THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD, chapters 1 - 39
PART ONE: GOD'S COMPLAINT AGAINST JUDAH AND JERUSALEM (1-12)
I. JUDAH IS A SINFUL NATION WHICH HAS FORSAKEN THE LORD (1:1-31)
A. Judah Is Spiritually Sick From Head To Foot (1:1-9)
(1) The name Isaiah means "Jehovah is salvation," which summarizes his entire message to the people. His primary focus will be towards Judah, especially Jerusalem. His message was delivered under the reigns of four kings of Judah, three whom were good, one who was evil (Ahaz).
(2) The significance of calling heaven and earth to witness was explained by Moses (Deut. 31:28,29). The people had caused a breach in their child/Father relationship with God.
(3) Even animals as ignorant as the ox and the donkey know the blessings provided by their masters, why doesn't Israel understand their blessings are provided by their Master?
(4) The nation is full of iniquity and a breeding ground for evil. While they have forsaken Jehovah, He has not forsaken them. They have degenerated to the point of alienation from God.
(5) The sickness of the nation encompasses both the head (the seat of the intellect) and the heart (the seat of the emotions). The only way to cure the heart is to first cure the head through the knowledge of goodness and truth.
(6) The people have taken no steps to heal themselves, but instead allowed their condition to fester and grow continually more putrid.
(7-9) Isaiah now turns from their spiritual state to their physical state. Desolation was everywhere. Foreigners had stolen their food, fires had burned their cities (Micah 6:13-16). Yet, God would spare a remnant from the captivity (10:20-21) as a sign of the remnant to be saved by the Messiah (Rom. 9:29; 11:5). Jehovah will bring about the salvation of the redeemed of every age ­ but the redeemed will only comprise a remnant, not the whole.
B. Form Worship Will Not Purchase God's Favor (1:10-15)
(10-13) Isaiah calls upon the people to hear the Word of the Lord and repent. Worship and sacrifices mean nothing to God if they are insincere and hypocritical. Such activity in the name of worship is vain and loathsome to God. False worshipers always try to hide behind formalism, but God says He cannot stomach such behavior!
(14) The festivals were also being desecrated. This would include the three annual solemn assemblies: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. God hated the way these festivals were being kept, not the festivals themselves (Amos 5:21-23).
(15) Their hands were full of blood because they were murderers. God would not see their acts of contrition, nor hear their spoken prayers because of their social crimes.
C. The Lord Offers A Tender Call To Repentance (1:16-20)
(16) Real repentance will lead to a change of life. Three commands are issued to insure that the people can participate in acceptable worship and fellowship with God: 1, Wash you, make you clean ... to be taken in the spiritual sense. 2, Put away the evil of your doings... such as idolatry and hypocritical worship. 3, Cease to do evil... including all immorality.
(17) Five positive demands concerning ethics and social interaction: 1, Learn to do well. Man must be taught what is right. 2, Seek justice in all things. 3, Relieve the oppressed from a corrupt judicial system. 4, Judge the fatherless, 5, Plead for the widow ­ those without fathers or husbands should be safeguarded by the courts.
(18) Come, let us reason together... or reach an adjustment, or settle our differences. Here God is offering pardon to His people no matter how deeply they are stained with sins.
(19,20) However, this promise is conditional upon their willingness to comply and obey. Be obedient and eat; rebel and be eaten.
D. Tragic Judgment Will Come to Those Who Reject God's Call (1:21-31)
(21) Moses predicted this harlot-like behavior (Deut. 31:16), and Hosea confirmed it (Hos. 9:1). Justice ; fair, equitable decisions from a judicial branch of government. Righteousness ; conformity to an ethical and moral standard. Both of these attributes had been perverted by the people.
(22) Silver, a symbol of purity and wine, a symbol of a cheerful heart had both been diluted to the point of worthlessness.
(23) Returning again from symbol to reality the prophet condemns the leaders for their rebellion against God. They refused to help the helpless because there was no gain to be had from it.
(24) Judgment will be brought on all who remain hostile towards the Mighty One of Israel, Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.
(25) The apostate people will be purged from the ranks of the chosen.
(26) Once this is accomplished, righteous judges and counselors will be restored and Jerusalem will once again be called The City of righteousness.
(27) From this purging process will emerge a new spiritual Israel. The redemption of this Israel will come by the very justice and righteousness that the old Israel had rejected.
(28) In addition to the hypocrites, the idolaters will also be consumed in the fire of judgment.
(29) Those who practice idolatry will come to realize the folly of their beliefs. The terebinth (oak) represent the idols that were made from them. The gardens that had been set aside for heathen worship will eventually be the cause of shame for those who participated in idolatry there.
(30) The idolaters will become as the oaks and the gardens - dead.
(31) The so-called strong will be brought down with the works of their hands (idols). Nothing could stand in the way of the decree of Jehovah.
This chapter has presented a summary of the entire book: the themes of idolatry, the sins of the rulers and the people, corruption in all areas of social life, and Jehovah's responses; condemnation, judgment, and destruction, as well as exhortation, and provisions for redemption and salvation.