The Six Woes of Isaiah
5: 8-25

This section has been described as Judah’s Grapes of Wrath because of its series of six woes, hurled against six groups of people who were responsible for producing stinking fruit, that was shameful in the eyes of ADONAI. Here, as elsewhere in the TaNaKh, a parable is used in preparation for a statement of judgment (see my commentary on the Life of David, to see link click Ce – David Anointed King Over Y’hudah). It was the nature of the prophets of the times to begin with a parable and then move on to their words of judgment. So, in 5:1-6 we have the Parable of the Vineyard, in 5:7 there is the interpretation, and in 5:8-25 we have the application of the woes and the judgments. God, through Isaiah, will pronounce six woes for the bad grapes that Judah produced. He will intersperse these six woes with four therefores.

The Hebrew word hoy, translated woe, introduces a lament as much as a threat. Isaiah is not only angry and accusing, he is also grief-stricken over the sins of his people. On the other hand, it is interesting to realize how measured and reasoned Isaiah was in his ministry, as were all the prophets. Anyone who thinks that they were merely condemning demagogues, ranting and rebuking, fails to see how they ministered on the basis of great evidence, or woes. Then carefully written logical, inescapable conclusions, in a series of therefores. The therefore sections serve to subdivide 5:8-25 into two parts, 5:8-17 and 5:18-25. Watch for the repeated connection of drunkenness and injustice in 5:11-12 and 5:22-23.

The Song of the Vineyard
5: 1-7

The song of the vineyard DIG: If you were a gardener with an annual crop, how long would it take you to give up on that plot of land if it wasn’t producing? What is the purpose of God’s asking the people to judge for themselves what He should do to the vineyard? What are some of the ways the LORD Almighty had cultivated and cared for Judah, the garden of His delight? What is one chief quality ADONAI expects to see in His people (1:17)? How is the “fruit” that has grown different from what He expected?

REFLECT: How would you feel about singing a love song about the adultery of your spouse? In effect, this is what the LORD is doing here. If it were you, how would you react? Or if you have been a victim of adultery, how did you react? When have you been wronged and wanted justice? What is the difference between justice and vengeance? Is it wrong to want justice? As believers, who should deliver the justice and who should deliver the vengeance? If you were listening to Isaiah’s song, what would you expect to be the next stanza after this verse? What are some of the “fruits” people use today to evaluate how “spiritual” a person is? How do these compare with what God looks for in spiritual growth (Matthew 21:33-44; John 15:1-3; Galatians 5:22-23)? How would you assess the “fruit” in your own life: (a) just budding? (b) still premature? (c) developing on schedule? (d) ripe for enjoyment? or (e) diseased?

Chapter 5 is the third major section of the book and brings the introductory oracles to a close. If Chapter 1 introduces the book as a whole, and Chapters 2 through 4 expose the enormous conflict between what Judah was called to be and what, in fact, she had become, then Chapter 5 brings us back to the reality of what her condition was at the moment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Whatever happened in the future, however redemption for the righteous of the TaNaKh might occur, the plain fact was that present sin must somehow be dealt with. Something had to give. The rabbis teach that the parable of the vineyard, by means of its imagery, enables the prophet to subtly and effectively bring home to the people God’s mercy and kindness towards them, which they repaid by ingratitude and disobedience. As a result, terrible consequences are threatened. This parable of the vineyard sets the stage for the rest of the chapter.

These first two verses comprise the song of the vineyard. As previously stated, the vineyard motif was a familiar one to Judah. Isaiah declared: I will sing for the One I love a song about His vineyard: My loved One had a vineyard on a fertile hillside (5:1). The word I refers to Isaiah himself, the One I love refers to God, and His vineyard refers to Isra’el. He had this vineyard planted on a very fertile hillside, literally, a horn the son of fatness, which is an allusion to the fertility of the Land of Isra’el. The soil in which it was planted should have produced the choicest vines and fruit. All seemed well.

Isaiah is called the “Prince of Prophets” not merely because he saw ADONAI high and lifted up (6:11), but also because he learned that El Elyon, God most High (Genesis 14:18-22; Psalms 57:3 and 78:35; Dani’el 3:26, 4:2, 5:18 and 21; Luke 1:32), also lives with the contrite and lowly in spirit (57:15). Such a God could be truly loved. In light of this, the fact that Judah could reject the One that Isaiah loved would only make her all the more guilty in his eyes (2:9).

Nothing was left undone to guarantee a bountiful crop. The LORD had great expectations of His vineyard. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower, not a temporary hut, in it and cut out a wine vat as well. Once the vines were planted, then there would be an interval of two years before the grapes would be produced. During that time of waiting and anticipation, the wall could be strengthened, the watchtower built, and the facilities for pressing and gathering the juice completed. These facilities usually consisted to two vats cut out of the hillside, one above the other and connected by a shallow trough. The upper one would be used for pressing the grapes and the lower one as a settling basin for the juice that had run down the trough from the winepress.

Isaiah emphasized the farmer’s prior commitment. He had done all the backbreaking work in expectation of receiving a good crop. Then He looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit (5:2). The LORD took special care of this vineyard. He dug it up and cleared it of stones (which in Isra’el is no small task). He built a tower to protect it from any thieves. ADONAI was sure it would produce good grapes that, in time, would produce good wine. But instead of good grapes, He got only bad fruit. The result was bitter, both in fact and in spirit, for the grapes were worthless. The word bad here really means stinking. He got stinking fruit. As a result, this song communicates no message of hope. In fact, divine grace had been exhausted.

Isaiah had a very intimate relationship with God and so he refers to Him in affectionate terms. ADONAI revealed certain things to Isaiah that He did not reveal to any other prophet. Isaiah alone received the concept of the Trinity. The prophet alone received the revelation of the virgin birth. Only Isaiah clearly received the revelation of Messiah’s coming death. In other words, he saw things that no other prophet was able to see.

ADONAI said: Judge between Me and My Vineyard (5:3-6). Because of the bad fruit, the vineyard was to be judged. God called Judah to act as a judge between Himself and His vineyard (the people of Judah do not know that they are the vineyard yet; the LORD will tell them in 5:7), and then He makes His case. Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard (5:3). As Jesus will also describe His parable of the vineyard (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Iy – By What Authority Are You Doing These Things?), by making His hearers both judge and jury, He begins to maneuver them toward self-incrimination: What more could have been done for My vineyard than what I have done for it (5:4)? This sobering question is evidently one that no one can answer. If divine power, wisdom and responsibility have exhausted themselves – what hope can remain? The owner of the vineyard cannot ignore the disappointing results, and He will abandon it to ruin.

Whatever might have been his hearers’ responses, Isaiah leaves little doubt as to what the Owner will do: Now I will tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard, the use of the Hebrew present implies an irrevocable decision and prompt action. God will not only abandon His worthless vineyard, He will also oversee its destruction. This is His decision: I will take away its hedge and it will be destroyed. A valued vineyard is protected against trespass by both a thorn-hedged fence and a more substantially constructed fence. The prophet hints at a pending invasion. He will leave the vines unprotected, saying: I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled by wild animals (5:5).

If the fertile field can only produce wild grapes, then there would be no cultivation. It would become a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns would grow there. And to make sure that it remains a wasteland, He will command the clouds not to rain on it (5:6).

The vineyard of ADONAI–Tzva’ot is seen next. Here the vineyard song comes to a climax. By this time Isaiah’s illustration in 5:1-2, had undoubtedly captured the attention of his hearers. The occasion may have been at the end of the grape season, but we don’t really know. But whenever it was, everyone who heard him could identify with the farmer’s hard work and anxious expectation. All would have felt stunned and disgusted over the bad, literally, stinking fruit (5:2). But then the tables were suddenly turned. Just as King David was stunned when the prophet Nathan said: You are the man (2 Samuel 11:1 to 12:7a), Isaiah’s hearers must have been shocked to learn that they, in fact, were the stinking fruit!

Isaiah prophesied: The vineyard of the LORD of heaven’s armies is the house of Isra’el, and the men of Judah are the garden of His delight. The application comes here. In other words, Isra’el ends up condemning herself because God says, what I did for the vineyard I really did for you. And He looked for justice, but saw only oppression; for righteousness, but only cries of distress were heard (5:7). The good grapes that God looked for were the grapes of justice and righteousness, but instead He found only oppression and cries of distress.

As mentioned earlier, Isaiah was a master of the Hebrew language and sometimes he changes one vowel pattern, or one letter of a similar sounding word, to get a completely different meaning. Here ADONAI uses Hebrew poetry to emphasize different contrasts: instead of justice (mishpat), He only saw bloodshed (mishpach); instead of righteousness (zed-daqa), He only heard cries of distress (zed-aka). He plays with words like this throughout the book. But aside from the word plays, the somewhat subtle point Isaiah made was that because of the lack of fruit, judgment had to come.

An expert storyteller doesn’t have to explain the punch line, and Isaiah didn’t explicitly mention the destruction of Judah. It didn’t not need to be, for once the connection between Judah and the vineyard had been made, the coming Babylonian invasion was inevitable.

There is none like you, O LORD, among the gods. There is nothing higher or greater than You in all the earth. May we confess with our mouths, and acknowledge before all people, that You alone are God.

The Vineyard of the LORD is the House of Isra’el
5: 1-30

The Church, made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers (Ephesians 2:14), faces a crisis of major proportion today. It is a crisis of worldview. The issue is as new as today and as old as Isaiah’s day. This is the question: Is there any meaning to life outside myself and the meaning I give it? Our culture has come to the conclusion that there is not.

The implications of this conclusion are all around us, and they are profound. Like the ancients, we recognize the obvious: a culture where lying and stealing are the norm cannot survive. So we give lip service to stopping such behaviors. However, the fact is that a little judicious lying and stealing can help me meet my needs. So a whole society says one thing and does another. For two centuries a Godly ethic has dominated America. That is, we have obeyed the laws of the land because we believed that they fairly represented the laws of the Creator and Savior. We had an allegiance to something outside of ourselves, and so we obeyed the laws even when no one else was looking or even when it was not convenient. We became an unusually law-abiding people.

But all that is changing. We are losing the idea that there is a God outside of ourselves to whom we owe obedience. As a result, we choose which laws we want to obey. We have a hard time in seeing the personal benefit in most laws, so we are becoming increasingly lawless. There is not enough force in the world to make a nation of people obey if they do not want to obey. Tragically, we cannot see that we are enjoying the benefits of our ancestors’ choices and that the way we are choosing now will destroy those benefits.

