The nation of Israel was brought up out of Egypt and nourished by God's hand. Once a great a nation had now been divided into two. Israel was the Northern kingdom and Judah was the Southern kingdom. God's message of warning through His servant, Isaiah, was to the people of both kingdoms - a nation of children who had become sinful and laden with iniquity. He specifically addressed the once faithful city of Jerusalem and it's leaders, the magistrates, priests and prohets who had become corrupt and had forsaken the poor and sought only after their own gain. (Does this sound familiar?)
Chapter one is an invitation to repent. Isaiah appeals to the rebellious rulers and to the people of Jerusalem to hear the Lord's instruction. He reveals that God no longer delights in and even rejects their worship through their sacrifices and feasts which have become formal and routine with no sincereity or repentance. The people not only disobey God, but mistreat others as well. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger.
God is always willing to forgive. Through Isaiah's message of warning, He sends the invitation to repent and return to justice. The invitation was conditional. "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword"
The invitation of God is still conditional today. He does not deny our sinfulness, but is willing to wash us clean. If we are willing to turn to and obey Him, He will forgive us and give us the "good of the land" with eternal life through Jesus Christ. If we refuse and rebel, then we too will be "devoured by the sword", the sword of eternal death.
Chapter one is an invitation to repent. Isaiah appeals to the rebellious rulers and to the people of Jerusalem to hear the Lord's instruction. He reveals that God no longer delights in and even rejects their worship through their sacrifices and feasts which have become formal and routine with no sincereity or repentance. The people not only disobey God, but mistreat others as well. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger.
God is always willing to forgive. Through Isaiah's message of warning, He sends the invitation to repent and return to justice. The invitation was conditional. "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword"
The invitation of God is still conditional today. He does not deny our sinfulness, but is willing to wash us clean. If we are willing to turn to and obey Him, He will forgive us and give us the "good of the land" with eternal life through Jesus Christ. If we refuse and rebel, then we too will be "devoured by the sword", the sword of eternal death.
