Isaiah 1:1-20 Rebellion to God Brings Catastrophe

Isaiah is contemporary with the prophets Hosea, Amos and Micah (Hos 1:1; Amo 1:1 and Mic 1:1). Both Isaiah and Micah describe their books as concerning a vision. Micah describes his vision in seven chapters and Isaiah describes his in sixty-six. Isaiah served the Lord during the reigns of the Judean kings, Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

Isaiah begins his thesis rebuking a rebellious nation. The ox and donkey, once domiciled, know their masters, but the nation hand-picked and raised by God exhibits no understanding of the One they serve (v 3). The Apostle Paul talks about the natural rebellion within man in the Book of Romans.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. [Rom 1:18-20 NIV]

Jude, the brother of Jesus, uses similar language when speaking of the past and future condemnation of the rebellious:

See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him. [Jud 14-15 NIV]

In Jude’s passage, he quotes the Prophet Enoch. Enoch was the seventh from Adam and the father of Methuselah -who was the longest living man of record. Enoch, himself, did not live to see a long life, as he was translated to heaven without dying, because he walked with God [Gen 5:23].

The Book of Enoch is not Scripture, although it was looked upon as authoritative by the ancient Jews. The Book(s) of Enoch we have today was written approximately the first century AD, copied from earlier manuscripts which were not preserved and documented as well as Scripture. Thus, we find errors and conflicts in the text. However, the book should not be ignored as there are passages that give insight into the historical context of Scripture.

Enoch prophesied the coming destruction of mankind, that is, the great Flood (section XX, chapter 106). He wrote the destruction would occur upon the death of his son, Methuselah. Some historians claim the Flood began seven days after the death of Methuselah; the seven days representing what was in that day the allotted time of mourning (see Gen 7:4,10). This is interesting but I am digressing.

What makes Jude’s reference to Enoch noteworthy is the ancient people were well aware of God’s use of the heavens, or planets, and the earth in creating and exhibiting catastrophe. The violence of the planets was instrumental in the creation of Greek and Roman mythology and the pagan worship of planets. The final act of planetary catastrophe, in fact, happened during the reign of Hezekiah in the days of Isaiah, when God caused the shadow of the sun to go backwards ten steps (Isaiah 38) – which also stretched our calendar from 360 days to the current 365 days. So it is no small thing when Isaiah begins his written dissertation with “Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!” [Isa 1:2 NIV]

Micah, also makes reference to the witness of the earth; challenging man to defend his case before the mountains – and the foundation of the earth. His implication is not a figurative recital of our defense to the hills as listening ears. Far from it. By calling upon the foundations of the earth to listen to the charges and the defense, Micah is clearly making the case for a coming catastrophe.

Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel. [Mic 6:1-2 NIV]

We have in our modern, American, Christian minds a picture of a loving God who patiently waits for all men to come to salvation. Isaiah is exploding that stereotype and even the Apostle John paints a picture of a just and mighty God who exercises wrath over the kingdoms of man in describing a future catastrophe upon mankind. That the people would have the faith to call upon immovable objects (which are now moving) to fall upon them can only mean there is a great catastrophe to come.

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” [Rev 6:15-17 NIV]

Unmoved by the descriptions of a just and mighty, or violent, God and lacking recent catastrophic experience, we impute upon ourselves a loving God and we look at the world around us as fragile – and in need of our protection. So, we have a loving God and a fragile earth: both for the benefit of and centered upon a self-indulgent people – just as in the days of Isaiah, as we shall see very shortly.

So, once again, it is no small thing why Isaiah begins the text as he does. The implication is clear to a people familiar with catastrophe – a people who have at least heard the legends, if they have not experienced the events – a people familiar with an angry earth, a shifting planet that can crush mankind, and, in fact, devoured mankind in the time of the Flood. Bear in mind, in those days, there was no dispute or theories against the Flood as there are today. Archeology has demonstrated every race and nation of man, in ancient times, gave witness to the story of the Flood.

