Theological Commentary: Click Here
I love the
book of Isaiah. I love the time of the prophets. Outside of the Gospels and the Genesis-Exodus
story, these are the books of the Bible that feel the most real. The prophets saw the reality of creation,
felt the ideal of creation, and tried their best to bridge the gap. The prophets tried to call people back to the
Lord’s ideal.
In a sense,
they were the very precursor to Christ.
They tried to teach their people to live like God wanted them to
live. They tried to show the people how
to live through their example. The only
thing they couldn’t do was die for their sake as Christ did because they weren’t
the very Son of God.
From the
perspective of Christ and His teaching, the prophets were the forerunners to
the Lord. From Elijah to john the
Baptizer, we have a long line of people who tried to look, see, and promote
change. There is much I have in common
with these prophets.
In reading
this chapter, the thing that leaps out at me is the vanity of the worship of
the people. Through Isaiah, the Lord speaks
to the people about their existence.
They are a nation falling apart. They
have been ravaged by the nations around them.
Their wealth is gone. Their
splendor is but a memory. There’s not
much left that resembles the greatness of David and Solomon.
The question
is why. Isaiah tells us in Isaiah
1:10-17. The festivals of the Lord are a
burden to Him. A burden! That which should be pleasing to the Lord
burdens Him. The people are coming
before the Lord in practice only. There
is no meaning there. There is no purpose. They are going through the motions and God is
tire of it.
That’s why
He tells them in in Isaiah 1:11 that he has had enough of their
sacrifices. What are they to God? Why would He delight in the blood of anything
if the heart of the donor is not dedicated to him?
This reminds
us of the key to relationship with the Lord.
Was David perfect? Absolutely not! In fact, he didn’t even try to put on a good
show. David was honest. He was real.
Where He succeeded, He gave credit to God. Where He failed, He owned the
responsibility. His heart was always in
it.
That’s what
God is asking from His people. They don’t
need to be perfect. They can be
forgiven. But their heart does need to
be in it.
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