Isaiah 1

Isaiah 1 • 2 min. read • grade level: 8

The accusation of Israel's unfaithfulness and ungratefulness is told out to heaven and earth by the Lord. The moral condition of the nation, as having lost all sense of righteousness and understanding, is contrasted with the natural instincts of the brute beasts. (Isa. 1:2,3²Hear, 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. ³The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. (Isaiah 1:2‑3).)

If blessing is to come upon the remnant of Israel, it must be on the basis of forgiveness through the atoning work of Christ. Sacrifices will not do, although the "many" will set up the system again as a form. The sheltered remnant will not be aware of all that transpires, until the time that the Lord shows them His hands and feet. They will be spared only because God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." This is the Passover aspect of the feasts of Jehovah, which comes before the Red Sea in type. (Lev. 23:1-9¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. ³Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. ⁴These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. ⁵In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. ⁶And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. ⁷In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. ⁸But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. ⁹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (Leviticus 23:1‑9); Isa. 10:24-26²⁴Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. ²⁵For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. ²⁶And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. (Isaiah 10:24‑26).) Although the Passover feast is long past, historically, the remnant will know nothing of this but will be sheltered, nevertheless, because of it. (Rom. 3:25,26²⁵Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; ²⁶To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:25‑26).) On this basis, through God's providence, they will return to the Land, though in unbelief, and will become the objects of mercy. (Rom. 11:25-32²⁵For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. ²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: ²⁷For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. ²⁸As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. ²⁹For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. ³⁰For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: ³¹Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. ³²For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. (Romans 11:25‑32).) I speak of the time of Isaiah, chapter 1. Isa. 1:19¹⁹If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: (Isaiah 1:19) gives the remnant of faith—verse 20, the apostates.

The Lord will ease Himself of all of His adversaries, without or within.

As He turns His hand upon the remnant, it is for their purging. The dross and tin of the people shall be purged as the silver is refined in a furnace. Following this refining process, the judges shall be restored as at the first. (Judg. 2:16-23¹⁶Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. ¹⁷And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so. ¹⁸And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. ¹⁹And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. ²⁰And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; ²¹I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: ²²That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. ²³Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. (Judges 2:16‑23).) "Afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city." How complete will be the restoration for the city that shall command in dignity the tribute of the earth. This shall first be in the remnant of Judah. The order will be as formerly—judges, then the king.

Such are the firm but gracious ways of a holy, righteous God with His people Israel whom He has now undertaken to restore, personally coming out of His place and "making bare His arm." This is the announcement of the day of the Lord, the tribulation under the antichrist and the beast having come to an end.

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