Isaiah 1:1-10
Isa 1:1
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 vision of Isaiah was a complete revelation by God
given to him. The main focus of his
vision is Judah and Jerusalem which have descended into sin and Isaiah is to
warn them of their impending judgment if they do not return to the LORD.
There is nothing known of Amoz except that he was the father of Isaiah.
He is mentioned 13 times in Scripture.
He is not to be confused with Amos the prophet.
Amos the prophet prophesied between 760-755 B.C.
Isa 1:2
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.
Here Isaiah gives the first indictment against the
children of Judah that what he is saying came from the mouth of God.
The word “nourished” carries with it the meaning of “raised” as a child
is raised in a family. Then the
LORD declares that Judah has rebelled against him.
They became self-sufficient in their eyes and forgot God was their source
of everything.
Isa 1:3
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib:
but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Here they are compared to animals who seem to have more
sense than humans and that carries true in modern times.
The ox knows his owner and what is required of him for his daily work.
The ass or donkey knows the master’s crib where he rests, feeds and finds
safety from outside evils. The
people of Israel did not even have as much sense as these two dull animals.
As the animals consider their masters who take care of them, the people
of Israel did not even have that much sense in acknowledging the fact that God
is the one was their master and took care of them from the time they became a
nation.
Isa 1:4
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.
Then Isaiah describes the reality of their situation.
The word “ah” is a prophetic interjection which means “alas or woe.”
He calls them a sinful nation which means their sin has permeated the
entire nation and not just a part.
Then they are called a “people laden with iniquity” and the word “laden” carries
with it the meaning of “loaded or overloaded.” Then they are called “children
that are corrupters” which mean they are not only corrupt themselves but have
corrupted others into sinning along with them. In both word and deed.
They have forsaken their covenants with God and have forsaken him and
that forsaking has caused them to provoke the Holy One of Israel to anger which
is contrasted with the unholy ones who have provoked the LORD.
The word “provoked” carries with the meaning of “despised or hated” and
as a result they have gone backward which is an interesting word because its
action of going backward denotes judgment.
There is a phenomenon which has taken hold in many
churches called "Slain in the Spirit." When this event happens a person falls
backward into the arms of another so there will be no injury. Concerning the
so-called spiritual benefit someone derives from it, I do not know what is
gained. What I do know is that this event has nothing whatsoever to do with the
reception of the Holy Spirit or propelling someone into a deeper relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ.
In fact, if we trace the actions involved with this
activity in the Scriptures, we will see that falling backward is not a stepping
stone into a deeper life but it is a sign of the judgment of God. The desire for
signs and wonders in the contemporary church is pandemic. Jesus seriously warns
us about the seeking of signs and wonders in Matthew 12:38-40:
(Mat 12:38-40 KJV) Then certain of the scribes and of the
Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. {39} But he
answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
{40} For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall
the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
These passages pull no punches as it states that anyone
who seeks a sign is evil and adulterous. First, they are evil because they seek
to put God to the test. Secondly, they are adulterous because signs and wonders
adulterate the purity and true meaning of the gospel. In our day there are
literally millions who think they are in right relationship with God because of
supernatural events like our topic but are heading straight for hell because
they are evil and adulterous. This speaks of spiritual adultery which is as
sinful as physical adultery.
As we will see, in the Bible, falling backward is always
associated with some type of judgment, which in itself is a strong warning of
the final judgment in Revelation 20. The following Scripture passages shed light
on falling backward:
(1 Sam 4:18 KJV) And it came to pass, when he made
mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the
side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and
heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
(John 18:6 KJV) As soon then as he had said unto them, I
am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
These are two actual, historical events which show us
that falling backward is a judgment.
God also uses the word "backward" in conjunction with sin
and rebellion.
(Gen 49:17 KJV) Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an
adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall
backward.
(Psa 70:2 KJV) Let them be ashamed and confounded that
seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion,
that desire my hurt.
(Isa 1:4 KJV) 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.
