When God Brings Judgment – An Isaiah 1 Commentary

The following post is a commentary on Isaiah 1:2-20. Like a parent, there are times that our Father must bring judgment upon His children. But also like a parent, He only ever wants what is best for us.  (Read Preface here)

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken:

God is calling all of creation to be a witness. Has He not give us everything? Have we not acted like rebellious children? Let the world around us bear witness to our behavior and who He is. And this is who He is:

“I have nourished and brought up children,

He has been a loving, providing Father. He has nourished us and provided for us all that we have needed. He has brought us up. He is the One keeping us safe and protected, alive and growing.

And they have rebelled against Me;

Stop here. How have you rebelled against God? What laws of His are you disobedient in? God, show us our sins.

The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”

These animals (animals!) know who cares for them, and they know to obey that person. They realize that without the care of their owner, they would be in danger of death.

Even the most stubborn of animals know their master. But God’s own stiff-necked children have no idea. We don’t even realize what we’re doing or how we’re behaving. We are completely ignorant to all He has done for us.

We are, as II Timothy warns, a people “having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward.

We are just absolutely filled with sin. We are not only guilty and corrupt but corrupters – we contaminate others. Or what’s worse, we provoke God. We have turned away from Him, doing the complete opposite of what He desires.

If we aren’t moving forward in Him, then we are only going backwards. This people of Judah might as well have just walked back to their ancestral bondage in Egypt. Are you really wanting to go back to your past, your bondage?

Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints.

Parents, how exhausting is it to constantly put your child in timeout or ground them when they never seem to learn their lesson?

God is tired of our unending, repetitious sinful disobedience. Why should He even bother to discipline anymore? No matter how much we are punished, we still resist! We continue to sin and then complain when things go wrong. When will we learn?

From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment.

Our first wounds haven’t even closed up yet, but here we are looking for more! Our stubborn, rebellious foolishness doesn’t even make sense! We’re doing it to ourselves!

Think of when your head is sick. Doesn’t all of you feel miserable? What about when your feet are in pain? Does it not affect your entire body? “The whole head is sick… From the sole of the foot even to the head” – God is trying to illustrate for us just how spiritually sick we are.

Your country is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire;

Perhaps this is true quite literally at times. Our nation, our community, is falling apart all around us,  yet we wonder where God is!

Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

This is not just about your “enemies” who try to cause discord in your life. This is about your lack, the gaps in your life, the things that should have been but aren’t. Yet, we wonder where these issues stem from.

So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.

We are supposed to be children of God! We are supposed to reflect Christ and allow Him to shine through us. God intended for us to be a temple, but here we are as a shack. Again, God wants the best for us, and as a Father, it is heartbreaking to see us settle for less because of our own selfish desires.

We are besieged by sin – overtaken, bound, surrounded, and suffering.

Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.

Do you even realize the seriousness of this situation? How close we are to total destruction? We are behaving like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and if it wasn’t for God, our fate would be like them too.

If it wasn’t for God’s mercy, we would have been destroyed a long time ago. But God is patient, and He does not want to stay angry forever. He wants to see you make it. He wants you to come back to Him. This is why He saves a remnant. No matter how seemingly small, there is hope.

A remnant. Remember the path to heaven is narrow, and there are few who find it – the remnant, those who remain, those who endured.

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah:

If we want to live in sin like they did, well then God is going to respond with due justice and in such manner:

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.”

You want to live in sin and then go to Him with your religious rituals? You think He wants that? He’s not looking for sacrifice. He already paid the ultimate sacrifice for you. He’s looking for obedience!

“When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts?

Who asked you to bring your foolishness into His house?

It is one thing to come to His house with sin looking for repentance, to be cleansed and refreshed. It is another to come to His house with sin that has no intention of leaving.

Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.

As if acts of religion weren’t bad enough, they are most certainly all in vain when we are living in sin.

It is exhausting (and honestly offensive) for God to constantly see this fake display of affection. Do we have any idea how holy His house is, yet we walk out with the same sin we came in with?

When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

Ever feel like God doesn’t hear your prayers? Could there maybe be a reason? We know God is always there when we genuinely turn to Him, but sin will hinder our prayers. If we aren’t listening to Him, why should He listen to us?

Keep wasting your time with false worship of Him. He knows what you really worship. Keep raising your hands. He won’t see it. Keep uttering your religious repetitions. He won’t hear it. When you are living with sin, do you think that is what He wants from you? No, this is what He wants from you:

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.

First, repent. Turn back. Get rid of it. Seek Him. Stop living in sin!

Then, begin to replace your wrong actions with good. Replace your wants with His will and purpose. Defend His truth. Put others first. Help those in need. Obey Him!

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;

Do you know the feeling that comes over you after you just finished fighting with someone? When you just finished arguing with your child or your spouse, and the tension is all finally over? That moment when the apologies start to flow and you can just hug it out? “Come now.”

Remember, God does not stay angry for long. He knows that our time here is short, and He doesn’t want to spend the entire time going back and forth with us. He longs for this particular moment. “Come now. Come to Me.”

Like the father of the prodigal son, God wants nothing more than to have us back in His arms, no matter what we have done. This was how it was intended since the beginning of creation, for us to walk with Him.

He wants us clean and free of all our burdens, our weight of sin. He wants everything that adds filth to our lives, minds, and hearts to be removed and be wiped clean. That is all He desires for you, the best.

He doesn’t want to punish us. He wants to bless us and reward us. He wants us to prosper. But we must be willing. We must choose this. We must be obedient and follow what He says. He is the one with the map to life. We cannot trust ourselves to walk it our own way.

But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

And here is the stipulation. God always has conditions.

We just saw what will happen if we obey Him and remove the sin from our lives. But here is what happens if you choose this life of sin over Him. Your fate will be eternal death.

We have a free will. He has given us the option. We can either remove the sin ourselves, or He will do it Himself, taking us out with it.

Just remember, He is the one who knows the ending. Trust He knows what’s best. Regardless of how uncomfortable this world can be, His is a cross worth bearing. Our worldly lusts are never worth it.