Verse 1.
“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.”
The first section of the Book of Isaiah (up to chapter 39) arises from a single vision. This vision, of course, concerned Judah over a period of some fifty years under the kings listed. Sadly, this was a period of general decline; heading down the path of sin and idolatry that would lead to destruction and captivity.
Let us look at the careers of the four kings listed above.
King Uzziah. Uzziah succeeded Amaziah who was assassinated. Uzziah was 16 years of age when he became king. He reigned for 52 years in Jerusalem. Uzziah took no action against pagan worship.
He did strengthen Judah militarily and financially, but pride took over. He transgressed against the Lord by entering the temple to burn incense on the altar. In so doing, he was confronted by the priests, but he did not repent. He was struck with leprosy till the end of his life.
King Jotham. Jotham was 23 years of age when he came to the throne, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. He also failed to act against pagan worship. Again, he concentrated on defence spending and military works.
King Ahaz. Ahaz was twenty years of age when he became king, but “… he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, his God.” He even made his son a human sacrifice by burning. He sacrificed and burned incense to pagan gods. This he did persistently “under every green tree.”
When Judah was attacked by Syria and Ephraim, Ahaz turned not to Adonai, but to Assyria for assistance. When Judah was apparently saved by Assyria, Ahaz went after Assyrian gods. When later Assyria refused to help him, he went after Syrian gods because Syria had defeated Judah in battle. He started to demolish the temple furniture. He went as far as closing the door of the temple.
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, inviting him to ask for a sign of Adonai’s mercy but he arrogantly refused. He would not trust Adonai even when his enemies surrounded him.
King Hezekiah. Ahaz was succeeded by his son, Hezekiah. He was twenty-five years of age when he became king. He reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. Hezekiah “… did right in the sight of the Lord.”
He removed the “high places” where pagan worship took place. He broke down the pagan sacred pillars; “he trusted in the Lord God of Israel.”
When Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked Judah, Hezekiah turned to the Lord and to the prophet, Isaiah. Isaiah had a positive message from Adonai. The angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian solders.
Isaiah later went to Hezekiah when he was dangerously ill. The Lord decided to extend Hezekiah’s life and Isaiah was sent to tell him.
Hezekiah ordered the cleansing of the temple. He restored temple worship. He kept the Passover and got the people to support the priesthood by bringing offerings.
Sadly, Hezekiah was succeeded by the evil king, Manasseh. Manasseh reversed the reforms of Hezekiah. Thus, he confirmed the path to Babylonian captivity of which Isaih warned.
Verse 2.
“Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.”
The prophet introduces the words of Adonai which are recorded. Adonai invites the entire universe to hear as He lists His complaint against Judah.
Adonai states first how he has cared for the people and protected them. He is experiencing anger and frustration at their response to His loving care. He had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. He had nourished them in the desert. He had provided them with the rules for godly living. He had guaranteed their control of the promised land.
His relationship with Judah is a close and personal one; they are His “children”. But they have become rebellious. They are refusing to follow the law and submit to His authority. Therefore, Judah and Jerusalem are on trial.
Let us look more clearly at this parent-child relationship between Adonai and Judah.
Isaiah 63: 8 and 9.
“For He said, “Surely they are My people, children who will not lie.” So He became their Saviour. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; in His love and His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old.”
And in Egypt, He claimed them as His own.
Exodus 4: 22 and 23.
“Then you (Moses) shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me.”
Hosea 11: 1
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”
Despite Adonai’s love and care for Israel, they had failed to give Him the loving obedience which is His due.
Adonai always intended Israel to be a channel of blessing to the nations.
Genesis 12: 3.
“And in you (Abram) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
But instead of being a light to the Gentiles, Adonai must call on the nations to look on Israel’s shame. Nevertheless, they remain His “children”. The physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are His chosen people despite their disobedience.
Genesis 18: 19.
“For I have known him (Abraham), in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
We will go on to see what Adonai has against Judah. But look out for the following: – rebellion, abandoning Adonai, corruption, violence, injustice and religious apostasy.
Verse 3.
“The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”
What does Israel not know? It does not know its God.
Here we have very biting criticism of Judah. Even dumb animals (the ox and the donkey) have the sense to know who feeds them and takes care of them. They don’t rebel!
But the people of Judah are not thinking about what Adonai has done for them. If they were, they would recognise that their rebellion was incomprehensible and inexcusable.
Dumb animals appear to have more powers of reasoning than Adonai’s people who break fellowship with Him. They fail to show the natural gratitude and devotion that one could expect from a domestic animal.
Verse 4.
“Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.”