(Isa 28:13 KJV) But the word of the LORD was unto them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here
a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and
be broken, and snared, and taken.
(Jer 7:24 KJV) But they hearkened not, nor inclined their
ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and
went backward, and not forward.
(Jer 15:6 KJV) Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD,
thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against
thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
(Lam 1:8 KJV) Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore
she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her
nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
Other verses which illuminate this teaching are found in:
Gen. 19:26; Psalm 53:3; Luke 9:62; 17:32; Acts 7:39; Hebrews 10:38-39. In all
these verses, back or backward is directly related to judgment. Those who
believe they are being slain in the spirit are actually under the judgment of
God. Satan comes as an angel of light and we must be aware of his counterfeit
gospels.
Isa 1:5
Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more
and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
To be stricken was to be “beaten or knocked down.”
God is asking them why do you want to continue to be chastened in
judgment for your actions. It seems
the more divine judgment they receive, the more they continue to revolt against
the LORD. They are so permeated
with sin in two vital places which affect the entire body.
The head which would be the leaders of Judah which are the ones who are
supposed to set the right examples and the heart which is the center of the
entire body which will affect all other vital organs or basically allows the sin
to spread to every place in their body.
Their heart was their religion which was so corrupted at this time.
Isa 1:6
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.
Here God describes them as a human body which is totally
permeated with sins from the head to the toes.
There is no soundness, that is, no place which has not been affected by
sin. They are like those who have
wounds, bruises, and putrifying sores all over their body.
Putrifying means like it is “dripping” from the wound which could be
blood or puss. The ancient
Egyptians had already been using surgical techniques on the human body but the
Israelites did not do that. When
there was an open wound, they would bind the wound together and allow the body
to seal it and then it would heal but it would leave a large deforming scar.
Their sins were like these wounds, they were right in the open and were
dripping evil from every place on the body.
They did nothing to try and stop their sinning or any type of repentance
which would be represented by the mollifying ointment.
Mollify means to “quell, calm down, or be still.”
Isa 1:7
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.
Here is a strong prophecy that Isaiah makes to Judah
because of their refusal to come back to the LORD.
The cities will be desolate which means uninhabited or deserted which
happened twice to them in 587 B.C when Babylon took them into captivity for
seventy years and in 70 A.D. when the final end of Israel would happen.
Then their cities will be burned as both Babylon and Rome would do that.
The strangers are the Babylonians and Romans when they will sack the city
and burn the temple and the people will see the destruction and then will be
carried away.
But when the king heard
thereof, he was wroth: and he
sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
(Matthew 22:7) They will not be
able to mount any kind of defense against either of them since their power would
be overwhelming. After the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. eyewitnesses stated the devastation was so
immense that it looked like no one ever lived there.
Isa 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.
During the time that vineyards are showing the fruits on
the trees the vineyard owners would hire people to actually watch the fields to
protect them from predators whether they be people or animals.
Sometimes the vineyards were so big they could not keep bringing people
in and out every day, so to remedy this problem they would build a small cottage
somewhere in the vineyard and the watchman would remain there until the time of
the harvest. Then once the harvest
has taken place the cottage or lodge would be abandoned and left to disintegrate
under the elements. Here the
children of Israel are being likened to that cottage in that they have
degenerated into rebellion against the LORD and were slowly failing under the
weight of their sin. They are also
likened to a besieged city which is destroyed by the invading enemy and in this
case the invading enemy is their rebellion against God.
Isa 1:9
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.
The remnant are those who are true believers.
Those who did not choose to follow the pernicious ways of the majority
were a remnant or a very small part of the population.
It is the same with the church today, there are only a small remnant of
true believers in every church even though every church likes to think of their
entire congregation as saved. The
fact that Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned makes Judah just like them.
Abraham pleaded with the LORD that if he found but ten righteous in those
cities would the LORD spare them?
The LORD said yes he would but in all four cities which were destroyed there was
not even ten righteous or saved.
The four cities are: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim.
This means that the saved are a small remnant.
Isa 1:10
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear
unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.