The challenge to the Church is that this kind of thinking has crept in among us as well because we are losing the idea of the authority of the Bible. If we compromise on this issue, the Church will have lost its reason to exist. The salt will have lost its saltiness (see my commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Df – You are the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World), and just like the leaders of Isra’el who were supposed to be tending the vineyard of the LORD, we will deserve to be thrown out.¹⁴

Isaiah had prophesied earlier in 3:14-15, ADONAI enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of His people. Then speaking through His prophet, the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies said: It is you who have ruined My vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor? He will now elaborate.

A Cloud of Smoke by Day and a Glow of Fire by Night
4: 5-6

A cloud of smoke by day and a glow of fire by night DIG: What is meant by cloud, fire, and shelter (see Exodus 40:34-38)? What is the purpose of the canopy that God will spread over those who come to Him? What does Isaiah mean by being safe from the heat of the day and the storm and rain?

REFLECT: How is God a refuge and a hiding place from the storm and the rain for you today? Who holds your universe together? Who can you count on when it seems like your life is spiraling out of control? How?

To illustrate the protection to be granted to the new Zion, Isaiah draws on Isra’el’s experience when they left Egypt and their wilderness wanderings where the Sh’khinah glory led them for forty years. The Sh’khinah glory is the visible manifestation of God’s presence (to see link click Ju – The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You), mostly, but not always, seen in either the form of light, fire, or cloud (or a combination of these). In the Millennial Kingdom, the cloud and the fire, which will provide light and warmth, returns and covers all of Mount Zion (Exodus 13:21-22). Then ADONAI will create over all of Mount Zion, and over those who assemble there, a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night (4:5a). Several images would be brought into play in the hearers’ minds by the allusions to the cloud of smoke and flaming fire contained in these verses.

First, they would help to establish a sense of continuity with the past and let the hearers know that the words of judgment in 2:6 to 4:1 did not mean that the LORD had abandoned His ancient covenant (see the commentary on Exodus Cg – After Leaving Succoth they Camped at Etham).

Secondly, they would reaffirm that after the Sh’khinah had left, ADONAI’s ultimate intention was to fulfill the promise that He would indeed dwell among His people (see my commentary on Exodus Hh – The Glory of the LORD Filled the Sanctuary). Ezeki’el 43:1-5 reveals to us that the Sh’khinah glory will return to the Millennial Temple (see my commentary on Revelation Fj – My Chosen People Will Inherit My Mountains).

Thirdly, the cloud would point to God’s care for them as seen through the protection and guidance afforded by the cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night (Exodus 14:19-20; Numbers 9:15-23).

In the Tabernacle, ADONAI dwelt in the midst of His people (see the commentary on Exodus Gn – I Will Dwell Among the Israelites and Be Their God), but His tent of meeting was closed to them (see my commentary on Exodus Gy – Moses and the Tent of Meeting). Not so anymore! God’s Sh’khinah glory, like a tent, will be a canopy that provides safety and peace for His people (4:5b). His divine presence, like a bridal canopy, will be a hiding place for His people.

It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain (4:6). The doubling of words here is deliberate, suggesting every possible protection imaginable. The phrase then the LORD will is literally: And now let Me tell you what I Am about to do. The use of the Hebrew present implies an irrevocable decision and prompt action. Isaiah concludes with the Sh’khinah glory. There will be five distinct manifestations of the Sh’khinah glory in the Messianic Kingdom. He is dealing here with just one of those five. First, is the Most Holy Place in the Millennial Temple; secondly, the Sh’khinah glory will be a wall around the city of Jerusalem; thirdly, a Millennial Mount Zion, or the Mountain of the LORD mentioned in Chapter 2; fourthly, this Mount Zion will be seen all over Isra’el; and fifthly, the Messianic Person, Yeshua the Messiah, Himself.

The canopy of cloud and fire, so terrifying to the enemies of ADONAI, will be a source of comfort to the believing remnant. The same fire that purged them would then be their protection and hope. In language that reminds us of Psalm 91, the psalmist declares that neither blinding sunlight nor driving rain can hurt those who belong to God. The pagans fear natural forces, but those who rest in the shadow of Shaddai, the Almighty One (Psalm 91:1 CJB), have nothing to fear from the authorities and powers (Romans 8:38; Ephesians 1:21-22, 6:12) of this world.

Who holds the universe together? No one but God, who is infinitely superior in strength and power, knows all things, and sustains the universe. That’s mighty!

The Branch of the LORD
Will Be Beautiful and Glorious
4: 2-4

The branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious DIG: The Branch of the LORD motif is used by Jesus (John 15:1-5), as well as other prophets (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12). How does Jesus’ use of it differ from the way Isaiah uses it here? What does that say about who the true Branch of the LORD is? What did the women of Zion represent? In what ways were they not separating themselves from the world? What message would that send to the nations around them? How would those survivors, who earlier had been characterized by gross sin, now become holy? Is it by human effort? Or by some other means?

REFLECT: Why is the Branch of the LORD important to you today? How do we become part of this Branch? What does it mean to be holy? How does one become holy today? In what ways do you find it difficult to be separate from the world? If you were accused of being a believer, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? How can you be certain?

In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the Land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel (4:2).

In spite of the coming severe judgment, God’s blessing would eventually come. Sometimes, in that day refers to the near historical fulfillment of the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem (as seen in 3:18), but other times, depending on the context, it refers to the far eschatological fulfillment of the Messianic Kingdom (as seen in 2:12 and 17, 3:7 and 4:1). When ADONAI gives Isra’el glory, then she will know her true greatness, the greatness that eluded her when she tried to produce that glory for herself.

Traditionally, beginning with the Targum, the Branch of the LORD, who will be beautiful and glorious, has been interpreted as the Messiah since this is its meaning in Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15; Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12. The term Branch is fitting because the Messiah sprouted from David’s line (Jeremiah 33:15a), and points to the divine nature of the Branch. Isaiah introduces the motif of the doctrine of the Branch of the LORD, which he will develop later in Chapter 11. Isaiah says that the fruit of the Land will be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel, the Jews who survive the Great Tribulation. Of all those Jews who enter the Great Tribulation, only one-third will survive (Zechariah 13:8-9).

The nation, which had gradually become distant from God in moral character, will become holy in the messianic Kingdom. The purpose of judgment and redemption is that people should become more like the LORD. Indeed, that was the purpose of the exodus and the giving of the Torah. God’s desire is that we should be set apart: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:2). It also means that we become His possession. Consequently, the seven objects in the Tabernacle were holy and were not for common use (Leviticus 10:1-11).

But to be holy also means that we exhibit a distinctive character. The so-called Holiness Code in Leviticus, Chapters 17 through 26 stresses that it is through the development of certain kinds of ethical behavior that people demonstrate the holiness of the LORD (James 1:22). We are supposed to influence the world, not have the world influence us. Paul gets at this idea of separation when he talks about marriage. He says: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the Temple of God and idols? For we are the Temple of the living God. As God has said, “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you (Second Corinthians 6:14-17). Isra’el, however, continued to fail to cultivate such ethical behavior. In fact, she seemed incapable of doing it. What should be done?

Isaiah, along with the other prophets, saw hope through the judgment of sin. This would be the cleansing process. Through the fiery judgment, a small believing remnant would emerge. They would realize why the verdict had come and turn away from their sins that had brought the judgment in the first place (Ezeki’el 36:25-26, 39:23-26; Dani’el 9:4-19). Isaiah had personally experienced the purging by fire (6:6-7), and he knew it was really a gift from God Himself. For without it, we would be lost.

Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy (4:3a). The mark of distinction for surviving Isra’el will be holiness, not wealth or prestige. They will be washed clean by the blood of the Lamb (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Cf – You Are Worthy To Take The Scroll), because sin cannot be cleansed apart from the shedding of blood. In fact, the Torah requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22, also see Leviticus 16:11-19, 17:11; Isaiah 53:12 and Matthew 26:28). According to Zechariah, it is through the Branch that the guilt of Judah will be washed away (Zechariah 3:8-9), and a fountain opened for the cleansing of her sin and uncleanness (Zechariah 13:1).

All who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem will be called holy (4:3b). The doctrine of salvation states God chose us because He knew that we would choose Him. People’s names are entered into the Lamb’s book of life-including the names of babies or children who die before they can understand the Gospel (Second Samuel 12:22-23) in response to the choices they have made. In no sense is salvation the result of human initiative. We are, as it were, dead at the bottom of a spiritual lake. We are lost. The LORD had to make the first move toward us, which He did when He sent His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). Now we are saved because we responded to His divine plan. But those who will not respond will remain spiritually dead and will not be saved.

ADONAI will wash away the filth, literally meaning vomit, of the women of Zion; He will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of fire (4:4). Every one of their names is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 3:5; 20:12, 15, 21:27; Philippians 4:3). The cause of their holiness is that the filth of the Jewish women is washed away. That answers the problem of the indictment and judgment of the Jewish women (3:16-4:1). The bloodstains of Jerusalem will also be purged, answering the problem of the indictment and judgment of the Jewish leaders (2:22-3:15).

How do you get your name in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:27)? Does the LORD choose us, or do we choose Him? The answer is, well, yes. It is an antinomy, meaning two things that are seemingly polar opposites, but both are true. It is an apparent contradiction that really isn’t one. In the case of election, two truths both can be supported by Scripture, but cannot be reconciled from the human point of view. It is like two sides of the same coin. On one side God chooses us, as seen in Romans Chapter 9; on the other side, we choose God, as seen in Romans Chapter 10. Two sides of the same coin: ADONAI has chosen us before the foundation of the earth to be holy (Ephesians 1:4; First Peter 1:20), but we can say no to God and make it stick (Matthew 23:37; John 3:16). When asked the question, what shall we do with an antinomy? The famous Canadian theologian J. I. Packer said, “Accept it for what it is and learn to live with it.” I think that is good advice in this life because now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; however, when we get to heaven, then we will see the LORD face to face and He can explain it all to us (First Corinthians 13:12).

But even after we decide to believe in Messiah, our efforts alone will not be able to wash away our sin. The Ruach ha-Kodesh is the One who did the purging of the Jewish women and the leaders of Jerusalem. The Hebrew uses the singular in both cases to denote the people collectively. John the Baptist said that Yeshua would baptize . . . with fire (Matthew 3:11); that is, to purify the nation.

