Isaiah 1:1-10-Observations, etc.

ISAIAH CHAPTER ONE

OBSERVATIONS: & INVESTIGATIONS:

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Isaiah 1:1-10 (ESV) - 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. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. 5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. 7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9 If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

ISAIAH 1:1-10 - The Image of Judah’s Unfortunate Situation is Described

V. 1 - Isaiah saw a vision, concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of 4 kings of Judah. (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah…~740 - 681 B.C. - covering 59 years.  About 200 years before the captivity (M.H.). Recorded during the time frame of the kings recorded in the book of First Kings - kings after David).

V. 2 - 3 – Isaiah calls out for heavens and earth to listen to what the LORD has spoken.  The LORD has reared children, but they have rebelled and do not know or understand, they are worse than ox or donkey, who know their masters.

V. 4 - – They are a sinful nation, laden with iniquity, forsaken the LORD, despised the Holy One of Israel, utterly estranged.  

Here we see the theme of “holy” introduced.  The LORD is often referred to as “the Holy One of Israel” throughout Isaiah.  This highlights His holiness/set-apartness/perfection, the reality that He is the “One” true God, and “of Israel” indicates the personal nature of their relationship, they belong to each other.

V. 5 - 6 – They are questioned why they continue to rebel and thus will still be struck down? The completeness of their sin is expressed: whole head, whole heart, from sole of foot to head - no soundness (no health of soul, M. Henry), wounds not cleaned (i.e. sins unrepentant, nothing done to cleanse - M. Henry.)  

V. 7 - 8 – Picture of ruin:

Country lies desolate

Cities burned with fire

Foreigners devour your land (in your very presence)

It is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners (simile to image it being intentionally ravaged, not natural disaster.)

Daughter of Zion left like:

A booth in a vineyard

A lodge in a cucumber field

A besieged city

(continued picture of emptiness)

V. 9- 10 – Comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah and Call to Hear

V. 9 - IF the LORD had not left a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, become like Gomorrah (who were countries both completely wiped out due to their sin.  A narrative beginning in Genesis 13:10 and concluding in 19:29).  

This sentence highlights the sovereignty of the LORD - He has control and uses it according to His righteous purposes.  Due to the sin of Judah, He could have chosen to completely wipe them out, but here as early as Isaiah 1:9, we see the theme of the remnant introduced. And it is the LORD who left the remnant, left the few survivors.  And the “if” indicates that there was the other option of not leaving the survivors and if He had not, they would have been completely destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah (a common Old Testament illustration of complete destruction and ruin.) 

V. 10 - Call to the rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah to hear the word of the LORD and give ear to the teaching of our God.  (“our God” – “our” still emphasizing the personal, covenantal nature of “our God.” And the call is for them to hear the Word and teaching…a call to “leaders” and “people,” even if in the midst of wickedness (like Sodom and Gomorrah), they are being given a call to come and hear the Word and teaching…that in listening, they may be rescued…they may be of the few survivors.)  

SUMMARY 

(1:1-10)

Isaiah receives a vision and gives a universal call to hear the LORD’s declaration: He brought up children, but they rebelled & in their sin, forsaking the LORD, and therefore they will face ruin, BUT the LORD leaves a few survivors (a remnant) and calls for the hearing of His word and teaching.

PRAYER

Father God, we come before You as Your children. We know we have been unfaithful and unruly and dumber than ox and donkies at times (1:3), so we humbly thank You for your patience and faithfulness. Thank you for sending Jesus to be the perfect Elder Brother, who stewards the inheritance perfectly, and graciously grafts us into Your goodness. Please, help us on this journey through the book of Isaiah to more deeply know You (1:3), understand Your ways (1:10), and live for Your glory. Thank you for Your grace in saving a few survivors (1:9) and enabling us to know You through the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

  

Next Post: The IMPACT Isaiah 1:1-10 can have on INFORMING our understanding of God, TRANSFORMING our heart, or PROCLAIMING its truths to those around us! I encourage you to spend some more time in Isaiah 1:1-10 and record how the LORD speaks to you through His Word, then join me for the next "Impact" Post before we move on to verses 11-20. CLICK HERE to Print IMPACT Study Guide

Study of the Book of Isaiah - Intro & Context

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INTRO

Isaiah is a book in Scripture that I have always wanted to understand more.

To know God more through it.

To understand the book of Isaiah in the course of history.

To have the theological truths transform my heart and intimacy with my Savior and the prophecies about Him.

I have begun this journey a couple of times over the years.  However, I do better when I study with others - for accountability to finish and to learn from them.  Not many women's ministry Bible studies attempt to tackle Isaiah's 66 chapters in their 12 week study. :)  I have attempted on my own, but not finished...

