Isaiah
Chapter One, Lesson Two
1:7-31
We continue our discussion today with the remainder of the introductory vision
of Isaiah. First of all, I want you to have an overview of the situation.
Israel is in trouble, vs. 7-9
They are very religious, vs. 10-15
But they are also very wicked, vs. 16-23
They are called and invited to repent, vs. 16-18
They are warned of the consequences of failing to repent, vs. 19, 20
The Lord is determined to exercise His Sovereign Will over them, 24-31
He will take vengeance on His enemies, 24, 28-31
He will also Sovereignly rescue His own people, 24-27
I. Israel in Trouble, 7-9
So far as we know this does not describe the physical condition of Judah at the time of Isaiah. As we saw in the last message, there were three good kings with a rotten one thrown in the middle. So we must look at these comments as something other than directly literal and physical.
A. First of all, the words describe their spiritual condition, especially during the days of Ahaz.
Where once there was great spiritual fruit as Israel followed the Lord, there is now spiritual desolation as if the cities had been burned and invaders had taken all their produce. They are like a vineyard and a cucumber garden that has been abandoned by those who cared for them. The plant and the garden is still there but the fruit is spoiled and the weeds threaten to overwhelm them.
This is the way that God sees His vineyard when His husbandmen abandon their tasks of tending to His field and when the fruit that He has sown is not being reaped due to the faithlessness of His laborers.
Just as the farmers must continually labor to keep back the weeds, the wild animals and all that would ruin the crop, so must the children of God labor to keep back compromise, faithlessness and general spiritual laziness. I wonder how a prophet such as Isaiah would describe your life and mine?
B. Secondly, the words describe their future if they refuse to heed the words of the prophet.
Moses had plainly declared to them what would become of them if they fell into sin and refused to repent, Lev 26:14-33.
The same sorts of threats are found in Deut. 28. So all this that is threatened and all this that Isaiah sees are real and physical possibilities and consequences of Judah continues in rebellion and the refusal to hear the Lord.
II. The problem was not a lack of religion, for God complains against their religion, vs. 10-14.
The rams, bullocks, lambs and goats were still being offered in the temple. We know from this that he is not writing this during the reign of Ahaz, who closed the temple. And God asks them an odd question.
Isa 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? KJV
The answer, of course, is that God Himself had required these things in the giving of the Law through Moses. But He had not commanded them to come like they were coming, with the outward form but with inward rebellion.
He is a principle which men must not miss. To come before the Lord even with a correct form of worship but, at the same time, with rebellion and mischief in the heart cannot be considered as doing Him service. In fact, He describes Himself as mystified at what a person is doing, since He never gave any instructions to be worshiped in this way.
In fact, He commands them to stop because such worship is totally and completely revolting to Him, He cannot bear it, it is troublesome to Him, and He hates it from the depth of His being.
He promises to do exactly the opposite of what men anticipate.
Isa 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. KJV
Imagine coming to pray before God and have Him consciously and with revulsion turn away!! God refuses to accept worship which comes from a heart not given over to Him in moral and spiritual obedience.
The greatest insult that can be done to God is to use His given means of worship in a hypocritical way. No wonder Jesus so roundly denounced the Pharisees in Matt. 23. This is also the reason that He drove the moneychangers from the temple. His Father's house was to be a place of prayer, of worship, repentance and devotion and these had turned it into a marketplace where people were cheated and robbed of their money. To take the money of the people of God under false pretenses is to become a thief.
III. Not only were these Jews very religious, but they were very wicked and unrepentantly so, vs.16-23.
Murder, graft and greed ruled the day. The orphans and widows were neglected and their needs unmet. In a figure, the silver had become the dross and the wine diluted with water. These two images describe a moral condition that had deteriorated so as to come under the judgment of God.
Silver is prized and pure silver the most. In the processing of silver, the ore is melted at a specific temperature where the silver will become liquid but not the impurities in the silver. The impurities, called 'dross' float on the top and are skimmed away. It is useless and without value. This is God's view of the moral condition of Israel. Righteousness (silver) had been replaced with dross (wickedness).