The Believing Remnant in the Messianic Kingdom
4: 2-6

Isaiah now ends the larger section beginning in 2:1. He started with the announcement of Isra’el’s destiny, meaning both the northern and southern Kingdoms, as a people of God, through whom the Torah could be made known to the world. That vision, however, stood in direct contrast to their present condition during Isaiah’s lifetime. Basically she was reduced to Judah and Jerusalem, and even then Judah was being taught by the world instead of teaching it. She was learning dependence on human leadership for her survival. But in a series of stunning contrasts, Isaiah demonstrates how such dependence does not elevate, but rather, humiliates (2:6 to 4:1). The climactic contrast appears in 3:16-4:1, where Jerusalem is compared to the haughty ladies of Jerusalem who will be reduced to abject misery by the coming Babylonian Captivity.

Nonetheless, does this prophetic destruction mean that the LORD has given up on Isra’el? Had her sins piled up too high? Was her destiny unreachable? There are those, even today, that would agree with that. But ADONAI refutes this and answers those critics in 4:2-6. He will not give up on His people Isra’el. In fact, the coming purification of the Babylonian Exile will only serve to mold His people into what He always wanted them to be (4:4). Isaiah reinforces his belief that the redeemed nation is unified with her past by using a number of allusions from the Exodus (4:5-6). They will not lose their royal priesthood (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click De – You Will Be For Me a Kingdom of Priests), indeed, they will find it (Malachi 3:3-4).

The fact that God will not give up on Isra’el because of her sins is good news for you and me today. If we are united in Christ by faith, nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord (Romans 8:39b). If He would have given up on Isra’el because of her sin, then He could give up on you because of your sin! But because He is the Promise Keeper, that will never happen. You can be secure in your relationship with Him. You can count on Him. Praise God!

This is a further description of the Messianic Kingdom and the happy state of the believing remnant, the survivors of the storm in which all the wicked have been swept away. The Land will be purified and the Sh’khinah glory of the LORD visible, while His divine protection will ensure safety and eternal peace. This is a vision of redemption just before the long message of indictment and judgment in Chapter 5. ADONAI, through His prophet Isaiah, always tempers His judgment with hope.

The Women of Zion Are Haughty
3:16 to 4:1

The women of Zion are haughty DIG: How are the women pictured in these verses? What reference to their captivity do you see? What judgment upon the men is really meant for the women? How do you account for this (3:9)? Since being unmarried and childless was considered a disgrace, how is God’s judgment appropriate to their sin? What contrasts are made between 3:16, 3:24 and 4:1?

REFLECT: How do you see the same haughty, self-centered attitudes reflected in people around you? How does their idea of beauty compare with that of First Peter 3:3-4? Do you think such inner beauty applies to mankind as well? How have you tried to develop this inner beauty on your own? How has God’s discipline led to growth in your life? What has God taken away from you so that He could come back to Him?

Isaiah turns from the leading men of Jerusalem (3:1-15) to its leading women (see my commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Gj – Jeremiah’s Final Word to the Judeans in Egypt), and finds the same spirit of arrogant self-satisfaction that was the death warrant of Tziyon. In an extremely powerful picture, Isaiah makes the whole argument concrete. Because of their pride they exceeded their authority. They were the ones who persuaded their husbands to carry out the sins that were listed earlier. They walked around with their noses up in the air because they believed they were so influential. Isaiah contrasted what they looked like, and then what they will look like after God’s judgment comes upon them both in the Babylonian captivity and during the Great Tribulation.

ADONAI says: The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with short steps because of the hobbling effects of ornaments jingling on their ankles (3:16). This is a description of the dancing girls who were trained as prostitutes for service in the idolatrous temples. When these females dance they stretch forth their necks, and hold them awry, as if their heads were about to fall off their shoulders. And as they glide along they roll their eyes (which are painted), and cast wanton glances on those around.¹⁰ The ornaments attached to the ankles were made of gold, silver, or iron, according to the taste of the women and are still worn by Oriental women today. They are sometimes quite heavy, and special pains are taken to strike them together, in order to make a jingle. When they are hollow, as is often the case, the sharp sound is increased. In Egypt and in India some of the anklets have small round bells attached to them, and these bells sometimes have little pebbles in them, which strike like tiny clappers. It may have been the same way that the wife of Jeroboam announced her presence. So when Ahijah (who could not see) heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said: Come in, wife of Jeroboam (First Kings 14:6).

The result of their confrontation with the LORD will be humiliation, a stripping away of any attempt to exalt themselves. Those who depend upon precious jewels, elegant necklaces, fluttering eyes, and ornaments jingling on their ankles, found themselves with shaven heads, the worldwide sign of female disgrace.

They consumed themselves with presenting a certain image before the men of their society. God’s response struck at the heart of the problem. Since they focused on their external beauty, He would take it all away. They would lose their soft skin and their flowing hair. Stress ages people. When they looked old and haggard, who would want them then? Therefore, the LORD will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; ADONAI will make their scalps bald (3:17). Their pampered bodies would attract attention in another way; they would have sores on their bald heads.

The phrase, in that day, is used three times in the context, here in 3:18, in 4:1 and again in 4:21. When it used, it is always a reference to the Great Tribulation. Therefore, Isaiah starts out with a near historical prophecy of the Babylonian captivity and changes to a far eschatological (or end times) prophecy of the Tribulation period. In that day they trusted in their beauty, but their beauty will be destroyed. God will expose them.

Isaiah lists twenty-one luxury items in which these women were trusting. In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the jewels and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and wrist bracelets and veils, the headdresses and ankle bracelets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls (3:18-23). There was nothing inherently wrong with these items. But because they had become more important than ADONAI in their lives, they had to be removed. It was by means of these expensive items that they walked around haughtily. As a result, they persuaded their husbands to steal from widows and the orphans to be able to purchase them. Instead of having beauty, they will look like wretched beggars. They will be led into captivity like pitiful prisoners disfigured by being treated so badly by their captors.

Instead of fragrance, there will be stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding (3:24). In place of fragrance there will be a stench. Instead of a beautiful sash around their waist, they will wear the rope of a prisoner. Instead of well-dressed hair, they will be shamed with baldness. The women of the east have always paid special attention to dressing the hair. Folds, braids, and tresses in every variety are a source of pride. On the other hand, baldness is considered a calamity and is made an occasion for contempt.¹¹ Thus the change from well-dressed hair to baldness would be catastrophic. Instead of fine clothing, they will wear the sackcloth of mourning. Instead of beauty, they will be branded on the forehead, which was the custom of conquerors. But what will hurt these Jewish women the most is not the mistreatment, but the reduction of the male population.

The LORD would not only take away their beauty, but He would also slay the men they wanted to attract. Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle (3:25). The gates of Zion, where earlier men assembled in great numbers, will be reduced to a mere few women, who will lament and mourn; destitute, they will sit on the ground (3:26). The daughter of Zion herself is swept clean, totally emptied, laying on the ground in total humiliation.

Their obsession with attracting men would become worse as they realized how few men were left after battle. In that day seven women will take hold of one man (4:1a). In 3:6 the men take hold of a man, seeking a ruler; but here the women take hold of a man, seeking a husband. So it would be in the Jerusalem that Isaiah foresaw. No longer would they be able to flirt their way into marriage.

During the Tribulation period there is going to be such a drastic reduction of the male Jewish population that in that day there will be a ratio of seven women to one man in the Jewish world (That might cause several of you to become post-tribulationists right there!). In the biblical times as well as today, one of the great disgraces in the Jewish world is to be unmarried (Isaiah 54:4) and childless (Genesis 30:23). The Jewish girls will hear, “So, why aren’t you married yet?” Because of this reproach against Jewish unmarried women in the Tribulation, seven women will ask a Jewish man to marry them, and they will not even ask him to provide the basic necessities that a husband is supposed to provide. The legal requirements that every married woman had a right to expect were food and clothing (Exodus 21:10); but they will not demand even these basic requirements of the Torah. They will say: We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by our name. Please take away our disgrace (4:1b).

Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted deep distress. Even Job’s comforters came to sympathize with him: They sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was (Job 2:13). When the Jews were in captivity, it is said: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion (Psalm 137:1). Jeremiah also alludes to the same custom in Lamentations 2:10 and 3:28. The same idea is represented in a more intensified form when he says: O my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes; mourn with bitter wailing as for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us (Jeremiah 6:26). Micah also says: Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all. In Beth Ophrah roll in the dust (Micah 1:10).¹² So this will be a time of great distress.

Most of the Roman coins which were made in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem have on one side the figure of a woman sitting on the ground, usually, though not in every instance, under the shade of a palm tree. The figure is generally represented with one hand to the head, which rests upon it inclining forward, and the other hanging over the knee, thus presenting a picture of great grief. In one instance, however, the hands are tied behind the back. These coins were issued during the reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, some of them being made in Judea, and some in Rome. They are of gold, silver, and brass, and give an apt illustration of what is referred to here.¹³

In 2:2-4, Isaiah started out describing the Messianic Kingdom where everything will be perfect for Isra’el, but then he contrasted that with the indictment and judgment on the nation. How often ADONAI works in the lives of His children in the same way today. He knows if we value something more than we value Him, and He is able to take it away, it will drive us back to His loving arms where we belong.

Judgment Against  the Elders and Leaders of His People
2:22 to 3:15

Judgment against the elders and leaders of His people DIG: Here is a more specific prophecy of judgment that is coming upon Judah. What is their essential problem in 2:22? What things will the LORD take away from their supply and support? What would happen to a society where all their partners in crime were removed as well? What types of social chaos will come about as a result of God’s judgment? If you had lived during a time like this, what would you expect to see around you? How would you feel about your future? Your family? Your money? What attitudes and actions precipitate God’s judgment here? By what “legal” means might the leaders plunder the poor?

REFLECT: How do we trust in mere humans today? What examples come to mind of how poor people in your world are oppressed by “legal” means? How much of this do we see in our own world today? What can you learn from reading the book of Isaiah to help you through possible tough times ahead? How have you done with tending the garden of what God has given you to take care of?