Here we have Adonai’s verdict on Judah; it is a “sinful nation”. In scripture the term “iniquity” refers to the vilest form of sin and Judah is over-burdened with it. Not only are they corrupt but they are “corrupters” of others.
They have turned their backs on the “Holy One of Israel” and have tried Him grievously.
The term “Holy One of Israel” is Isaiah’s favourite title for Adonai. He uses it 25 times, as well as using the terms “Holy One” and “Holy One of Jacob”. This term is only used six other times throughout the Old Testament.
Adonai is “holy” because He is profoundly different from humanity. He is completely faithful and righteous. He maintains His relationship with Israel.
Isaiah 40: 25.
““To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.”
Adonai alone is the Creator-God.
Isaiah 45: 12.
“I have made the earth, and created man on it. I – My hands – stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.”
It is foolish to turn one’s back on One so powerful. He also protects the faithful.
Isaiah 10: 20.
“And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped from the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated him, but will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.”
Isaiah 43: 2.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you: and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”
And why can the people depend on Adonai.
Isaiah 43: 3.
“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour…”
Verse 5.
“Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart fails.”
Judah is already in trouble because of their rebellion against Adonai. Further punishment and chastisement as a warning would not do any good. They would respond irrationally and continue in an all-the-more determined manner.
Such action would only make them more irrational; the whole head is sick”. The situation is intractable. They are not motivated to change; “the whole heart faints”.
Verse 6.
“From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment”.
Isaiah compares the nation to a badly wounded soldier. However, His wounds have not been bound up or soothed with ointment. The whole country (everyone and everything) is vulnerable and in a mess. All because of their disobedience. But they have not got the message!
The wounds have not been treated because of their refusal to respect Adonai. His chastening is not working.
Verse 7.
“Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.”
This is in fact future events described as though they had actually happened. Babylonia had not yet made Judah “desolate”. They would of course do this by invading and bringing fire and destruction.
Verses 7, 8 and 9, all deal with future destruction but verse 9 introduces the idea of a remnant.
Verse 8.
“So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.”
The “daughter of Zion” is Adonai’s affectionate name for Jerusalem. The phrase occurs twenty-eight times in the Old Testament and six times in Isaiah. It is a personification of Jerusalem, standing for all of Judah.
Isaiah is still seeing future, disastrous events for Jerusalem. The great city will be reduced to a broken-down, pitiful garden shed; the sort of shelter used by farmers and watchmen during the harvest.
The sorry state of Jerusalem will be the result of the city being besieged, leading to destruction.
Verse 9.
“Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”
The term “Lord of hosts” describes Adonai as the ruler over all powers in heaven and on earth, through His command of His angelic armies. The term speaks of Adonai’s holiness and sovereignty. It is therefore another of Isaiah’s favourite title of Yahweh. Though Adonai will punish His sinful people, there will, as always, be the presence of a “remnant” (i.e. survivors).
If Adonai had not preserved a remnant, the destruction would have been total (as with Sodom and Gomorrah). But with Israel we can see examples of Adonai’s angels in action.
2 Kings 19: 35 and 36.
“And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when the people arose early in the morning, they were all corpses – all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Ninevah.”
The “small remnant” remains so that Adonai can be faithful to the promise He made to Abraham.
Genesis 22: 15 – 18.
“Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son – blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
No remnant, no Messiah!
Isaiah 6: 13.
“But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.”
There is a great future for this important remnant.
Isaiah 10: 20.
“And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated him, but will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.”
Verse 10.
“Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.”
Sodom and Gomorrah were the epitome of depravity, evil and sinfulness.
Genesis 19: 13.
“For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
To say that Judah has become like these Canaanite cities is the most scathing condemnation. Their names are used as symbols of Adonai’s judgment on sinners (2 Peter 2: 4 – 8).
Adonai rained brimstone and fire on these cities. Had Adonai not intervened in Judah, He would have judged His people in the same way leading to complete destruction. But instead, He left a “small remnant”.
The people and rulers of Judah should “give ear to the law of the Lord” i.e., they should pay careful attention to the statutes of Adonai. The accusation against Judah is religious apostasy of the most serious kind.
Verse 11.
“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the Lord. “I have had enough of burned offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.”
Verse 11 commences the second aspect of the Lord’s invitation to repent. He utters this scathing indictment and His rejection of the people’s external, formalistic worship.
Adonai desires “sacrifices” but not from people who disobey Him and mistreat others. This remains the situation even if the beast offered is the best of the flock.
We see the same idea in Samuel who compares rebellion to witchcraft and stubbornness to iniquity and idolatry.
