Articles
Isaiah One
Isaiah One
The opening chapter of Isaiah sets before us the situation that Isaiah was facing with the children of Israel. Though God had 'raised them as children' they rebelled against the LORD. They refused to understand His ways. They were a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They despised God and hence were utterly estranged from the LORD. (Isa. 1:2-4).
God had disciplined and chastised their unfaithfulness time and again by raising up foreign nations who punished them by overrunning their country and devouring their land (vs. 7). There was the long story of this type of repeated punishment in the book of Judges. The writer of Chronicles continually mentions their unfaithfulness to the LORD as the cause of various defeats and losses in battle. Their country was said to 'lie desolate and their cities were burned' (vs. 7). Instead of a powerful nation they were like a shack in a cucumber field (a small, simple booth used to shade the worker temporarily). In a final analogy of their wickedness they are called Sodom and Gomorrah!
Interestingly enough, as evil as they were they were still RELIGIOUS! Not only that, but they believed their being religious made them right with God even while they engaged in such evil. They continually appeared before the LORD (an OT expression for worship). They offered time and again multitudes of sacrifices and offerings. They kept the Sabbaths, the New Moon, the holy convocations and the appointed feasts. The problem is the mixing of such religious practice with inequity! God declares: "I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly". God refuses such worship when it is offered by people laden with iniquity. God declared that "When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen" (vs. 15).
Even when they had sunk this low and were rejected by the LORD, He offered them mercy and forgiveness. It is incredible how kind, merciful, and gracious the LORD is. This would not come 'automatically' nor without conditions of change on their part. God demanded: "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause" (vs. 16-17). If they would return to God they could have their 'scarlet sins' washed 'white as snow' (18).
Thus God sat before them yet again a choice. As He had done earlier, He sat before them 'life and death' (Deut. 30:15, 19; Jer. 21:8). God declares: "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land" (19). He also warns them that "if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (20).
In spite of God's pleading and the prophet's impassioned preaching, they chose SIN and REBELLION and were destroyed. Israel in the north was destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.. God means what He says, says what He means, and does what He says He will do.
What a lesson for US. We need to realize that 'religion without godliness' is despised and rejected of God. Worship must be offered with pure hands and a godly heart. We also need to know that regardless of how low we have sunk into sin we CAN return to God and find forgiveness. We must return to Him through repentance that is produced by a broken and contrite heart. As Peter wrote: the Lord is "not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance"(2 Peter 3:9).