The people of Judah had been lulled to sleep by their gradual descent into a sinful lifestyle. Gradually, they developed an attitude of entitlement, pride and arrogance. They believed that because ADONAI had given them the Land, the Torah and the Temple, nothing could happen to them. Elohim just wouldn’t allow it. After all, weren’t they the apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 32:9)? Consequently, they took the LORD’s unconditional love and turned it into lawlessness (Romans 6:1-4). Isaiah keeps driving one point home that will be reiterated by Jesus in the Gospels: the leaders of Israel led the people astray. This will be repeated over and over again. So here God enters an indictment, through His prophet Isaiah, of the Jewish leadership.

ADONAI says to stop trusting in mere humans who lead you astray after false gods. This verse makes it plain that the passage is not talking primarily about idolatry. It does not say stop trusting in idols – it says stop trusting in mere humans. Idolatry is not the cause, rather it is worship of mere humans that results in idolatry.

They have but a breath in their nostrils (2:22a). Our entire existence is dependent upon our ability to breathe. Take the air away, and we cease to exist. The point of this statement is the frailty of human life. Breath is the foundation upon which their trust rests, and yet it can be quickly taken away and we can be reduced to nothing. If so, why hold mere humans in such high esteem (2:22b)? That is exactly what is going to happen to the leaders of Israel because later in 3:1-7, God will remove all of Israel’s competent leaders. Competent here does not mean godly leadership, but merely competent, even in an ungodly way. Isaiah prophesied that Isra’el would be left with incompetent ungodly leaders, and as a result, anarchy in Isra’el would be widespread.

First, God announces a famine, and because all food and water is removed, so is the leadership of Jerusalem and Judah. Isaiah prophesied: See now, the Lord, ADONAI of heaven’s armies, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support (3:1a). It is the Sovereign God, not sovereign man, who holds their destiny in His hands. The opening: See now, the Lord, typically introduces a threat in prophetic speech. Supply, or masen, and support, or masena, are closely related in Hebrew. Supply is in the masculine and support in the feminine gender. The word play here by Isaiah depicts their total removal. The equivalent phrase in English would be “bag and baggage.” All the supplies of food and water were about to be removed (3:1b). Because of her sin, God would take away everything the people had relied on, including her incompetent leaders.

The Lord will take away four kinds of leaders: military leaders, the hero, warrior and captain of fifty; political leaders, the elder, judge, counselor, and men of rank; religious leaders, the prophet, soothsayer, and the clever enchanter, or members of the occult who had become leaders of Israel at that point, and skilled craftsman (3:2-3). This is exactly what happened when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Isra’el (Second Kings 17:24), and when king Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians defeated the southern kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem (Second Kings 24:14). Leaders who could stir up rebellion were deported, and only the poorest and the most docile remained. Because Judah and Jerusalem had relied on human leadership rather than divine discernment, a day would be coming when they would be forced to rely on the leadership of the Lord once again.

With the removal of their competent leaders, only incompetence remained. The prophet’s sense of contrast is clear. Judah will go from a mighty man to a child. God raised up foolish, weak leadership, saying: I will make boys of their officials; mere children will govern them. The rulers behaved with the unpredictability and thoughtless cruelty of mere children. People will oppress each other – man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable. Anarchy followed and the requirements for leadership became rather simple. If a man owned either a coat or a loaf of bread, it was sufficient for him to become a leader in Israel. A man will take hold of one of his brothers at his father’s house, and say: You have a coat, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins! But in that Day of Judgment he will cry out: I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people (3:4-7). The leaders of Judah will not be able to feed or clothe their people and will not accept the responsibility. Isaiah seems to say, “How the mighty have fallen!” Judah would go from a time when no position was too great to assume, to a time when even a heap of ruins was more responsibility than a person would want. Therefore, the childish leaders would have no solution to the problem of shortages people would be facing during the coming devastation of Judah by the Babylonian army.

For Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling. Staggers and falling are prophetic perfects that are used to describe events so certain that they are seen as having already occurred. But at the same time, a case could be made that they described the present condition during Isaiah’s day because Jerusalem had already fallen and was staggering in a moral and spiritual way. The coming military destruction would merely be a reflection of it. Their words and deeds were against ADONAI, brazenly defying His glorious presence (3:8). Why was Judah reduced to this state of anarchy? It was because of her sins. She had violated her covenant with God and sinned in both word and deed, defying His glorious presence. The look on their faces testified against them; they paraded their sin like Sodom and they did not hide it. Woe to them! They had no one else to blame because they had brought disaster upon themselves (3:9). Their sins were obvious and they made no attempt to hide them (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Ey – The Two Angels Arrived in Sodom). They had become like the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin was no longer called sin; it was the new morality.

In the true form of Wisdom writers, Isaiah affirms the principle of just reward for both the righteous and the wicked. When God judges, the righteous will not need to fear for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. But disaster will fall upon the wicked (Romans 3:7-11)! They will be paid back for what their hands have done (3:11). God would protect the righteous, but the wicked will be destroyed. God’s judgment is always fair. It is impossible for Him to act in any other way. Wicked people often think that sinful living is fun and the way to get ahead in this life. However, as Isaiah reminds us, it is always better to live a life of holiness and righteousness. This could have been a word of encouragement to the faithful remnant that were about to be swept away with the wicked. This was the same message that will be given to another faithful remnant (see the commentary on Revelation Ba – The Church at Smyrna).

Youths oppress My people, women rule over them. O My people, your guides lead you astray, they turn you from the path (3:12). Ironically, Isaiah uses the word guides, meaning those who set you right, which is the responsibility of a true leader; but here those who were supposed to set them right – set them wrong! The phrase, they turn you from the path, literally means and the road of your paths they swallow up. So here Isaiah refers to the path of righteousness. The old established signposts of righteousness were gone from Israel as if someone had swallowed them up.

ADONAI, in judging the peoples, declares that the social and political leaders are responsible for the oppression and exploitation of the helpless poor. By closing their eyes to the evils that they could have prevented, they become accessories to the fact. The rulers had become children and women, and had led the people astray. So God was then ready to judge His people. What were these rulers actually guilty of? The LORD takes His place in court and rises to judge the people (3:13). He has the authority to judge and was about to do so.

ADONAI will not allow the practices of the Jewish leadership to go unpunished. He enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of His people and testifies against them. Sooner or later, they will have to deal with Him (Psalm 82:1-8). He leaves no doubt as to the condition of the land and the people when He declares: “It is you who have ruined My vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your homes. What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the LORD GOD of Hosts (3:14-15 CJB). They had plundered the poor, taking what little they had (Deuteronomy 24:19-21). Their greed was symptomatic of their self-centeredness. Rather than being servant leaders, they were only interested in becoming rich at the expense of others.

God says they are condemned for spoiling the vineyard. Isaiah will elaborate on this theme in Chapter 5. The vineyard is the nation of Isra’el and God allowed the leaders to come into it so that they would take care of it. But He says they ruined it (Isaiah 5:1 and 7; Psalm 80:8-18; Jeremiah 2:21 and 12:10; Ezekiel 15:6-8). This is emphasized again when Jesus struggled with the Pharisees during the inspection of the Lamb, or the five days leading up to the Passover (Mark 11:27 to 12:43).

On That Day Gold and Silver
Will Be Thrown to Rodents and Bats
2: 12-21

On that day gold and silver will be thrown to rodents and bats DIG: What will the Day of the LORD be like for the proud in 2:10, 19 and 21? Why will they give up their gold and silver?

REFLECT: When you think of the Day of the LORD for you personally, is it a day of joy or a day of terror? A day of peace or a day of dread? Why? How can you do this week to help someone escape it?

When the LORD comes to establish justice on the earth, human values will be reversed. Things that people had once considered important will be considered worthless. And some things that people thought were insignificant will be highly valued. God has a day of judgment in store, a scheduled time of reckoning for sinners. When He comes, nothing or no one will be able to stand against Him. He has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, and their self-aggrandizement will come to an end.

The LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (CJB) points to His military might and strength, and here He lists the five things He will judge. First, He will judge the proud and lofty, secondly, the trees; thirdly, the mountains and high hills; fourthly, the defensive towers and the city walls; and lastly, foreign wealth will be judged. The very things that these men trust in are the very things the LORD is going to judge. Then ADONAI spells out three results of the Great Tribulation upon Isra’el.

First, all the proud and lofty and all who are exalted will be humbled (2:12). Both high and low in the social order will have to answer on the Day of Judgment (see my commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). This will be fulfilled where we read: The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; ADONAI alone will be exalted on that Day (2:11). Humanity will tremble before God’s majesty as He displays His power and judgment. For all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every vessel will be brought low (2:13-16). If all these will be humbled; how much more so the inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 11:10). The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled (2:9, 11, 17a).

Secondly, ADONAI alone will be exalted in the Day of the LORD, and idols will totally disappear (2:17b-18). The people will do anything to escape judgment. In that day unbelievers will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship because it will hinder their escape (2:20). They had turned their gold and silver into idols. But in the end, they threw away the very things they had worshiped. The recipient of their idols, rodents and bats, were both blind. So this is a case of the blind leading the blind. The spiritually blind idol worshipers were throwing away their worthless idols to the physically blind rodents and bats!

Thirdly, those living on the earth who sought to sit on the throne of God will scurry for shelter in the rocks when ADONAI, the only God, returns. When He rises to shake the earth, people will flee to the caves in the rocks, to the overhanging crags and to holes in the ground to escape from the dread of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty (2:19 and 21). Their ravenous ambition to be God had robbed them of the dignity that could have been theirs. If they only had the fear of the LORD (Proverbs 1:7), then they would have been friends (Psalm 25:14). But having refused it, they would then know His terror for He would come as their enemy and they would have no defense (1:24). This is the paradox of faith. Those attempting to exalt themselves become nothing; but those who submit to the LORD are declared His child to reign with Him. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His suffering in order that we may also share in His glory (Romans 8:17).

This is exactly the way the apostle John describes the last days: Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand (Revelation 6:15)? This was the fulfillment of 2:10, and will be expanded in detail in Chapters 24 through 27. In view of the LORD’s coming judgment in the future, Judah should turn to Him in the present. God’s glory should cause them to live righteous, holy lives and thus escape His severe judgment.

The Eyes of the Arrogant Will Be Humbled
2: 9-11

The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled DIG: 1:10-21 is a song of judgment against the people described in 1:6-8. What is the root cause of their sin? How will they be humbled?

REFLECT: The proud, arrogant people are condemned in powerful images relevant to Isaiah’s day. If Isaiah wrote this prophecy today, what symbols would he use? Isaiah anticipated that God’s judgment would come via Assyria, and later, Babylon. In Revelation 6:15-16, John alludes to Isaiah’s imagery as an apt description of the coming worldwide judgment of God. What do you need to change, so that you will not be one who is trying to hide in the ground from God in that day? How can you help others from this fate?

