Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION

Isaiah “sees” a “vision” (1:1), but what he sees is a call to “hear” (1:2; cf. 2:1: “the word that Isaiah . . . saw”).  Like John, Isaiah turns to the Lord to “see” the voice speaking to him (Revelation 1:12).  It’s a voice of warning; it’s a vision of desolation.

THE TEXT

“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. ‘ Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!’  For the LORD has spoken . . . .” (Isaiah 1:1-9).

HEAR

Isaiah’s prophecy proper begins with the command to “Hear,” which is doubled with the verb form of the word “ear” (as in “lend your ears”; 1:2).  Yahweh calls on heaven and earth to stand as witnesses as He makes His case against Judah (cf. Deuteronomy 31:28; 32:1!).  The phrasing reminds us of Israel’s great confession, the Shema : “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh your God, Yahweh is one.  You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).  With this echo, Yahweh is reminding Judah that He is the one and only God of heaven and earth (cf. Isaiah 37:16; 40:22; 42:5), and that they are called to love Him.  There is a tragic contrast with the rest of verse 2: Judah has not heard; Judah does not love.

SONS, OXEN, ASSES

Israel is Yahweh’s son (Exodus 4:23), but Yahweh charges that the people of Judah are disrespectful sons.  He has “made them great,” but instead of responding with grateful obedience they started an insurrection against their Father and King (the verb “rebel” is used in 1 Kings 12:19; 2 Kings 1:1; 3:5, 7; 8:20; cf. Isaiah 66:24!).  In verse 3, he shifts from familial to agricultural imagery.  Judah is a herd of oxen, or an ox, but doesn’t know enough to seek out her master.  Donkeys are unclean animals, but even unclean animals (representing Gentiles) seek out the manger of a master.  Judah lacks knowledge, and particularly the discernment to distinguish and judge between right and wrong.

SINFUL NATION, STRICKEN BODY

Judah has become “glorious” (“heavy,” v. 4) with sin and iniquity.  The seed of Abraham has become a “seed of evildoers”; Yahweh’s children have become destroyers, and destroyers are destroyed (cf. Genesis 6:11-13).  Judah is an unfaithful bride who “forsakes” her Husband (v. 4; cf. Genesis 3:24). Husband and Bride are “estranged,” and so strangers will devour them (the verb “gone away” in v. 4 has the same root as “stranger” in v. 7).  Yahweh declares that He is the Holy One of Israel (v. 4), Judah’s true sanctuary and protection.  As the Holy One, He should be treated with reverence and fear, but Judah provokes Him instead.  Verses 5-6 present a sickening portrait of rebellious Judah.  The once-beautiful bride of Yahweh is filled with festering sores, and there is no physician to bandage her wounds.

DESOLATE LAND

Verse 7 describes Judah’s situation more literally: Strangers have invaded the land, burned cities, and eaten its produce.  Isaiah is probably describing the devastating Assyrian invasion around 701 (cf. 2 Kings 18:13).  As a result, Daughter Zion, Jerusalem or the temple itself, is no longer a glorious place within a fruitful land, but reduced to a small cottage in a field (v. 8).  The destruction is nearly total.  Only the sliver of a remnant separates Judah from Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 9).