For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 1:1-4

1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
    For the Lord has spoken:
‘I reared children and brought them up,
    but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
    the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
    my people do not understand.’

4 Woe to the sinful nation,
    a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
    children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
    they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
    and turned their backs on him.

A. Find Out:

1. Through how many reigns did Isaiah see visions? v.1
2. Who does the Lord call as a witness? v.2a
3. What does He call them to witness? v.2b
4. To whom does He contrast the nation and how? v.3
5. In what ways does He describe this nation? v.4a
6. What does He say they have done? v.4b

B. Think:

1. What was the Lord’s grievance against Judah in verses 2 & 3
2. How does verse 4 describe their state now?
3. What is the point of calling others to witness this state of affairs?

C. Comment:

God has a claim against the nation of Judah, and it is quite specific. First, He raised up Israel as a nation, He brought them into being and established a relationship with them and they became a special people, a holy nation (see Exodus 19:5,6). One would expect from that a certain loyalty, perhaps like an ox knows of its master or a donkey knows of its provider.

Second, Judah (this half nation) have rebelled and gone their own way. They have forgotten who they were and no longer know or understand the wonder of the relationship that had been theirs previously. They had spurned or given up on God and had left Him and gone their own ways.

Third, their state as a result, was that they were full of sin, full of guilt, given over to doing evil and bent on corruption. A godless nation never stays good. When a nation turns its back on God, evil soon follows, it is always so. Every man is tainted with sin, and it is only the presence of God which restrains that sin. When His presence is rejected, sin rises up and dominates.

Finally, the Lord calls for all the earth to act as observers and see the truth of these things. Justice must be seen to be done.

D. Application:

1. A godly nation is a good nation.
2. A godless nation soon becomes a full-of-sin nation.

Passage: Isaiah 1:5-9

5 Why should you be beaten any more?
    Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
    your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
    there is no soundness –
only wounds and bruises
    and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
    or soothed with oil.

7 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.
8 Daughter Zion is left
    like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
    like a city under siege.
9 Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.

A. Find Out:  

1. What has happened to the nation, why and with what result? v.5
2. How is the nation described? v.6
3. Who has done what to the nation? v.7
4. How is Jerusalem described? v.8
5. What had the Lord done? v.9a
6. If He hadn’t who would they have been like? v.9b

B. Think:

1. What figurative language is used to describe the state of the land?
2. What figurative language is used to describe the state of Jerusalem?
3. What had been the cause of all this?

C. Comment:

First, let us consider the state of the land: the head is injured, and the heart is afflicted. Head refers to authority, those in charge and heart refers to the morale of the whole nation. They are beaten by an enemy; they are in disarray and feel low. The whole body of the nation is damaged, has been attacked and affected by the enemy. In literal terms cities have been destroyed and fields stripped; this is a picture of a pillaged land, ravished by an enemy.

Second, let us consider the state of Jerusalem: Zion has been left and stands out alone like a hut in a field. It is a city on its own; it is almost all that is left of this once proud nation. Yet the Lord had left some survivors otherwise they would have been totally destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah had been (see Genesis 19).

Third, let us consider the reason for this: it is because they rebelled against the Lord and He withdrew His protection from them and even invited the enemy to come in and chastise the land.

Whether this is a picture of what HAS happened to the land or what WILL happen is unclear. Whatever it is the warning is still clear: a nation deserting God is vulnerable to ravishing by the enemy!

D. Application:

1. A godly nation is a prosperous nation.
2. An ungodly nation leaves itself open to the enemy to come and destroy. The Lord will chastise it.

Passage: Isaiah 1:10-17

10 Hear the word of the Lord,
    you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!
11 ‘The multitude of your sacrifices –
    what are they to me?’ says the Lord.
‘I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
    in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to 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.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations –
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
    I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
    stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

A. Find Out:

1. How does the Lord refer to the people of Jerusalem? v.10
2. What does He reject? v.11
3. What does He query? v.12
4. To what also does He object? v.13b,14
5. To what does He say He will not listen? v.15
6. Why, and what does He require them to do? v.15c-17

B. Think:

1. What was their state according to verses 16 & 17?
2. Yet what were they obviously still doing?
3. What did God feel about this?

C. Comment:

In this passage is one of the clearest rejections in the Bible of meaningless ritualistic religion. If you were a visitor just arriving at the temple and you were given the Law of Moses you would think these were good obedient Israelites, they were doing what the Law required. They were coming and bringing the required offerings, they were holding to the required special feasts or holy days, and they were seen in public prayer. It all looked good, yet God condemns it all! Why?

The answer is in the latter verses of this passage: the state of their national life was terrible! There was evil, there was violence, there was injustice, the strong oppressed the weak, the needs of orphans or widows were ignored. They had drifted far from that godly, righteous, just, caring, and compassionate society that God had designed them to be.

The point that the Lord is making so strongly here is that you cannot separate religious activity from daily living. It is one of our greatest failures, even today, to be one thing on a Sunday and something completely different on a Monday. We may divide our lives into spiritual and secular, but God doesn’t! Beware!

D. Application:

1. Religion without right living is rejected by God!
2. The Lord wants us to be expressing our love for Him to one another in reality and not pretense.