Judgment will be announced because of the sins of Isra’el. Isaiah says that the people will be humbled. This Hebrew verb is in the perfect tense. The prophet is so sure of the result, that he describes it as an event that had already taken place. The verb is singular, emphasizing the effect on each individual. So people will be brought low and everyone humbled (2:9a). Because they bow down to idols, they will be made to bow down to the mighty hand of ADONAI. The punishment for playing god can be no less than banishment from YHVH. This is a denial of God’s basic purpose for us – fellowship with Him.

Another result of this judgment will be that Isra’el and Judah were not to be forgiven (2:9b). The Hebrew imperative expresses an inevitable outcome. There was no way they could be forgiven – judgment would assuredly come. In these dual near historical future prophecies, the northern kingdom of Isra’el would eventually be forced to suffer the consequences of the Assyrian invasion, occupation and assimilation, while the southern kingdom of Judah would ultimately be forced to endure the Babylonian captivity for seventy years (see my commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule).

But there is another aspect to this judgment. In the far eschatological future, this judgment will be so severe that people will hide from the glory of ADONAI. Isaiah prophesies and says to them: Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the dread of ADONAI, and the splendor of His majesty (2:10)! The day of the LORD was a well-known theme in the prophets (Amos 5:18-20; Joel 1:15, 2:1, 11 and 31; Zephaniah 1:7 and 14; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5). The Jewish religious leaders at the time of Isaiah taught that it would be a time when God would bless His people. But the prophets’ said that it would be a time of devastation and terror. Only afterward, blessing would come (Isaiah 11:10, 12:1; Amos 8:11; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5).

As a result, they will not be able to escape His fierce wrath (see the commentary on Revelation Cq – The Sixth Seal: The Sun Turned Black). The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low. ADONAI alone will be exalted in that day (2:11). With the destruction of their pride, God alone will be exalted. The term, that day, gives us a hint. What kind of a day will it be? Isaiah tells us next.

O House of Jacob, Let Us Walk in the Light
2: 5-8

O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light DIG: Why did Isaiah call Isra’el the House of Jacob? What was the prophet calling Jacob to do? Why was that calling necessary? What does it mean to walk in the light? Isaiah returns from the vision of the future in verses 1 through 5, to the reality of the present. What do these verses add to Isaiah’s catalogue of sins in 1:21-23? What makes the pagan practices in 6b so awful to God (Deuteronomy 7:1-6; 18:10-11 and Second Kings 16:7-18, where King Ahaz is guilty of clasping hands in pagan worship)? What’s wrong with accumulating horses, silver or gold (Deuteronomy 17:16-20)? What is significant about the people of Judah prostrating themselves before idols (Deuteronomy 31:16-18)?

REFLECT: What is the spiritual lesson ADONAI wanted Jacob to learn? How does that spiritual lesson apply to you today? Without having to be perfect, do you feel like you are walking in the light today? Why or why not? In the light of the rise of the New Age Movement of occultism and witchcraft, what should a believer’s response be? Why does the LORD consider them so dangerous for us? Some live as if “the one with the most toys in the end wins.” What would Isaiah say to that pop slogan? In the battle between serving God or money (Matthew 6:24), which seems to be winning in your life this week? What, if anything, has come between the LORD and you? Why? What can you do about it?

As mentioned before, sandwiched between two sections that are hopeful (to see link click  Ao – Jerusalem Purged By Judgment, Then Blessed and Aw – The Believing Remnant in the Messianic Kingdom), there is a major section of judgment and hopelessness (Aq – Zion’s Pathetic Present Condition and Judgment to Follow). Therefore, in stark contrast to the hope of the previous passage, here Isaiah shows us the foolishness of human pride. Chapter 2:6-22 talks in more general terms about this foolishness and its results, while 3:1 to 4:1 gives us more details.

Isaiah introduces this major section of judgment by admonishing his readers saying: Come, O House of Jacob, let us walk in the light of ADONAI (2:5). He called Isra’el the House of Jacob, a reference to the descendants of Jacob. Isaiah used this term eight times (2:5-6, 8:17, 10:20, 14:1, 29:22, 46:3 and 48:1), whereas all the other prophets together use it only nine times. When great truths about the future are given in Scripture, we are often reminded of how we should live in the present. Dear Friends, we are God’s children now; and it has not yet been made clear what we will become. We do know that when He appears, we will be like Him; because we will see Him as He really is. And everyone who has this hope in them continues purifying themselves, since God is pure (First John 3:2-3 CJB; also see First Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-9; Second Peter 3:10-14).

The abruptness of the shift from 2:5 points us to the fact that ADONAI had abandoned Judah in their present condition. They could not continue to live in their sin. The prophet, in his despair and in bitterness turns away from his people and addresses God. He had abandoned His people, the house of Jacob, not because He no longer loved them but because they had become like the world (2:6a). The reasons for the call were the sins of Judah. God had abandoned His people and three reasons are given.

First, the people were full of superstitions from the East, which meant that they were following the practices of the Assyrian Empire. At the same time the Jews were practicing divination like the Philistines (First Samuel 6:2; Second Kings 1:2), and clasp hands with pagans (2:6b). Divination, from anan, means to practice sorcery or to cast spells (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10 and 14:2; Second Kings 21:6: Micah 5:12). Judah was guilty of occult practices with sorcery, which was substituted for the God–ordained religion. They were trying to control events in their lives and the life of the nation through the power given to demons. God said that His people were full of superstitions and they practiced divination like the Philistines and clasped hands, or agreed with pagans (2:6b). No wonder God had abandoned His people.

Secondly, Judah became dependent on foreign wealth against ADONAI’s own decree. At the foot of Mount Sinai He had told the nation that they must not accumulate large amounts of sliver and gold (Deuteronomy 17:17b). Yet, Isaiah tells us that during his ministry Isra’el’s land was full of silver and gold. In fact, there was no end to their treasures! Moses had also said that Isra’el must not acquire great numbers of horses and chariots (Deuteronomy 17:16a). But their land was full of horses, and there was no end to their chariots during Isaiah’s day (2:7). God forbade these things (Deut 17:16-20), because He knew that great wealth would drive a wedge between Him and His people.

Thirdly, it was no surprise that they mistakenly reasoned that their newfound wealth came as a result of worshiping their idols. As a result, their land was full of idols. The word Isaiah uses for idols, or elilim, means nonentities, worthless ones or no-gods (40:18-20, 41:6-7 and 28-29, 44:9-20, 45:16-20, 46:1-2 and 5-7), and is a word pun for God, or elohim. The idols seemed to be the real thing, but they were not! Isaiah uses these word plays constantly in his book. The very LORD, that someday all nations will bow down to, had been exchanged by His own people for worthless idols. They were bowing down to the work of their own hands, to what their fingers had made (2:8). But, amazingly enough, they would not bow down to God.

When we let anything . . . and I mean anything . . . get between the LORD and us, it becomes an idol. How foolish it is to call what humans have made divine! When people shape God in their own image, then the world is truly without purpose and they are indeed fools.

Zion’s Pathetic Present Condition
and Judgment to Follow
2:5 to 4:1

Isaiah’s message is that, because of Isra’el’s pathetic present condition, judgment will follow. This judgment will precede any establishment of the Kingdom mentioned in 2:2-4. In light of what will happen in the future, Isaiah now questions Judah. If Gentiles are going to be saying this in the future, how much more should Jews be saying it in the time of Isaiah? Is there a sharp contrast with the Jerusalem of Isaiah’s day, and the Jerusalem of the future? In the future, God’s truth will overflow from Yerushalayim. But in Isaiah’s day, Jerusalem was the center of apostasy. In the future, ADONAI alone is worshiped, but in Isaiah’s day the city was overgrown with idolatry. In the future, there is no war, but now the engines of war would characterize Tziyon. Earlier, Isaiah was characterized by prophetic foresight, but now he is characterized by prophetic insight, as he shows the true spiritual condition of the Holy City during his day.

We need to listen to Isaiah’s words carefully. Many believers today think that when difficulties arise, ADONAI has abandoned them, or that Satan is attacking them. In many cases, what is being experienced is God’s judgment. We are experiencing the effects of sin in our lives. But it is not a cruel God who brings those things upon us, and it is not a rejecting God who abandons us to the fire. Rather, it is a loving LORD who sees no other way to bring us to the place where He can live in us. Although God wants us to be happy, His primary concern is that we are holy.⁹

They Will Beat Their Swords into Plowshares
2: 1-4

They will beat their swords into plowshares DIG: The Mountain of the LORD refers to the site upon which the Temple in Jerusalem was built (11:9; 24:23; 27:13; 56:6-7). What picture does Isaiah envision? Why are so many coming to the Temple? What will God do for them? What is meant by the Last Days (see Acts 2:17; Hebrews 1:2)? Why does Isaiah call Judah to come to the Temple at this time?

REFLECT: Which of your swords and spears (A mean streak? Angry outbursts? A cutting tongue?) has God transformed into tools for peace? What does the New Covenant make of Isaiah’s vision? Will Jesus inaugurate this year of peace? If so when will it be consummated? Why do you think so? How might this vision of ADONAI’s Kingdom shape your hope? Prayers? Values?

The mood shifts very quickly from Chapter 1. There, repentance was viewed as a hypothetical possibility, and restoration – the end product of divine discipline. The emphasis there was Judah’s hypocrisy, rebellion and injustice. Without any transition, the emphasis suddenly changes to Isra’el’s glorious future where she will be a light to the Gentiles (Luke 2:32). Micah 4:1-3 mirrors this passage almost word for word.

This is a second introduction and signals the beginning of specific prophecies in Chapters 2 through 4 after the general introduction to the book as a whole in Chapter 1. The message recorded in these verses is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem (1:1). The prophets of Isra’el had, at one time, been called seers because of their divinely given power to see or foretell what would happen (First Samuel 9:9). Here Isaiah was foretelling the future of Judah and Jerusalem in the messianic Kingdom. Because of ADONAI’s covenant promises to Abraham, Moses and David, Isaiah knew that Isra’el would once again dwell in the Land and have a superior position among the nations (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fj – My Chosen People Will Inherit My Mountains).

