Isaiah: Scope and Sequence
Today we
begin the book of my absolute favorite major prophet. Isaiah’s writings focus so much on living
among a people who are “deaf” and “blind” and who will not bend an ear to hear
the Lord. Isaiah’s words speak so much
towards the anticipation of the Messiah who will make God’s plan make
sense. Isaiah’s words even propel us
into a new and glorious understanding of what life is about while we anticipate
this Messiah and what God is doing through Him.
I am absolutely excited to start this book – although I am not going to
pull any punches. There are passages and
chapters in this book that are dark and bleak.
Isaiah’s such a great prophet to study in wintertime because the
contrasts between the bleakness around us and the hope we have in God is ever-present!
Isaiah was
a prophet to Judah prior to their trip into exile. Isaiah knew the trend that the nation was on,
and it brought incredible sorrow to watch them abandon their God in preparation
for quite literally being consumed by the nations of this world.
What I
love about Isaiah is how he lived out his faith. Perhaps the best example of this is Isaiah’s
own family. Isaiah had two sons. One was Shear-jashub (Isaiah 7:3). That name literally translates to “a remnant
shall return.” The other son was named
Maher-balal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:3). This
name means “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens.” If that isn’t a prophetic name for a kingdom
with multiple enemies looming over it I don’t know what is!
Tradition
has it that Isaiah ministered as a prophet for 58 or more years. He is believed to have written the biography
of King Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles. He was
a prophet during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and
Manasseh. It is also believed that
Manasseh had Isaiah killed – which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Manasseh did some pretty horrible things in
his early years of being a king. But I
digress from the topic of this blog. On
with Isaiah 1!
The Opening Image of Isaiah
I cannot
help but cringe at the opening images of this book. I wince as I hear God talk
about the children that He has raised – and the rebellion that they
pursue. I shutter as God asks them why
it is that the donkeys and the oxen know their master but the people of Judah
and Jerusalem cannot know their God? Of
course, then I also examine my own life under those criteria and wonder just
who the true … ahem … donkey is? Do I
not make myself out as someone worse than a donkey when I rebel against my God,
too?
The Nation Is Sick
I also
hang my head at the Lord’s lament about how sick the whole nation happens to
be. The leadership is broken. The nation is sick head to toe. The nation was wounded and bruised and there
was nobody trying to bandage it up. I
can’t help but to continue to wonder if that same aspect of humanity is not
living itself out once again in our modern culture. Are we not devouring ourselves rather than
doing what we can to try and heal ourselves?
Oh how cyclical humanity really is!
Commentary On Worship
Perhaps
what I am most pained by is the perspective of the Lord on the worship of the
people. The Lord rejects their
sacrifices. When the people come to the
Temple, God looks at it as though they are trampling His space. In fact, they are not only rejected, but they
are a burden to God! God even says that
He cannot endure them! What a horrible
and tragic fate. The people have sunk
low enough that they are a burden to their God.
Oh, that such a condemnation should never truly rest at my feet or your
feet, lest the words of verse 15 also apply to us! Can you imagine hearing God say, “Though you
make many prayers, I will not listen?”
What an absolutely tragic place to be.
God’s own
Holy City – Jerusalem – has abandoned the cause. God promises that even Jerusalem will be torn
apart. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Yet there
is hope. If we can learn to do justice,
we can all be white as snow instead of guilty as crimson. If we learn to cease doing evil and follow
His ways, restoration is possible. If we
can learn to be obedient, we can eat from the fruit of the land. There it is, plain as day. These are the expectations of the Lord.
Again,
there is hope. Rebels and sinners shall
be broken. Those who forsake the Lord
shall be consumed. The strong shall
become tinder. But those who repent
shall be redeemed in justice by righteousness.
God knows we cannot be perfect.
He knows that we have no chance of being fully and completely obedient
and without sin. He simply asks that we
give up our strong pride and arrogance and instead embrace an attitude of
humble repentance. That is what God asks
of us.
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