Passage: Isaiah 1:18-20

18 ‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’
    says the Lord.
‘Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
    you will eat the good things of the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
    you will be devoured by the sword.’
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

A. Find Out:

1. What does the Lord suggest they do? v.18a
2. What does He say their sins ARE like and SHALL be like? v.18b,c
3. What do they need to be to be blessed? v.19a
4. What will be the blessing? v.19b
5. What is the alternative they may do? v.20a
6. What will happen if they are like this? v.20b

B. Think:

1. What did we say had been the state of the nation?
2. What was the Lord offering?
3. What were the criteria for change?

C. Comment:

So far we have had prophecies pointing out the sinful state of the nation and the city, and the broken-down state that has occurred as a consequence. The voice of the Lord now comes in a very conciliatory manner; let’s talk this out, let’s work this out together. Yet we must be quite clear, this is not an offer of compromise, for God never compromises. What we have here is an offer from the loving heart of God to restore His people after the ravages of the enemy.

The first stage of the transformation must be a transformation of heart. The Lord asks for there to be a willingness for them to look at who they are and go for change. He asks for obedience to His ordained ways, His decrees, His laws. These are necessary prerequisites.

The second stage of the transformation will need to be a twofold change: first there needs to be the Lord dealing with their sin and removing the guilt and punishment, then there needs to be the activity of the nation which must change and become sinless.

The third stage of the transformation will then be a change in the affairs of the nation, the blessing of God on what they do so that the land prospers again. This order is always the necessary order in any situation. The opposite does not bear thinking about!

D. Application:

1. God offers reconciliation and restoration.
2. It is always conditional upon our obedience and willingness.

Passage: Isaiah 1:21-26

21 See how the faithful city
    has become a prostitute!
She once was full of justice;
    righteousness used to dwell in her –
    but now murderers!
22 Your silver has become dross,
    your choice wine is diluted with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels,
    partners with thieves;
they all love bribes
    and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
    the widow’s case does not come before them.

24 Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
‘Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
    and avenge myself on my enemies.
25 I will turn my hand against you;
    I will thoroughly purge away your dross
    and remove all your impurities.
26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old,
    your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterwards you will be called
    the City of Righteousness,
    the Faithful City.’

A. Find Out:

1. How is Jerusalem described now, & what had she been? v.21
2. What two illustrations are used of her? v.22
3. How are the city authorities described? v.23
4. What does the Lord say He will do? v.24,25a
5. Yet with what outcome in mind? v.25b, 26a
6. How will the city eventually be known? v.26b

B. Think:

1. How would you summarize the social state of Jerusalem?
2. Yet what hope is there?
3. How, quite obviously, will that happen?

C. Comment:

In the continuation of this prophecy about Jerusalem, the Lord denounces the civic leaders who have become corrupt and who allow unrighteous behavior to prevail. Jerusalem had become a place where the strong and the immoral prevailed over the weak and the poor. So, says the Lord, I will come and deal with all those who are evil and against me.

A casual glance at what follows may make us feel that restoration is on the way and that the Lord is being soft with them, but a more detailed look shows that the restoration that is coming will come because God will purify the city and destroy all that is impure in it. This is no “painless blessing” that is coming but a strong purging by the Lord who will remove who and what is evil!

When He has done that the Lord will raise up again those godly men who can act as judges of the people, to ensure that justice and righteousness continue, as it was in the earliest days of Israel’s life. It will be clearly seen, and all will know that Jerusalem is Righteous.

In a day when we (rightly) emphasize the love and grace of God, we need to remember that God still judges and destroys sin. We either forsake it and let Jesus take it or we take the punishment that comes to remove the sin!

D. Application:

1. When God promises restoration, He destroys sin.
2. Sin must be renounced, or it still brings God’s wrath & discipline.

Passage: Isaiah 1:27-31

27 Zion will be delivered with justice,
    her penitent ones with righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
    and those who forsake the Lord will perish.

29 ‘You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
    in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
    that you have chosen.
30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
    like a garden without water.
31 The mighty man will become tinder
    and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
    with no one to quench the fire.’

A. Find Out:

1. How was Jerusalem to be redeemed? v.27
2. But what will happen to rebels etc.? v.28
3. Why will they be disgraced? v.29
4. What will they become like? v.30
5. What will happen to them? v.31

B. Think:

1. What did we say previously that God was doing with Jerusalem?
2. How, from this passage, will godly people be restored?
3. What will happen to others?

C. Comment:

Restoration is coming to Jerusalem, but it is coming by a purging (v.25) when God will separate out and deal with people according to their response to Him; He will bring justice, what people deserve. First of all, those who are penitent, who repent, who turn back to God, they will be redeemed. God will take their past sins and now give them His forgiveness. Repentance and seeking God with a genuine heart are always keys to receiving restoration.

Second, there are those who remain rebels, staying in their sin, turned away from God. These ones will perish; it is as simple as that. They have had their warning and ignored it, so God will come and deal with them. The picture given of Jerusalem is of a tree dropping leaves or of a garden in drought. So many in Jerusalem would fall and then be burnt up. And an additional reason is given: they had given themselves over to idol worship; they had had sacred trees and sacred gardens where they worshipped other gods. That would all be shown up for what it truly was, false worship, and those who remained would be ashamed of what they had done and would return wholly to the Lord. This coming restoration will restore those who will be restored to their original relationship with the Lord, but for all others, they will be swept away. Jerusalem WILL be righteous.

D. Application:

1. Righteousness comes through repentance and restoration.
2. Those who refuse that path choose destruction.