Isaiah looks into the far eschatological future and sees the chief among the mountains. In the last days the mountain of ADONAI’s Temple will be established as preeminent, or chief, among the mountains (2:2a). It is the mountain where the Temple, during the messianic Kingdom, will be built (Ezeki’el 40-43). In the Bible, mountains often picture kings or kingdoms (Dani’el 2:35; Amos 4:1). Here, God’s rule from this mountain and Temple will be preeminent. The theme of the preeminence of the Temple in Jerusalem is repeated many times in the prophet’s book (11:9, 25:6-7, 27:13, 30:29, 56:7, 57:13, 65:11 and 25, 66:20). Isaiah clearly wanted his readers to be aware that ADONAI will protect His covenant nation despite their spiritual insensitivity, and in spite of the fact that they would go into captivity. Other Bible passages make it clear that these would be fulfilled in the Millennium, Messiah’s thousand-year reign on the earth (Revelation 20:4b-5). Because of God’s covenant promises with Abraham, Moses, and David, Isaiah knew that Isra’el will again be in the Land and will again have a superior position among the Gentile nations.

As for timing, this prophecy points to the last days. This phrase is always eschatological, dealing with Messianic times. In the messianic Kingdom, Isaiah sees a mountain that is the highest mountain of all other mountains, and the center of Kingdom worship because it will be raised above the hills (2:2b). Zechariah 14:10 explains how this mountain came into existence, but the one who gives the details of what this very high mountain is all about, is Ezeki’el in Chapters 40 to 48. When the messianic Kingdom is established, the tribes will be divided differently than in the days of Isra’el’s history. When Isra’el possesses all of the Promised Land from the Euphrates in the north to the River Egypt in the south, the first seven tribes will be assembled in sequence from north to south. Between the tribes, the mountain of the ADONAI’s Temple will be established.

A fifty-mile square plateau will be established on the chief among the mountains, or the highest mountain in the world. South of it will be the other five tribes. This fifty-mile plateau will be subdivided into three segments; the northern segment will be twenty miles by fifty miles, the center segment will be twenty miles by fifty miles, and the southern section will be ten miles by fifty miles. In the northern section there will be the millennial Temple, the fourth Jewish Temple and the largest of them all, which will be one mile square. It will be too big to fit in the current Temple mount. The rest of the area will be for the priests of the Sons of Zadok to live in. The tribe of Levi will occupy the central section. The southern section will have the millennial city of Jerusalem in the center of it; at that point Tziyon will be ten miles by ten miles. And the two sides of Yerushalayim will by twenty miles by twenty miles, and will be areas for cultivating food for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. From the Temple, a river will flow southward, come to the City of David and split in two, one going west to the Mediterranean Sea and the other going east to the Dead Sea. This river causes the Dead Sea to be rejuvenated and become a major fishing industry in the millennial Kingdom, which is an impossibility at this time. (see Ge – Your Eyes Will See the King in His Beauty for a map of what is described above).

With the establishment of this world center in Jerusalem, the response of the Gentile nations is that they will be attracted to it like a river. It will be raised above the hills, and all the Gentile nations will stream to it (2:2c). Zion will be the center of religious instruction and the place of the supreme court of the nations. Gentiles from all over the world will come to it for two reasons.

First, Gentiles will come to learn spiritual truth. In the Millennium, people from everywhere will realize that God’s truth is relevant to their lives, and they will want to know it and live according to it. Many Gentile’s will come and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of ADONAI, to the house of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths (2:3a). Isra’el, becoming the attraction of Gentiles, is seen elsewhere in Isaiah 60:1-14, Jeremiah 3:17; and Zechariah 8:20-23. They will come to Jerusalem determined to learn God’s ways and to walk in His path. [His just rulings] will go out from Tziyon. The emphatic position of Tziyon, here stresses the fact that there are not many ways to heaven. And the word of ADONAI will go out from Jerusalem (2:3b). The reason being that during the messianic Kingdom [His just rulings] will go out of Mount Zion and the word of ADONAI will go out from Yerushalayim. So whatever further revelation will be in the Kingdom, it will come out of Jerusalem because Messiah Himself will rule from this City (Jeremiah 3:16-17). This is the ultimate outworking of a point that Yeshua made in John 4:22 when He said that salvation is from the Jews. Since God’s Torah and means of righteousness will continually proceed out of Jerusalem, salvation comes, to its fullest extent, from the Jews. What began for Isra’el at Mount Sinai will ultimately be completed at this millennial Mount Zion.

The second reason why the Gentile nations will be attracted to Jerusalem is to world peace. God will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples (2:4a). Disagreements between nations will no longer be decided by war, but they will come to Jerusalem, where the King of Yerushalayim, Yeshua, will have a worldwide ministry of judging and settling disputes. Because Jerusalem judges in peace, three results will follow. First, all weapons of war are turned into farming equipment. Secondly, there will be no war at all, and thirdly, they will not even learn the art of warfare anymore.

Universal peace, with no military conflict or training, will prevail because the implements of warfare will be turned into farming equipment. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4b; Joel 3:10; Micah 4:3). In the passage in Joel the expression is reversed: Beat your plowshare into swords. The word plowshares refers to instruments for stirring up the soil in some way, and, so far as concerns the capability of conversion into swords, these may as well have been plowshares as anything else. The plowshare was a small piece of iron, which somewhat resembled a short sword, and might easily have been beaten into one. With equal facility a sword could have been changed into a plowshare.⁸ Nation will not take up the sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore (2:4c).

Peace will not come by human achievement or the United Nations, but because of ADONAI’S presence in Jerusalem. At that time Israel will be filled with God’s Spirit (Ezeki’el 36:24-30), and her sins will be forgiven (Jeremiah 31:31-34). What Isaiah describes here is something that is going to be true of Jerusalem in the future. But then he contrasts that with Jerusalem’s present pathetic position of his day.

Jerusalem Purged by Judgment then Blessed
2:1 to 4:6

The prophecy in Chapters 2 through 4 is in the background during the reigns of the kings Uzziah and Jothan. This section depicts, in the starkest terms, the contrast between what Isra’el was determined to be and what she in fact was. Immediately after the stinging indictment (in the form of a lawsuit) of the nation’s sinful practices (1:2-31), Isaiah introduces a concept that will be central to his prophecy. That is, a time will come when Jerusalem will have the primary position in the world (Micah 4:1-3 is almost identical to Isaiah 2:2-4).

Isaiah described something he saw in a vision. When prophets saw a vision they were either transported to another place at the same time that they lived, or into the future, and describe it as if they were eyewitnesses. The content of this second section is about Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah starts out with a far eschatological prophecy about the future messianic Kingdom.

This section illustrates a full circle from the ideal to the reality, and back to the ideal again. The importance of this section is that the Isra’el can only fulfill the destiny given to her in 2:2-5 by experiencing the judgment of 2:6 to 4:1, and the purification described in 4:2-6. This reminds us of Chapter 1, and indeed the whole book, where the proud, self-sufficient Isra’el can only witness the greatness of ADONAI when she had been reduced to helplessness by His righteous judgment and then restored to life by His undeserved grace.

I Will Restore Your Judges
1: 24-31

I will restore your judges DIG: What is the purpose of the judgment awaiting those who reject the Lord in these verses? What is the future for those who repent of their sins? How will it be different from their present condition?

REFLECT: Why is Isaiah so hard-hitting here? How do you know when to use shock treatment, as he does, or a gentle word without skirting the main issue, as does Jesus with the Samaritan woman in John 4:1-16?

God’s lawsuit ended with His pronouncement of judgment on the guilty nation of Judah. Here ADONAI is pictured not only as one of the parties in the litigation, but also as the Judge who will decide what will happen to the guilty party. Those who are stubborn and refusing to repent, would be judged, but the repentant would be redeemed. The point of this section is that the condition is so hopeless that God Himself must take the situation in hand. The horror of the perversion that had taken place in Judah is emphasized by the mounting up of the divine titles that occurs like nowhere else in the book of Isaiah. Thus, ADONAI, the LORD of heaven’s armies, the Mighty One of Isra’el, declares: Ah, I will get relief from My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies (1:24a). It is as though a tsunami of consequence loomed higher and higher, with the reader waiting for the inevitable crash. The combined effect of these names point to complete dominance. Who would be so foolish as to defy ADONAI, the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies, the Mighty One of Isra’el? But He who is mighty to save can also destroy, even more so because the enemy was the apple of His eye, Isra’el (Zechariah 2:8). As Peter said: For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God (First Peter 4:17).

The announcement of the prophecy begins with a woe, which is normally more of a criticism than a threat, but here the threat is obvious. Woe, I will get relief from my foes and avenge Myself on My enemies (1:24b). God’s judging will bring Him relief from the displeasure caused by His enemies, the utter un-repentance of Jerusalem and Judah. James said that anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4). Did Judah think that she could do anything she wanted and still remain in favor with the Mighty One of Isra’el?

Both of these verses begin with the Hebrew verb shuwb, meaning to return. The English translation tends to obscure the duplication. In 1:25 ADONAI will cause His hand to return, whereas in 1:26 He will cause their judges to return. God declared that He would turn His hand against them, declaring: I will turn My hand against you. But then a hopeful note begins to materialize: I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities (1:25). As for the nation itself, their impurities will be removed. He uses the example of metal being purged of impurities by fire. This analogy is expanded in Ezeki’el 22:18-22. God lists the results of this purification. First, Isra’el will now gain righteous leadership as in the days of old. I will restore your judges as in the days of old when David and Solomon were kings, your counselors as at the beginning (1:26a). ADONAI uses the term judges, not the kind that sit in the courts of law, but the kind of judges that are described in the book of Judges, like Deborah (Judges 4 and 5) seen here to the left (art by Sarah Beth Baca: see more information on Links and Resources).

Secondly, Zion itself will become the center of righteousness rather than the center of wickedness that it had become. Afterward you will once again be called the City of Righteousness, and the Faithful City (1:26b). Jerusalem will return to the values of King David’s reign, and the early part of Solomon’s. Regardless, Isaiah saw a time when God’s people, having passed through fire of purification, would relate to Him and to one another as they should.

