Isaiah 1:2-21

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
“Children^a have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”

4 Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.

5 Why will you still be struck down?
Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
or softened with oil.

7 Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
foreigners devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a lodge in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.

9 If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching^b of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.

12 “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.

18 “Come now, let us reason^c 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 become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Another lesson I gave at church.

    In the first nine verses of this chapter we see how corrupt the people of Israel and of Judah had become.  Verse 6 describes it well.  Even from the sole of the foot to the head there was no soundness, or health.  The word translated "soundness" is metom, which is derived from the word tamam, which means finished.  There was no wholeness or completion of this body of Israel.  They were spiritually weak and decrepit.  Their souls were sickly and dying. 

    Isaiah can't understand why they will not repent.  They were a stiff-necked people, an adjective used throughout the Old Testament for this nation.  Despite the judgment God had been continually sending their way, they refused to turn from their evil ways.  They loved their sin more than their God and Father.  "Why will you be struck down?" he queries.  "Why will you continue to rebel?" 

    Verse 9 shows us the seriousness of the condition into which these nations had sunk.  He says, "If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.  Isaiah references Genesis 19 where the Lord destroyed the filth-ridden cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and allowed no survivors.  We see Israel called Sodom and/or Gomorrah throughout the Bible, especially in the book of Revelation.

    Verses 11-14 show us how God feels about hypocritical observance of rituals.  The Israelites thought that as long as they were keeping the feasts and sacrifices commanded by God, how they lived their lives didn't matter to God.  They misused and abused God's holy ceremonial system.  They went through the motions to justify their consciences.  It became so bad that God was disgusted by the very things He had commanded.  He hated the sacrifices, the feasts, the new moons, the Sabbaths, and the incense offered to Him because all these things were being done as an outward show.  He desires, as Jesus says in John 4:23, those who worship in spirit and in truth.  God desires those who will follow His rules for worship, but He also desires those who will do so with all of their hearts, souls, and minds. 

    Is our nation any better?  Is the Church in this nation any better than the Old Testament church?  Are we not spiritual invalids?  Have we not ignored the clear chastening hand of our Father?  Have we not preferred our sins to obedience?  Do we not go through the motions and judge those who fail to be as consistent in such religious observances?  Do we not deserve the wrath of God for our belligerent disobedience and our lukewarm faithfulness to the covenant of God?  I'm afraid all these charges are true, but hope is not lost.  Our God is perfectly just and righteous, but He is also perfectly merciful and gracious!  Praise Yahweh, that though our sins be as scarlet, they can be as white as snow!  Though our sins are red like crimson, they can be as white and pure as wool! 

    Verse 10 gives us the secret to this forgiveness.  "Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom!  Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!"  God has given us His Son, Jesus Christ, to cleanse us from all our sins!  He has given Christ as a Propitiation to cleanse us by His holy and innocent blood!  We must rest our hope in Christ for our salvation! 

    But that is not the end of the Gospel.  We must do as Paul says in Romans 6:18 and present our bodies as slaves of righteousness.  We must cease to do evil and learn to do good; we must seek justice and correct oppression; we must bring justice to the fatherless and plead the widows cause!  If we are willing and obedient we shall eat the good of the land.  If we refuse and rebel, we shall be eaten by the sword. 

    The Bible presents the Gospel as both an individual responsibility, with individual consequences, and as a corporate responsibility, with corporate consequences.  The Church in our day has overemphasized the individual side and ignored the corporate, national responsibility that we have to fear and obey God and to order our lives by His commands.  We need to proclaim the fact that Christ is King of the Universe right now and that all men, even government leaders, must bow the knee to Him.  We must direct our lives by our King's Laws, and work to see His name honored throughout our culture and society.  We must be constantly on our knees in prayer for the spiritual and political condition of our nation.