Wine was also greatly prized, especially in its pure form. But unscrupulous merchants would mix water in to inflate the volume and increase their profits. When and unrepentant attitude is added to the worship of God, the whole thing becomes polluted and worthless. So the Lord views Judah's faithlessness.
IV. God makes an earnest call and invitation to His people to repent, vs. 16-18.
'Wash you, make you clean.' In this image sin is seen as filth which one acquires on his body through daily living. To wash wickedness away, one must put it away from himself, repent of it, turn from it. This is the image that is preserved in Christian baptism, which does not actually wash the sins away but does picture that washing.
But putting away evil is only half of the picture for true repentance also involves taking up the doing of righteousness, v.17. Specific things are mentioned which were hallmarks of the wickedness of Judah. 'Relieve the oppressed, judge (provide justice for) the orphan, plead (take up the cause before the authorities) for the widow.'
We are always judged by our care (or lack thereof) for those who cannot help themselves. Selfishly ignoring them is a great evil in the eyes of God.
The Lord calls out to His people to be reasonable, to reason with Him concerning their sins and promises to forgive and cleanse them if they will but repent. Here is an issue at which preachers and churches often fail in my opinion. It seems that repentance is taught as a thing which descends upon a person from heaven without any intellectual involvement on the part of the person who receives it. But in reality biblical repentance comes through sincere and careful thought, a reasoning process with God which is, of course, helped along by God's Spirit. We ought to challenge people to think of the reasonableness of repentance and faith and the unreasonableness of remaining in sin and rebellion against God.
God's invitation is a real and gentle as His threats are sincere and frightening. The specter of falling under His judgment is held up as a motivation to accept His kind offer of forgiveness.
V. The advantages of accepting God's invitation and the consequences of refusing to repent are that which makes such refusal unreasonable, vs. 19,20.
'Eating the good of the land' is a metaphor for that which God will give to the repentant soul. He cannot be seen here as attempting to bribe men to repent by offering them money, lands, food, and possessions. The words themselves speak of living comfortably and well with all needs met. They are a special contrast to the threatened devastation of the land which Judah was to experience.
But the blessings of God's forgiveness go much further than physical well-being and certainly not everyone who repents then lives a comfortable life. 'The good of the land' must be seen as all those spiritual and emotional blessings which the repentant receive from Him.
It is therefore most reasonable to accept the invitation of God and it is unwise to refuse Him.
VI. The Lord is determined to exercise His Sovereign Will over Judah.
A. He will take vengeance on His enemies, 24, 28-31
Isa 1:28
The "rebellious" were those who had both inwardly and outwardly broken away from Jehovah; "sinners," those who were living in open sins; and "those who forsake Jehovah," such as had become estranged from God in either of these ways. (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Then the Lord takes up an allegory based in the practices of false worship in Israel.
Isa 57:5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? KJV
Isa 65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; KJV
Isa 66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. KJV
Since they love to worship idols under the trees, He will make Israel like a dead tree, one whose leaves fade and die. Since they love the gardens of idolatry, He will make them like a garden with not water, fruitless, dead and forsaken.
God is able always to make the punishment fit the crime.
B. He will also Sovereignly rescue His own people, 24-27
Isa 1:25-27
25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellers as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. KJV
To secure and preserve His people, God puts His hand upon them to cleanse them and take away their impurities. He does it (1) by judging the wicked and removing them from among His people, and (2) by granting His people the presence of mind to seek His face and repent of their sins. Thus He takes away the 'dross' of the nation and the 'tin' of the souls, redeeming Zion (His people) but still in righteousness and according to His justice. He reminds us that all sin must be accounted for.
Conclusion
This text points us in several directions, all related to one another. Our spiritual condition, when viewed through the eyes of God, may be much worse than we think that it is. If it in any way resembles that of Judah during the days of Isaiah, religious activity will not solve the problem. Religious activity done from an unrepentant heart, be it ever so doctrinally correct, is repugnant to Him and rejected by Him. His invitation is to reasonably consider the problem. Continued rebellion will bring judgment while repentance and obedience will be rewarded by Him with blessing. Yet He alone must grant and send that repentance. May we seek Him for His grace to correct our lives and heal our souls.