I started this journey again a few weeks ago and last week, the idea of blogging what I was learning came to mind.  I hope this gives me the accountability to finish.  And the encouragement of learning "with others."    

So, I invite you to join my journey.  This could be used as a guide to study Isaiah or used as a personal devotional, reading or listening with a deeper dive into Isaiah.  Whether you choose to study along with me or just read or listen to what I have been learning from the Lord, come, feast, and be inspired to know Christ more deeply and proclaim His love more broadly!  

Even if no one reads, listens, or studies alongside me, once I started putting these posts together, my study of Isaiah has come alive and I am enjoying it richly!  But, if you do happen to join me, I look forward to any encouraging comments you may have along your journey as well!  

I want to go at a pace that enables us to do more than just read the chapter, but dig a bit more into its authored meaning and then how it can impact us.  But with such a long book, I don’t want to get too bogged down.  I hope to post regularly, but then I know life with four kids can divert plans as well! :) Thanks for grace in however God works through this adventure!  

I am not a Bible scholar, though I can be fairly academic.  However, I also have a bend toward making sure we don’t get puffed up with head knowledge, but living out the lessons of Scripture as God intends.  I have no PhD behind my name, but have taken quite a few seminary level classes, been to many conferences, gleaned from much training in Bible Study over the years, but still feel fairly inadequate for virtually leading only God knows who through this daunting book of Isaiah. 

But as I said, putting my studies into words has enriched my personal study.  Although surely there are others who have better things to say and can say them more articulately, I humbly and with my confidence in Christ, hope that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be pleasing your sight, O LORD my rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14)…and will minister to someone else as well on this world wide web!  

Here is what to expect from the FORMAT

I study and learn best looking at Scripture inductively, verse by verse. 

The authors of Scripture often express meaning through their structure.  So, I will break each chapter into sections by verses (about 3 per chapter).  

Then each section will have two parts to the study:

1. Observations, Investigations (questions, cross reference, & insights), and Summary

2. IMPACT (unpacking the following areas of Impact (Informing, Transforming, Proclaiming)

- How does this IMPACT me by INFORMING my understanding of the CHARACTER OF GOD?

- How does this IMPACT me by TRANSFORMING my thoughts, attitude, or actions to more fully OBEY God's Word?

- How could this IMPACT those around me by PROCLAIMING the TRUTHS of this passage to others?

Section One is designed to dive into the verses for deeper understanding.

Section Two is designed to give us the opportunity to process how God may intend for the reader to be impacted by His Word (in knowledge, in obedience, and in making Him known).

Each section will end in a prayer for the devotional heart and soul aspect of the study.  

A Bible study leader, who I sat under for several years, taught us the first three rules of Bible Study:

1. Context

2. Context

3. Context

So, as we begin this journey, let’s make sure we set the stage for the Context of Isaiah.  Where does Isaiah fit into Scripture, history, and God’s redemptive storyline? 

ISAIAH INTRO and CONTEXT

• What type of book is Isaiah?

    Isaiah receives its namesake from its author, Isaiah, who was called as a prophet of the God of Israel.  Thus, the book of Isaiah is a prophetic book, the words of God, through Isaiah, to His people.

    (Other genres of Scripture include: narrative, history, poetry, epistles (letters).)

• Where does the book of Isaiah fit in the story of Scripture?

The Biblical Canon is separated into four sections:
1) Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy 

2) Nevi'im: Prophetic Books - Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel), and Minor Prophets (The Twelve: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.) 

3) Ketuvim - The Writings - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles

4) New Testament: Matthew through Revelation

    Note: Some scholars divide Scripture to include "history" as well.  For reasons, I won't go into here, those "historical" books are categorized as "prophecy" or "writings" when reading Scripture canonically.

    Isaiah was recorded concurrently during the time of First Kings, the kings who ruled after King David.  It was written over 59 years from about 740 B.C. (the death of Uzziah, Is. 1:1, 6:1) until about 681 B.C.

    Isaiah was also recorded about 200 years before captivity.  Many of the prophecies throughout Isaiah foretell that captivity.  Matthew Henry notes that many of the captivity prophecies also find their fulfillment in Christ, so the words of Isaiah can be a two-fold prophecy.  

    I can easily gloss over these details and jump into the words of the text.  But I have been trying to train myself to pause and engage with the context of Isaiah to help me live in the text and absorb the intended meaning for the original audience to then enhance my understanding.  

With that context as our backdrop, let's turn to Isaiah 1, read, dig in, and hear from our LORD!

    

Resources (with abbreviations included in posts):

ESV Gospel Transformation Bible, 2013. (GTBC)

Sailhamer, John H. NIV Compact Bible Commentary, 1994. (J.S.)

Zondervan NIV Matthew Henry Commentary, 1992. (M.H.)