingdom's history.

Prophets are most famously associated with their ability to tell about the future, but remember that the primary role of a prophet is as one who represents God to the people (versus the priests, who represent the people to God). And as is evident in this opening chapter of Isaiah, the word that God commanded His prophets to proclaim wasn't at all complimentary. Therefore the prophets themselves were not at all popular.

But although the primary audience for these prophets were an ancient people that seem so different from us, the sins that precipitated these harsh words from God stem from the same exact root that our sins come from. So then, these judgments, properly understood in their original context, also apply directly to us.

  Dig Deeper  

The LORD wastes no time in diagnosing our primary problem in the opening paragraph: Israel does not know, My people do not understand. Our sins manifest themselves physically and emotionally, but their root cause stems from the poor choice our parents made in the Garden of Eden when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge rather than depend on the LORD for knowledge.

This lack of knowledge, called the noetic effect of sin, is passed down from fathers to sons who act corruptly. Notice the repetition: They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One... They have turned away. Therefore, God points out the consequences through His prophet: Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields- strangers are devouring them. God then compares His 'holy' people to Sodom and Gomorrah.

The LORD makes clear that repeated religious lip service does nothing to solve the problem. 'What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?' says the LORD... I have had enough... I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats... Bring your worthless offerings no longer... So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you.

But as harsh as God's prophetic indictment of sin is, it always points forward to the Gospel, and these opening words of Isaiah are no exception. God calls you to reason with Him - or as the NIV puts it, to settle the matter. Then we read one of the most beautiful couplets in all of scripture:

Though your sins are as scarlet,

They will be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They will be like wool.

Even as He lashes out at your sinful lack of knowledge, the LORD promises the salvation and forgiveness He won for you in Christ!

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD of Hosts;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that having been forgiven in Christ, you will cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan and plead for the widow;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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