Beginning with the reign of the Judean king Uzziah, a prophet is called to bring the message of YHWH to Judah.
Isaiah 1:1, Introduction
The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Uzziah (Azariah) began his reign about 783 BC at the age of 16. (See this Wikipedia page.) Isaiah probably bdgins his ministry around 745 BC. Motyer argues that the word translated "vision" can also mean "truth" or "revelation".
Amoz, Isaiah's father, is not the Old Testament prophet Amos. Although both lived in the 8th Century BC, the words (Amots, Amos) are substrantially different in Hebrew.
Isaiah 1: 2-4, A disobedient nation
Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
The animals turn to their master and know where food and home are, but Israel does not. It has spurned the One Who created them.
This passage opens the book with the message that is not only central to the book but to most of the prophesies of ancient Israel. Grogan points out that verse four includes a "rich Hebrew vocabulary" for the rebellion of Israel. The words are translated by the NIV as "sinful", "guilt", "evildoers", "corruption", "forsaken", "spurned", "turned their backs." The poetic drumbeat of these words magnifies Isaiah's charge.
Isaiah 1:5-7, Desolation
Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with olive oil.
Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
Foreigners raid the fields and pillage the towns. The country is in pain like one covered in wounds and open sores.
Isaiah 1:8-10 Like Sodom and Gomorrah
Daughter Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
Isaiah (Zion) is under siege. It has almost been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 19), indeed, Israel might as well take up those names! In the New Testament, in Matthew 11: 20-24, Jesus gives a similar warning; there are cities as decadent and stubborn as Sodom and Gomorrah! The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans (Romans 9: 29) quotes this last verse.
Isaiah 1:11-14, Empty religion
“The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
The rituals of religion are empty and useless. Although Karl Marx's claim that "religion ... is the opium of the people" is certainly not based on Isaiah, this passage attacks empty rituals that people use to feel comfortable, unaware that there is a real God observing them. Rituals without true worship are a burden to God!
This passage is consistent with Psalm 51: 16-17; God really wants the sacrifices to accompany a broken and contrite heart
Isaiah 1:15-17, Spreading out hands full of blood
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
Hands lifted up in prayer are meaningless if they are full of blood due to evil deeds. Instead Israel is to seek just and defend the vulnerable.
Isaiah 1:18-20, Let us reason together
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
God calls Israel to sit down and think about their actions and return to Him.
Isaiah 1:21-23, Once full of justice...
See how the faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She once was full of justice;
righteousness used to dwell in her—
but now murderers!
Your silver has become dross,
your choice wine is diluted with water.
Your rulers are rebels,
partners with thieves;
they all love bribes
and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
the widow’s case does not come before them.
The list of sins build up; Israel acts like a prostitute, focusing on riches, bribes, gifts while ignoring the fatherless and the widow. Riches such as silver and special wine will be destroyed. The older prophet, Hosea, equated the northern kingdom's idolatry with prostitution.
Isaiah 1: 24-26, Restoration
Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.
I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.
I will restore your leaders as in days of old,
your rulers as at the beginning.
A time is coming when Israel will be restored, its impurities removed. (In context, the phrase translated "I will turn my hand against you" is a move to begin restoration.)
Isaiah 1: 27, A City of Righteousness
Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.”
Zion will be delivered with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.
When the Mighty One of Israel begins His restoration, Jerusalem will become a visible City of Righteousness, a place of faithfulness and justice! The dramatic upswing of verse 26, above, finishes with a strong statement of future purpose.
Isaiah 1: 28-31, Sacred oaks decay
But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the Lord will perish.
“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
that you have chosen.
You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
like a garden without water.
The mighty man will become tinder
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the fire.”
This promised restoration will destroy rebels and sinners. It will destroy the sacred oaks where people worshiped idols. It will destroy their beautiful gardens. Mighty men will end up creating sparks that burn down all their work.
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