Isaiah 1:1

The Bible says in Isaiah 1:1-4, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.” The book of Isaiah is the longest book in the Old Testament. One reason for this length is because it was written during “the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years. Jotham and Ahaz reigned for sixteen years each, and Hezekiah reigned for twenty-nine years. The book of Isaiah is also one of the three Old Testament books that are quoted the most in the New Testament. These two facts make the book of Isaiah a very important book to study. Of course, every book of the Bible is good to study because every book is part of the Word of God. That is why this book starts with the phrase “the vision of Isaiah.” It is called a vision because Isaiah was allowed to “see” things from God that otherwise he would not have known. As it says in Second Peter 1:21, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 1:2 concerning his words, “the LORD hath spoken.” The reason that we have the Bible is so that we can know the words of God. “The Lord hath spoken.” Therefore, it is important for every person to know these words. That is why the Bible says in Luke 4:4, “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

The vision that was given to Isaiah here in Isaiah chapter one was “concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” One would think that such a vision would be a very positive message, because we are talking about God’s people. We are talking about the people who inherited the land of Canaan because of the great promises that were made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob back in the book of Genesis. Because of all the great things that God had done for the children of Israel, these people should have been faithfully serving the Lord during all those years that had passed since God delivered them out of the land of Egypt. But that was not the case. The Word of God was given to Isaiah in order to tell the people of God about their great sinfulness, and about their failures, and about how much they had turned away from God. God said in Isaiah 1:3-4, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.”

Did God properly nourish and bring up His children? Of course, He did. Did God’s children rebel against Him? Yes, they did. God said, “I have nourished and brought up children.” But no matter how well anyone brings up children, there is always the possibility that the children will rebel against the parents. That is exactly what happened to God when He brought up these children. God said about His children whom He had nourished and brought up, “they have rebelled against me.” Seeing that children can rebel against the parent no matter how good of a job the parent does; and seeing that God, who is perfect, can have His own children rebel against Him, we must be careful how we translate Proverbs 22:6 which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” This verse assumes that the child is properly following the instructions that the parent gave to him or her.

Because of the rebellion of children given in Isaiah chapter one, and because of other Bible teachings clearly given in God’s Word, Proverbs 22:6 cannot possibility mean that when a parent trains a child correctly that child will definitely end up being the spiritual person he or she should be. First of all, we must not forget that every person is a free moral agent. As Joshua said, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” For example, it says in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Every single person on this earth makes their own choice regarding whom they will serve. Every person makes this choice no matter who their parents are. Every person makes this choice no matter how their parents brought them up. That is why some children who were brought up well turned out badly; and some children who were brought up badly turned out very well relatively speaking. Every person is a free moral agent, and every person makes their own choice. You cannot blame anyone for what you have done or for what you have chosen. You can only blame yourself. You cannot blame any parent for what their grown child has done or has chosen. You can only blame the grown child. All adults are responsible and accountable for their own choices.

God became angry with the children of Israel. God said, “they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger.” God called Himself “the Holy One.” His name emphasizes His holiness, and His name explains to us very clearly why He was angry. He was angry because the children of Israel were not holy. They had become more and more sinful instead of becoming more and more holy. They went down the wrong path. The type of people that they had become was very terrible. God described them and said, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.” If you are a believer, never forget that God’s will for you is that you become a holy person. God does not wink at the sin of His children. He does not let sin go unnoticed. God is the Judge of the whole earth, and His judgment begins with His people. The Bible says to Christians in Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” It also says in the New Testament in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 1:5-8, “Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.” It is interesting that these verses speak of sin as if it were a sickness. God said to the children of Israel, “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” Because of sin, the entire land of Israel had suffered. Concerning the whole country, God said, “Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.” Sin corrupts, sin ruins, and sin destroys. One of the reasons that it is always best to do the right thing and to pursue righteousness is because of the good results of righteousness. In the long run sinfulness brings ruin and sorrow; but righteousness brings success and happiness. The Bible says about the Messiah in Psalms 45:7, “Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” It also says in Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

When God said to Israel in Isaiah 1:8, “And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city,” God was pointing out how small and insignificant Israel had become as a country. God’s original plan was for Israel to become the greatest country on the earth. This will eventually happen when Jesus returns and establishes the Kingdom of God on the earth, but it could have happened even with Israel and Judah in the days of Isaiah. The reason that it did not happen was because of the sins of the people. Sin destroys. Sin tears down. Sin keeps us from accomplishing through Christ all of the things that God wanted us to be able to accomplish when we were first saved through faith in Christ.

The Bible says in Isaiah 1:9-14, “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.” Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities that were totally destroyed by God because of the great sinfulness of those cities. Sodom and Gomorrah even in our day are known as the most wicked cities that ever existed on this earth. What a shame that the children of Israel had to be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. If God looks at your city or your country, and it reminds Him of Sodom and Gomorrah, then you know that judgment is coming. It may take a while for the judgment to come because God is long-suffering; but the judgment will come. With all of the violence and the immorality that exists around us, is our society becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah? Since Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry are constantly presenting women, men, and children as sex objects, it does appear that our society is becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. Society has thrown away decency and the ideal family situation that we should all strive for. Can you contemplate what God thinks about this?

Concerning the children of Israel during the days of Isaiah, something that is important to notice is that these people continued with their organized religious activities. They still had a “multitude” of sacrifices. Of course, the sacrifices were important because Jesus would eventually come to be the ultimate sacrifice. However their sacrifices were of no value because the people performing them were full of un-repented sin. God said to the children of Israel, “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.” The word “oblation” means “gift” or “offering.” With sin in their hearts, these children of Israel were presenting offerings to God. But God called them “vain” oblations. The gifts that were given to God were of no value because of the sin in the hearts of the people. Repentance and sorrow for sin is important. Jesus taught about two men who prayed, but only one of them (the publican) was right before God. The other man (the Pharisee) was religious, but lost. Jesus said in Luke 18:10-14, “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Make sure you always come before Jesus with a humble heart, aware of your own sins, and repenting of those sins.

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