When Isaiah writes, “Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!” he is not exercising literary license. This is not his latent Shakespeare. He is warning of a coming destruction – a coming catastrophe. Micah supports this vision of catastrophe in his opening remarks, describing a God of catastrophic judgment.

Look! The LORD is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth. The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. [Mic 1:3-4 NIV]

What is this destruction coming upon the nation of Judah? Isaiah describes it, in part, in verse seven: “Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.” [NIV] Hosea affirms this desolation in his description in Hosea 4:3, “Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.” [NIV]

Are you concerned about endangered species? Hosea has just given us the description of the judgment – the result of rebelling against God. So, for all you who are concerned about saving the planet – get right with God and cast off rebellion. It is that simple. Also, you might want to put on a good pair of shoes because I am going to step on your feet at least once more before this first segment is completed and many more times before we get through the Book of Isaiah.

Jesus Christ referred to a coming desolation (that is, “coming” as in looking at the prophecy from His time) in Matthew 23:37-39. It is interesting Jesus would have to rebuke Israel for their rebellion and their unreadiness to receive Him for who He claims to be. After the time of Isaiah, God had dispersed the nations of Israel and Judah among their Assyrian and Babylonian captors. Miraculously, as prophesied by Isaiah and others, the Lord brought the people back to their homeland. You would think they would have shed their rebellion and embraced their Messiah. Nonetheless, in Jesus’ day, the people persisted in their rebellion.

We should examine this rebellion – and, I think upon examination, we might see a similarity to the rebellion of Jesus’ day to that of Isaiah’s day – and quite possibly to that of today in modern, Christian America.

In verses two and three, Isaiah explains the people have rebelled against God and they lack understanding. Hosea wrote, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” [Hos 4:6, NIV] So, we come to the question, “How do we gain understanding?” Let’s take a lesson from the book of Psalms: “I have more insight than all my teachers because I meditate on [God's] laws. I have more understanding than the [leaders] because I obey [God's] instructions. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey [God's] Word. . . Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” [119:99-101,105] We are told from this passage, wisdom comes from study of the Scriptures and understanding comes from obeying the Word of God. To reject the Word of God, or even to avoid it, is rebellion.

After disclosing the nature of the sin to be rebellion, Isaiah asks, “Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion?” [v 5 NIV] The New King James Version puts it another way. “Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more.” So we may conclude, they willfully persisted in rebellion – even though God had warned them before. Haggai, speaking of another day, disclosed God had brought judgment before and the people still refused to follow God (Hag 2:17).

The first principle of hermeneutics (hermeneuter) is the proper application of Scripture to the proper times and people. Many whom I have talked to, including ministers of God’s Word, tell me God is not speaking to us in the Book of Isaiah – He is speaking to a people long ago. The time is wrong and we are not in rebellion because we love Jesus. After all, we are exercising our best lives now and living purpose driven lives, are we not?

The first indication of our hermeneutered exemption, is the leaders of Judah were described as the rulers of Sodom and the people were described as the people of Gomorrah. And we know Sodom and Gomorrah were entirely godless. According to Scripture, God was unable to find even ten who followed him; in fact, the only ones who even tipped their hat to God was Lot and his family (Gen 18). So, in all fairness, in America today there are still a substantial remnant. Thus, we cannot be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah; or, can we?

There is a common saying, “If God withholds judgment upon America, He owes an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah.” I take great exception to this notion. First, because we have no business establishing standards for God’s judgments; and Second, because we do have substantially more numbers per capita following Christ and working to turn the hearts of the people back to God. Nonetheless, Judah, too, had a remnant – yet God still compared the leaders and the people to Sodom and Gomorrah. If God can make this godless application to His chosen people, could this charge apply to us, today? Could we be guilty of the same rebellion that Isaiah confronted Judah with – as did the other prophets, in that time and others, – and as Jesus did in His time?