Thirdly, then the prophet details the contrast between the fate of the remnant and the wicked. Zion, or the people of Jerusalem, will be redeemed with justice, and her repentant ones with righteousness (1:27). Zion is a favorite term of Isaiah, occurring 47 times in the book, 29 times in Chapters 1-39 alone. The only other book in which Zion occurs so often is in the Psalms, where it appears 28 times. The word redeemed used here means to be redeemed by the payment of a price. Go’el, the word for redemption (see my commentary on Ruth, to see link click Ax – Ruth and Bo’az on the Threshing Floor), does not appear at all prior to Chapter 43, but occurs 22 times afterwards. Isaiah does not say what that price is here; but in Chapter 53 he will point out that the price is the Messiah’s blood (see the commentary on Exodus Bz – Redemption). So here the LORD is laying down a basic point that will be developed later: Zion’s redemption will only come with the payment of a price.

In contrast to the righteous, however, rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake ADONAI will perish (1:28). Along with the redemption of Isra’el there must also be the destruction of the wicked. The rebels will perish, after being disgraced forever due to their idol worship. They will be ashamed that they were ever involved in idol worship near the sacred oaks in which they delighted; they will be disgraced because of the idols in the gardens that they had chosen. Isaiah prophesied that they would become like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water (1:29-30). The wicked of the earth will one day be exposed. Although once strong like a mighty man, they will become like tinder, and their work of making and worshiping idols, like a spark, will destroy them. They will burn both by destruction of the Babylonian army, as well as eternal judgment, with no one to quench the fire (1:31).

The wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand up to the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous (Psalm 1:4-5). They are merely the chaff from wheat, good for nothing but burning. It is ironic that in making themselves apparently self-sufficient, they cut themselves off from God, the only true source of life. This is also a valuable lesson for you and me today.

Your Rulers are Rebels
1: 21-23

Your rulers are rebels DIG: How had Jerusalem abandoned God? What was the evidence? The wife of the LORD had become a prostitute. How do you think He felt about it?

REFLECT: In what ways is spiritual adultery alive and well today? When was the last time you were tempted to abandon your love for the LORD and live in the world? What is your defense?

Isaiah then turned to the present condition of Judah and what God’s response would be. He seems to be saying, “Yes, in theory, Isra’el could know forgiveness and healing (1:18-20); however, her condition is so far gone that destruction cannot be prevented.” But, as throughout the book, ADONAI’s final purpose is not for the nation’s destruction, but blessing as a result of purification.

The contrast, between the original condition of Jerusalem under King David and the early years of Solomon’s reign with the condition of the people in Isaiah’s day, is detailed. This is a lament on the moral decay of Jerusalem. See how the faithful city of Jerusalem has become a harlot and representative of the nation as a whole! Only here and in 23:15-18 does Isaiah use the metaphor of sexual infidelity. The downfall of the nation started when they failed to act as a faithful wife. In the past she was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her. At one time Jerusalem was considered faithful, like a devoted wife. But now, instead of righteous living, she condoned murderers, or people who took advantage of the needy (1:21). Consequently, the City had become a harlot or prostitute following after other gods. According to the Torah in Exodus 34:15, should Isra’el worship any other god than ADONAI, they would be guilty of spiritual adultery and prostitution.

The cause of Isaiah’s dirge was not surprising. If Hebron, Lachish or Gezer became the center of rebellion, wickedness and idol worship, that would be bad. But the holy city of Jerusalem becoming a harlot revealed that the decay was not merely superficial and unfortunate, but central and catastrophic.

Whenever corrupt leaders usurp the divine prerogative because God has not called them to serve, the voice of authority becomes the voice of opinion, proclamation is replaced by discussion, the Word of God is replaced by the word of people, and sermons become philosophical dissertations at best, or blasphemy at worst.

The LORD pointed out her impurity when He spoke through the prophet, saying: Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water (1:22). Silver and wine, which used to be valuable, had become worthless: dross metal and watered down wine. Dross is the waste left in the smelting pot after the pure silver was poured out. Like waste, the nation would be thrown away. The people would be exiled if they would not repent and return to ADONAI. This theme of spiritual adultery is expanded in detail in the book of Hosea. This was Hosea’s main burden.

Jerusalem had become the center of oppression and greed. The pure had become impure, the precious had become worthless. Her rebellious rulers were leading the people into ruin by theft and injustice to the helpless. God, through His prophet, said: Your rulers (the silver and the fine wine of Jerusalem), are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. The actions of those rulers provided a window to see everything we need to know about their society. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them (1:23). The fatherless and widows could not even get hearings because they had no money for bribing the rulers.

The Torah says that Isra’el is to be called to be pursuer of peace, or shalom (Deuteronomy 20:10); however, Isaiah called them pursuers of bribes, or salmonim. The ones who were to promote order were themselves rebels. Isaiah was a master of the Hebrew language and throughout his book he plays with these words. He changes one letter or one basic vowel pattern, a dot or a dash, and it changes the whole meaning of the word, although it sounds very much like another word.

For the first time Isaiah makes an important connection between idolatry and social justice. He will bring this issue up again (29:17-21; 46:5-13; 48:17-18; 56:9 through 57:12), and other prophets  (Ezeki’el 16:47-52; Hosea 4:1-14; Amos 2:6-8 and Malachi 3:5), especially Jeremiah (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Ee – False Prophets Condemned) mention it repeatedly. They were saying that social injustice is ultimately the result of a broken relationship with a loving God. Whenever the leaders of society start to believe that there are no eternal consequences to their actions, the poor and the vulnerable begin to be abused. And the more helpless people become, the more devastating their abuse. Although the rest of the ancient Near East generally protected the helpless, they lacked the spiritual understanding as the basis for their actions. The irony of Judah, was although the Torah gave them the spiritual basis for why the helpless needed to be protected, they refused to obey it.

Come Now, Let Us Reason Together
1: 18-20

Come now, let us reason together DIG: What does the LORD promise in accordance with their repentance? What’s happening in Judah, in 1:15, 21-23 that accounts for this call and promise? Given their religious rituals in 1:11-15, how does the secular image of adultery fit their spiritual state? How is He a jealous God? Likewise, how do scarlet and red fit? What is the condition upon which their forgiveness rests?

REFLECT: Have you ever found yourself working so hard for ADONAI that He started getting cut out of the picture? When has the Lord ever said: Come now, let us reason together to you? Did you respond? If not, what were the consequences for you? What did it take to restore your relationship with Him? How do you confess your sin? When do you confess your sins?

So after answering their response to ADONAI and showing them that their faithfulness in the sacrificial system had been to no avail because their sacrifices were not accompanied by faith, God offers them salvation. He then invites the sinful people to come to their senses and admit that they had been wrong in their attitudes and practices. The invitation, Come, literally go (the Hebrew language views the action from the starting point; the English from that of a destination) now, let us reason together, was more than a call for negotiations between the people and God. The word reason is a legal term used for arguing, convincing, or deciding a case in court. The people were to be convinced by their arguments that He was right and they were wrong about their spiritual condition. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (1:18). If they admitted the depth of their sins, that their sins were like blood-colored scarlet or red stains on their souls, God in His grace would cleanse them, making them spiritually white like snow or wool.⁷

When Yeshua told us to pray for forgiveness of our debts as we forgive our own debtors, He knew who would be the one to pay the debt. As He would hang on the cross He would say: It is finished (John 19:30). Tetelestai, one Greek word meaning paid in full. It is in the perfect tense indicating a past, completed action, with continuing, and in this case, permanent results. There are some facts that will never change. One fact is that you are forgiven. If you are in Christ (Ephesians 1:1, 3-4, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 20), when He sees you, your sins are covered – He doesn’t see them. He sees you better than you see yourself. And that is a glorious fact of your life.

When the nation of Isra’el was still in her childhood, learning from ADONAI at the foot of Mount Sinai, He said to them: I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God. This means He is zealous to protect what rightfully belongs to Him alone. Hence, it is an ethical right in the sense of a husband being zealous to have the affection of his wife alone (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Dl – You Shall Not Make For Yourselves an Idol). If they continued to commit spiritual adultery (Hosea 2:2-5), He vowed that there would be consequences, punishing the children for the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:5b-6; Deuteronomy 5:9b-10). Forgiveness only comes as a result of a changed attitude.

There is a delicate balance between human freedom and divine sovereignty. We should not think that obedience produces forgiveness. If that were true, we would control the divine will. But we cannot play God; He forgives not because He has to, but because He wants to. He is the God of second chances (see the commentary on Jonah At – Jonah’s Prayer). But it is also clear that the LORD does not forgive those who are unwilling to obey.

God offers forgiveness of sin to Isra’el if they come to Him, and He even gives them the motivation for doing so. If you are willing to be obedient, you will eat the best from the Land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of ADONAI has spoken (1:19-20). He seeks to motivate them to accept His salvation by showing the alternatives and consequences of their decision. If they accepted His offer of forgiveness, salvation would follow. But if they rejected His offer, then curses would follow. The Bible teaches that mankind has the ability to choose (Genesis 2:16-17, 4:6-10; Isaiah 1:18-20; Jeremiah 36:3; Ezeki’el 18; John 7:17). Confession of sin always comes before cleansing. It was true in Isaiah’s day and it is still true for us today.

In 1:19-20, the verb tenses in these two conditional sentences point to action. In each case the first verb pair are in the imperfect tense (viewed as an ongoing, but not yet completed action); whereas, the second verb pair is in the perfect tense (viewed as a completed action with continuing results). Thus, the sense means something like, if you are willing to obey . . . then obey; however, if you are disposed to resist . . . then rebel. The Hebrew does not recognize a distinction between hearing and doing. They would say that if you do not obey a command, you did not truly hear it! But only with a changed heart and confession of sin will our actions line up with God’s heart.

Jesus’ closest friend on this earth, the apostle John, said it this way: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us, or cleanse us, from all unrighteousness. But if we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives (First John 1:9-10).

Wash and Make Yourselves Clean
1: 16-17

Wash and make yourselves clean DIG: What did God want from the nation of Isra’el? What are those things evidence of? Why had Isra’el gotten away from doing those things? Was God asking something simple or complex from the nation? Were they easy to do? Why?

REFLECT: Some define spirituality in personal moral terms, while others see it as a matter of working for social justice. Which better reflects your background? Or where do you presently worship? How are both of these concerns interrelated in this chapter? How is your church or messianic synagogue seeking justice and encouraging the oppressed in your community? What risks would that entail? Someone has said that justice is finding out what belongs to whom and returning it to them. Another said that justice is loving people you don’t know. How do you respond to those statements? How would you define justice?

