Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. How does Isaiah describe the people of Israel in verse 4 (printed below?)
Ah, sinful nation! You are a people loaded down with iniquity, an offspring who are evildoers, children who deal in corruption. They have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned their backs on him. (Isaiah 1:4)
In verse 4 Isaiah identifies these people as “a sinful nation” (or, “a sinning nation.”) “Sinning” is the adjective that most accurately describes these people: they are devoted to the practice of their sins; they love their sins more than they love their God. Furthermore, he describes them as “an offspring who are evil doers.” Note: the text literally reads, “an offspring of evildoers”—but this does not mean that they are the children of evildoers; on the contrary, they are the children of godly forefathers. But, unlike those forefathers, they are a generation of evildoers. Then they are “children who deal in corruption” (or, “children who act destructively.”) By their lifestyle of sin and disobedience they are bringing destruction upon themselves. Their sin is described as personal transgression against the Lord Himself: “they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel.” Finally, their relationship with the Lord is described as one of estrangement: indifference, aloofness, withdrawal; all potentially leading to a divorce from the Lord.
2. What consequence does the nation suffer because of their disobedience? See Isaiah 1:5-8 (printed below)
Why will you continue to be beaten?—that is what is happening because you persist in your rebellion. Your whole head is injured, and your whole heart is afflicted. (6) From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness of body, only wounds and welts and open sores that have neither been cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil. (7) Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your land in your very presence; it is left desolate, overrun by strangers. (8) The Daughter of Zion is left like a shack in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege. (Isaiah 1:5-8)
Because of their disobedient lives the Lord takes strong disciplinary action against His people. Verses 5-6 picture a man being flogged for his transgressions, yet he defiantly persists all the more in those transgressions; consequently, there is no relief from the discipline that is being administered to him. Note: in verses 7-8 the actual means of discipline/punishment is described: it is foreign invasion. We must realize that when we go against God it will go hard for us, and there will be no relief unless we repent and submit to Him.
3. What do we learn about the peoples’ religious life from Isaiah 1:11 (printed below?)
What does the multitude of your sacrifices mean to me? declares Jehovah. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened beasts. I do not take pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats. (Isaiah 1:11)
Although their lives were devoted to sin rather than to God, the people continued to conscientiously perform their acts of religious service. They brought multitudes of animal sacrifices to the Lord. But by His question voiced in verse 11 the Lord indicates that in the absence of obedience those sacrifices were worthless and meaningless. The burnt offerings of rams that were presented were intended to represent the offering up of the worshiper’s life unto God. But hypocritically, these people were merely presenting the animal sacrifice unto the Lord instead of offering their lives unto Him.
4. What is the Lord’s response to the acts of worship that are being presented to Him by His disobedient people? See Isaiah 1:12-14 (printed below)
When you appear before me, who has asked this of you—this trampling of my courts? (13) Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. The observance of New Moons and Sabbaths and the calling of sacred assemblies—I cannot tolerate them! Do away with iniquity and the solemn assembly! (14) My soul hates your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts; they are a burden to me, I am tired of putting up with them. (Isaiah 1:12-14)
In verse 12 the Lord demands to know, “Who has asked this of you—this trampling of my courts?” The Lord Himself required that His people appear before Him in worship: “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God” (Exodus 23:17). But worship that is devoid of obedience and divorced from a life of devotion, the Lord views as a “trampling” of His holy courts. In the strongest terms the Lord Himself denounces such “worship” (verses 13-14). “Stop bringing meaningless offerings!” Such worship neither pleases nor honors God; it does not win His favor, nor does it appease His righteous indignation. “Your incense is detestable to me!” “Incense” with its fragrant aroma represented prayer; but prayer divorced from obedience becomes “detestable” to the Lord—like the stench of an open garbage can on a hot summer day. “The calling of sacred assemblies—I cannot tolerate them! Do away with iniquity and the solemn assembly!” “Solemn assemblies” and “iniquity” are two mutually exclusive things; when such assemblies are mixed with iniquity those assemblies become repulsive to the Lord.
5. What counsel (verses 16-17 printed below,) what promise (verse 18 printed below,) and what warning (verses 19-20 printed below) does the Lord give to these people?
Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds and remove them from my sight. Stop doing evil. (17) Learn to do what is good. Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:16-17)
Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah. Even though your sins are as dark as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Even though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best that the land produces. (20) But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken it. (Isaiah 1:19-20)
In verses 16-17 the Lord gives the counsel to cease from sin and to practice righteousness, a righteousness that consists of justice—fairness and integrity in our business dealings and our personal life. Justice is defined in the following statements: “relieve the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow;” the Lord is referring here to social justice. In verse 18 the Lord graciously extends the offer of forgiveness to those who have offended Him but who now return to Him: “Even though your sins are as dark as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” But, as verse 19 indicates, the Lord promises His mercy and blessing only upon the condition of our submission to Him: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the best that the land produce.” Note: this is not a self-manufactured obedience that produces salvation; on the contrary, it is the fruit of salvation and new life in Christ. In verse 20 the Lord warns of His judgment against those who persist in their transgressions and rebellion against Him: “But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken it.”