These are a rebellious people. They are likened to Sodom and Gomorrah – but, to use current vernacular, they also go to church. Isaiah states they are performing the sacrifices and attending the assemblies – they even remember the celebrations and holidays (v 11-14). But what does God say of all this? He declares their attendance to be a “trampling” of the courts, or building (v 12). He tells them their offerings are meaningless because sacrifice without obedience is worthless (v 11, 13; see also 1Sa 15:22). Additionally, God warns their rebelliousness has distorted their laws and their courts (v 16, 17) and they have blood on their hands (v 15).

Understand this: law always follows the religion, or lack thereof, of the people. This is especially true in America, where our Anglican system of laws were based upon Scripture and derived from a strong faith in God. As we have been turning from God, our laws have begun to incorporate secular elements of the Roman law system and now the push is to incorporate Sharia law, or the Islamic system. Only a return to God – when the people of God cast off their rebellion – will the laws in our land be corrected.

Unjust laws always lead to bloodshed. Whether we are lenient with hardened, violent criminals or tolerant of abortion and euthanasia. Shedding the blood of the innocent is described by God as pollution – “bloodshed pollutes the land” – in Numbers 35:33. So, my good, earth-loving friend, if you want to save the earth from the ravages of pollution, turn the law and the people back to God.

Isaiah has established the people were rebellious and willfully lacked understanding, yet they continued to go to church, or assembly. After declaring their attendance a “trampling” and their offerings an offense, he follows this up by declaring God has no interest in their prayers and is unwilling to listen to them (v 15). It is rather obvious Isaiah was not schooled in a modern, American seminary. Otherwise, he would know God is a “God of Love.” Instead, he has violated that concept twice and we are not two-thirds the way through the first chapter of his thesis!

A generation after Isaiah, God raised up the Prophet Jeremiah. He, too, condemned the people for living in rebellion though they continued to go to assembly. In chapter seven of his thesis, he warns the people about being deceived by the notion that going to church renders any merit for trusting in God’s protection or belonging in the kingdom of God. He makes the same accusations regarding worthless offerings, lack of obedience and shedding of innocent blood. And what did God tell Jeremiah? God told him not to pray for these people (Jer 7:16).

When we read the Old Testament, we see in every generation God’s provision and mans’ rebellion. It is easy to sit, in Sunday School fashion, listen to the stories and render judgment against the people – certain to a fault that had we lived among them, we would have championed the cause of the Lord. But Christ struck this notion down when He accused the Pharisees of His day, who sat in judgment of the men of old who killed the prophets, of their complicity in the murders (Luk 11:47-51). So, too, we are complicit in rebellion – it is in our heart.

What does this rebellion look like? Jeremiah gave us a picture of it in chapter five, verse thirty-one. “The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” [NIV] The Apostle Paul tells us, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. [2Ti 4:3-4 NIV] There is nothing new under the sun. As man was before, so he is today.

Here is the connection to Sodom and Gomorrah and here is the connection to the modern, American professing Christian: the connection is the authority. The picture in Isaiah’s day (and Jeremiah’s) is a people who were positive; they were confident; they were not concerned with the minor setbacks God had thrown in their way to get their attention. They were glad to go to church – where the preaching was based upon human authority. You could say, they were purpose driven, or living their best life because their focus was upon what going to church was going to do for them – and they were more than happy to broadcast the positive gospel of the authority of man. They were not interested in learning how to follow God or encouraging others to do so.

God is calling us – individually and as a nation. He is calling us to reason with Him (v 18) – grace leads to repentance. He tells us twice our sins are the color of bloodshed and twice He promises to make us white, or whole – the twice-telling makes this important. God continues His plea with the promise of His everlasting provision if we repent and obey and He warns of a catastrophe to come if we persist in our rebellion. The application is to individuals and to nations. Isaiah was speaking to the nation of Judah but does this verse apply to the nation of America? The answer is simple hermeneutics: It has applied to all the great nations of the world – who rebelled – and are no more. Why should we be granted an exemption?

We will continue with verse 21 of the first chapter of Isaiah next week. Meanwhile, if you would like to review previous studies in Isaiah, go to http://cominus.com/cominus-papers/.