After declaring what ADONAI does not want, Isaiah announces what He does want. In contrast to their complex ceremonial codes, His demands are really quite simple (Deuteronomy 10: 12-13). Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, would reduce it to this: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8b). Therefore, the way back to a relationship with God was the actions Isra’el would take in obedience to Him. Obedience is the key virtue of God’s people, and disobedience is their worst nightmare. There are nine commands that fall into three groups that describe what ADONAI wanted the Israelites to do in the future.

In the first grouping, they were to wash and make themselves clean before God by confessing their sin and asking for forgiveness (1:16a). Dealing with purification of sins is always by means of forgiveness. ADONAI said: Take your evil deeds out of my sight (1:16b), for what good are sacrifices if you do evil?

Secondly, God wanted them to individually stop doing wrong, and learn to do right (1:16c-17a). A negative attitude to evil is not enough; it must be accompanied by positive acts of righteousness. These were three commands to reorder their personal life: stop what they were doing; learn to cultivate a new mindset and set different objectives; and seek justice and do what is right in God’s sight. Later, Isaiah would declare that the Messiah, the LORD’s servant . . . would bring justice to the nations, and in His Torah they would put their hope (42:1, 3-4).

The third triad of commands calls for society to be reformed. While it is true that we are saved by faith and not by works (Romans 2:8-9), it is also true that once saved, good works are the evidence of our salvation. Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit . (see my commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Dx – Watch Out For False Prophets). So here, Isaiah, in accordance with the Torah, said they needed to evidence their trust in and obedience to God by helping needy people. They were to encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless and plead the case of the widow (1:17b). In other words, they needed to replace their evil deeds with right actions. James would later say it this way: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22).

In light of Isaiah’s many attacks upon the leadership of Judah and Isra’el, it is quite probable that this message was especially relevant to their kings. They had been especially grievous in neglecting justice for the poor and the helpless. In the ancient Near East, protection of the oppressed was the particular responsibility of the king. Among the Gentile kings, it was done as a sense of protocol. But among the Hebrews, it was expected because it was an expression of the very character of ADONAI Himself. He cared for the outcasts, the poor and the helpless; and if the king represented Him, he needed to reflect that concern. This is also seen in the Torah, where many individual commands were similar to those in other countries. But the motive for keeping them was the love of the LORD, not the fear of kings.

This motivation for the religious practices of the Israelites is seen again and again in the book of Isaiah. His question for them is this: Do you worship out of vain repetition or out of relationship? Are you merely going through the motions or do you really love God? These same questions are just as relevant for us today as they were for them then.

Stop Bringing Meaningless Offerings
1: 10-15

Stop bringing meaningless offerings DIG: If the LORD had initiated these offerings, why were they meaningless? How had they become meaningless? What was God looking for that He was not finding? What did it say about the nation that they had the words of the Torah and King David, but paid no attention to them? What were they missing?

REFLECT: Karl Marx said that religion is “the opiate of the masses” to numb them to the evils going on around them. How is Isaiah saying something similar? What should be the end result of worshiping God?

How easy it is to think that when we go to worship regularly, read the Bible, pray, tithe, and don’t engage in substance abuse, God somehow owes us something. Moreover, how easy it is to think that when we have done all these things, the LORD could hardly expect any more from us. Look at all the heathens around us who do not do any of these things. Some people think that God should be grateful to have such faithful servants as us. Then when difficulties come to us, we are angry with God, accusing Him of being unfair after all we have done for Him.⁶ The nation of Isra’el had this attitude, and Isaiah likens them to Sodom and Gomorrah because their hearts were so far away from God. He said to them, “Hear what ADONAI says, you rulers of Sodom; listen to God’s Torah, you people of Gomorrah” (1:10 CJB).

The Jewish people had a tendency to maximize the physical and minimize the spiritual. The physical aspects are observable and, to some extent, measurable. However, the spiritual aspects are very difficult to measure. How can you be sure you love your neighbor? Yet you can count the number of times you have gone to worship, and you can record the amount of money you have given. Similarly, for them the problem became one of familiarity with the outward observable facets of their faith. ADONAI said: The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to Me? 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 (1:11). However, merely offering sacrifices at the bronze altar in the courtyard, or at the golden altar in the Sanctuary, would not cleanse them of their sins. This was the kind of religion that Isaiah and the other prophets objected to. When you come to appear before Me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of My courts (1:12)?

Elaborate rituals and ceremonies, which theoretically are designed to aid the worshiper, usually have the opposite effect. They tend to take the mind away from things that are spiritual and eternal, and center it on that, which is material and temporal. They tend to obscure rather than reveal the simple faith that God desires. Joel captured the essence of this when he wrote: tear your heart, not your garments (Joel 2:13a).

Faith was still needed to draw close to God. Outward sacrifices alone always have been and always will be insufficient. King David said it this way: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore me to the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me (Psalm 51:10-12).

The act – the ritual, divorced from its source of faith, and the resulting obedient life – was meaningless and abhorrent to the LORD. He demanded: Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your evil assemblies (1:13). This is the first thing that He could endure no longer. Here God calls the leaders and the people to see the real state of their worship. He says that He is disgusted with their plentiful and cheap sacrifices (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Cc – False Religion is Worthless). The people had the mistaken idea that they could live any way they wanted to as long as they made restitution in the sacrificial system. No repentance, no change of heart was necessary. They fooled themselves into believing the only thing necessary was that the procedure of offering be followed out exactly. However, these sacrifices were not pleasing to God. In fact, they were a disgrace.

Secondly, He also detested their attendance in the annual festivals because all they were doing was violating His courts. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts My soul hates. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them (1:14). He does not care for their meal offerings, their holy days, or their frantic and many prayers. There is repetition in these verses and we get the impression of an endless round of ritualistic activities, all repeated continually with no effect because their hearts were far from ADONAI. The weariness of God becomes very clear. Hate is a strong word. But here God says He hates this false ineffectual worship.

Thirdly, ADONAI said: When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood (1:15). At this time God is not doing away with the sacrificial system, but the point is that a sacrificial system, in and of itself, is useless without faith and obedience. Isaiah points out that the Jews were very good at keeping the sacrificial commandments, but they ignored many other demands of the Torah; doing justice, loving righteousness and so on. In these verses Isaiah emphasizes the negative aspect that God cannot endure false formal worship. What did He really want? Instead of trusting in religious ritual, the people were to obey God and have the right attitudes toward Him and others.

Arthur Pink, the English evangelical wrote about how some people do not worship, “They bring their bodies to the house of prayer but not their souls. They worship with their mouths, but not in spirit and in truth. They are sticklers for early morning communion with God, but they take no thought about keeping their hearts with all diligence. They boast of their orthodoxy, but disregard the precepts of Christ. Multitudes of professing believers abstain from external acts of violence, yet hesitate not to rob their neighbors of a good name by spreading evil reports against them. They contribute regularly to the church, but shrink not from misrepresenting their goods and cheating their customers persuading themselves that business is business. They have more regard for the laws of man than those of God for the fear of the LORD is not before their eyes.”

The Multitude of Your Sacrifices,
What Are They to Me
1: 10-17

The multitude of your sacrifices, what are they to me DIG: The Jews loved the feasts such as the Passover, ceremonies, and sacrifices that God had provided for them. How, then, could He take no pleasure in their many sacrifices? Why were they meaningless and evil? What does God call the people to do in 1:16-17?

REFLECT: What part of your worship experience do you love the most? Can you see any part of it that is similar to Israel’s worship? How is it different? Ritual was not Israel’s problem. Useless ritual was their problem. What is the difference?

Today there is a movement in the Catholic Church to return to the rituals of the church, and that they be rigidly followed. What sets traditional Catholics apart is that they celebrate the Mass in Latin, believing that no other language should be used during the church service, and that the Catholic Church is the only true church. Traditional Catholicism was born in reaction to the landmark Second Vatican Council of 1962-65 when the Roman Catholic Church attempted to make Catholicism more accessible to the people. As a result, the Mass could be spoken in any language. Women were able to perform limited liturgical duties, and celebrants could receive the Eucharistic sacrament from lay people. Traditionalists objected to all these changes, and the number of traditional Latin Mass churches has grown to 534 in 2003. According to the National Registry of Latin Masses, that is up from only 100 a decade ago.

What are these Catholic rituals? They consist of the worship of images (Exodus 20:4-5), the use of the rosary (Matthew 6:7-8), and flagellation, which is the blind hope that through self-torture, merit will be stored up and their souls will be released sooner from purgatory. The scapular is also used which is a charm that is designed to give the wearer protection against all kinds of perils, such as accidents, disease, lightning, fire and storms, the ability to ward off witchcraft, enchantments and to drive away evil spirits. Prayers for the dead are encouraged, which suggest that the state of the dead has not yet been fixed and can be improved at our request. Even the use of relics is practiced by traditional Catholic doctrine. Relics, or physical objects, are supposed to accomplish physical miracles, or change the physical or spiritual destiny of the Catholic who relies on them. Relics range from pieces of the true cross, the nails, thorns from the crown of thorns, the seamless robe of Christ, the linen of Mary, her wedding ring, locks of her hair, vials of her milk, and her house (miraculously transplanted from Palestine to Italy), to the more common and more abundant bones, arms, legs, garments and other possessions of the saints and martyrs. Every Roman Catholic Church is supposed to have at least one relic.⁴

But the question today is the same as it has always been. Does this kind of ritualistic worship please God? Or do the rituals and ceremonies detract from the purity and simplicity of the Gospel? We should always look to Scripture in these matters and Isaiah answers these questions forcefully in 1:11-14. The Jews were polluting the sacrificial system that ADONAI Himself had put in place. In these verses, God is anticipating Isra’el’s defense. She could say, “But God, we have kept the letter of the law. We have been very careful in our sacrificial system.” So Isra’el’s defense is assumed in this section and the LORD now answers that defense: Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts My soul hates. These statements relate to the past practices that the LORD could endure no longer (to see link click Aj – Stop Bringing Meaningless Offerings). Then God, through His prophet Isaiah, points to the future and the things that He wanted them to do (see Ak – Wash and Make Yourselves Clean). When Isaiah looked around he saw people long on ceremony and short on faith.⁵

ADONAI always hates ritualistic worship (Amos 5:21-27) because it takes away the attention of worshipers, and causes them to forget the truths that genuine worship is meant to convey. It prevents the connection between the worshiper and God. Ritualistic worship hides, rather than reveals the simple truth of salvation set forth by Yeshua: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him (John 14:6).