Isaiah 1

Isaiah 1:1

I. PROPHECIES OF PUNISHMENT AND BLESSING FROM ISAIAH’S TIME (Chaps. 135) A. Judgments on Judah and Jerusalem with Glimpses of Glory Shining Through (Chaps. 1-5)1. God’s Case Against Israel (Chap. 1)1:1 The first verse of Isaiah is much like a title; its historical references are handled in our Introduction. 1:2, 3 The whole universe is summoned to attend a trial with God as the Judge, and with Judah and Jerusalem as defendants. The indictment charges the people with being intractible sons who have rebelled against God and fail to show the natural gratitude and devotion that could be expected of a domestic animal! 1:4-6 The people are guilty of aggravated iniquity in turning their backs on the Holy One. God’s chastenings have not succeeded, even though the body is covered with wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. 1:7-9 Beginning with verse 7, the prophet describes the future as if it had already taken place. Enemy invaders have made Judah desolate. Jerusalem, the daughter of Zion, is like a crude, temporary hut, standing gauntly amid the wreckage. But for the grace of God in sparing a very small remnant, the destruction would have been as complete as that of Sodom and Gomorrah. 1:10-15 The rulers and people of Jerusalem (Sodom and Gomorrah) should realize that God despises rituals without reality, sacrifices without obedience, gifts without the givers. As long as people are living in sin, their attendance at the temple services is an insulting trampling of His courts. The mixing of iniquity and solemn assembly is hateful to Him. He will pay no attention to their outstretched hands or many prayers. W. E. Vine warns believers of the same danger today: Mere external religion is ever a cloak to cover iniquity. The Lord exposed all that in His strong denunciations in Matt. 23. The guilty combination in Judaism has largely developed in Christendom. The conscience of a believer may become so seared that a person can practise religion while yet living in sin. 1:16, 17 What they should do is wash themselves through repentance and forsaking of evil, then practice righteousness and social justice. 1:18-20 If they follow this line of divine reasoning, they will be cleansed from sins of deepest dye and enjoy the good things that God has provided for them. It is significant that the first chapter of the evangelical prophet, whose name means “the salvation of Jehovah,” should contain the winning gospel invitation: “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.“Divine reasoning, accepted by faith, teaches that there is cleansing from sin, that this cleansing is totally apart from human merit or effort, and that it is only through the redemption which the Lord Jesus accomplished by the shedding of His blood on the cross. Who can know the throngs who have answered the invitation of Isa_1:18? And it is still sounding out! But if the people refuse and rebel, then war and destruction await them. 1:21-23 Jerusalem is no longer a city of faithfulness, justice, and righteousness. It is now a harlot city, a refuge of murderers. Its best things have been corrupted and its princes are scoundrels. Bribery and injustice are everywhere. 1:24-31 Therefore, God will vent His wrath on all those who show by their sin that they are His enemies. His judgments will purge all impurity and restore Jerusalem to its former glory. His righteousness will insure the deliverance of those who repent. The Lord’s combined name, the LORD of hosts, insures the inevitability of the judgments described. But sinners will be destroyed. Idolaters will be ashamed of their shrines (terebinth trees and gardens). They themselves will be like a terebinth whose leaf fades and a parched garden that has no water. Leaders who rely on their own strength (the strong) will be like highly flammable tinder, ignited by the spark of their own wicked works.