Isaiah 1-4
Welcome to the Prophets!
Ah, but maybe we won’t feel so welcomed when we read them. The Prophets of Israel are not the feel-good, sweet-talking preachers we sometimes hear today. They were tough cookies. They weren’t afraid of the word, “sin!” And they didn’t shrink back from telling people how God felt about sin. Even Isaiah, who softens up a little after chapter 39 (We love to quote his soft words in Isaiah 40!), is hard to take.
Right at the beginning, we are indicted by the straightforward and convicting words of the great prophet:
“Children I have reared...have rebelled against me,” God says (1:2)
“They have forsaken the Lord” (1:4)
“Your...feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me,” God says (1:14)
“The faithful city has become a whore” (1:21)
“Their land is filled with idols” (2:8)
“Woe to them!” (3:9)
“In that day the Lord will take away their finery...” (3:18)
What are we to do, if we are in the same boat as God’s people of Isaiah’s day? If we can, we should “wash ourselves...cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice and correct oppression.” (1:16-17) But we are not able to do this! What then? We must receive the promise:
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow...” (1:18)
How will this be?
Now it’s time to read Isaiah 4. The righteousness we desire, the holiness God wants for us, the washing we need...they will come through the “Branch of the Lord, beautiful and glorious.” We will learn more about this Branch as we read on in Isaiah! So...
Welcome to the Prophets!
Tomorrow, we read Isaiah’s great testimony!
Your fellow pilgrim through the Prophets,
Pastor Gary
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