1 Samuel 15: 22 – 23.
“So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
The Lord Yeshua condemned the same attitude.
Matthew 23: 23.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
Adonai judges not only outward pious acts but more importantly, the attitude of the heart.
1 Corinthians 4: 5.
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”
Verse 12.
“When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts?”
Instead of welcoming these worshippers, Adonai is clearly angry and annoyed by people coming with inappropriate sacrifices because of the wrong attitude. This is ritual without reality.
As long as the people were living sinful lives, their attendance at the temple services was an insult: “trampling” His courts i.e., making a mess for no good reason!
Verse 13.
“Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.”
The presence of those with the wrong attitude is an insult. Their presence in the temple and their sacrifices and observance of festival, serve no purpose because of the attitude with which they bring them. The sacrifices are “futile” because they continue to sin (“iniquity” represents the most evil of sin) and they do not celebrate out of love for Adonai.
Better no worship, than insincere worship by sinful people!
Verse 14.
“Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I weary of bearing them.”
Adonai repeats His view of their observances of the ordinances given through Moses. This repetition can only be for the purpose of emphasis.
These are “Your” New Moons etc. not the Lord’s. For the people have changed the spirit of Adonai’s ceremonial laws from an expression of love for Him, to an attempted manipulation of Him.
Adonai’s attitude to the people practices: “My soul hates”. This is a very powerful expression of the Lord’ total aversion towards hypocritical religion.
We can note elsewhere other traits that evoke the same powerful response from Adonai: robbery for burnt offerings (Isaiah 61:8); the worship of other gods (Jeremiah 44: 3); false oaths (Zechariah 8: 17); divorce for improper reasons (Malachi 2: 16) and the person who loves violence (Psalm 11: 5).
Verse 15.
“When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.”
The spreading out of hands is an outward appearance of prayer; a sign of submission to the will of Adonai. But the actions of these people are entirely false. Their violent actions (violence being something Adonai “hates”) deny their apparent submission.
Adonai will not hear the prayers of those who oppress others.
James 4: 3.
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
Verses 16 and 17.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
Here we have Adonai’s call for repentance. Stop what you are doing forthwith!
The people must “wash themselves”. But how are they to do it. Specific actions are required: “put away evil”, “learn to do good”, “seek justice”, “rebuke the oppressor”, “defend” the vulnerable in society.
The accusations against Judah are injustice and indifference to others. The evil has been “before My eyes”; everything has been done in Adonai’s sight.
The emptiness of Judah’s ritualistic worship was the result of the presence of evil works and the absence of good works.
To aid the fatherless and the widow are illustrative of good works; deeds done on behalf of those most in need.
James 1: 27.
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
Deuteronomy 10: 17 – 19.
“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the Great God, mighty and awesome … He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.”
Verse 18.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Here Adonai demonstrates His gracious desire to save.
Adonai invites His people to come so that they can “reason together” with Him. This invitation to a “conference” from the Most High demonstrates a gracious willingness to enter into discussion with people who had failed to respond to His chastisement. This is unambiguous evidence of His love.
But these discussions are not about coming to some kind of compromise. What is offered to the people is to listen, reason and see that Adonai is right concerning the enormity of their sin.
It should be noted that the form of the verb used here is “says the Lord” not “said”. This suggests an ongoing process; an open offer.
Adonai is not declaring the people innocent or free from guilt, but He is prepared to pardon their sin if they repent and turn to Him.
That their sin is “scarlet” or “crimson”, reflects the picture of verse 15 of “hands full of blood”; extreme iniquity and perversity.
Isaiah 59: 3.
“For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity.”
The offer of forgiveness through repentance is the same offer that Adonai has made through the Lord Yeshua. Divine reasoning, accepted by faith, teaches that cleansing from sin is totally apart from human merit or effort. It is only available through that which the Lord Yeshua accomplished by the shedding of His blood on the cross.
Romans 3: 21 – 26.
“… being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as the propitiation by His blood, through faith …”
Verse 19.
“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;”
Adonai can wash sins away sins and give blessing to the repentant.
The prophet (on behalf of Adonai) gives the people the same choice which Adonai gave in Deuteronomy 28 i.e., the choice between blessing or curse.
Deuteronomy 28: 9 – 11.
“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to himself, just as He has sworn to you. If you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.”
Verse 20.
““But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
If the people refused to repent and continued in disobedience, they would not reap the benefits of the land but would become victims to foreign oppressors; instead of eating well, they would be “devoured” i.e., killed by the swords of conquering powers.
Deuteronomy 28: 63 – 65.
“And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked off from the land which you go to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you or your fathers have known – wood and stone. And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.”