The Trial

Introduction

READ Chapter 1

Isaiah’s ministry began before the Northern kingdom was conquered by Assyria and before the first exile. He is perhaps THE most quoted prophet and it the one that has the most to say about the Messianic hope of Israel. He also has strong words of condemnation for the people of Isreal. His message was delivered primarily the southern kingdom of Judah, and in the intro it is only the kings of Judah that are named.

Chapter 1 is not only the introduction of the book, but it also serves as a sort of table of contents for the rest of the book

That is the summary of the entire book, and it is also a great summary of chapter 1:

accusation of sin / rebelling: (1-15)

instruction of change/ repent: (16-19)

judgement because of sin / rebellion: (20, 28-31)

Future restoration / hope: (21-27)

The Courtroom

Chapter 1 is a courtroom scene. God, as the judge, it levying the charges against the accused, presenting his evidence and declaring the consequences for the guilty.

Isaiah 1:2–4 CSB

Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the Lord has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand.” Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him.

Yahweh calls the heavens and earth to order to listen to the charges being brought forth. This could perhaps imply the calling of the divine, heavenly counsel as we read about in Job 1 along with all the people of the earth. There is no one that will be absent, in heaven or on earth, angels or human, that will miss this case.

The awkward illustration:

As they are gathered, Yahweh says:

an OX knows (recognizes) it owner

a donkey knows where its food comes from

BUT ISRAEL (the entire nation) does not know its owner or where it’s provisions from from.

That is a pretty harsh statement!

The unflattering titles:

He then goes on to call them names:

sinful nation

people weighed down with sin

brood of evildoers

depraved children

The ultimate accusation:

abandoned Yahweh

despised the Holy one of Israel

turned their backs on Yahweh

This section of poetry uses the Hebrew tool of repetition to make a point. The words abandon and turn mean pretty much the same thing. But by repeating the same concept in several different ways the author gets his point across.

YOU LEFT YAHWEH.

Though God is going to send them away, it was they who left him first. Just as Adam & even were banished from God’s presence, it was their action that cause God to send them away. WHY? Because a HOLY GOD cannot remain in the presence of sinful people.

The Holy One of Israel

There is a phrase in verse 4 that will show up in Isaiah more than all of the other books of the Bible combined; “The Holy One of Israel”.

In the even of this court case, it is a declaration that God is without blame or charge. He is without sin in this matter, unlike the rebels who are burdened by their sin. Holiness is a characteristic of God. He is holy.

What is unique is not HIS holiness, but the fact that he calls his people, ALL his people, to also be holy!

Leviticus 11:44–45 CSB

For I am the Lord your God, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. Do not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.

Leviticus 19:2 CSB

“Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

Leviticus 20:7–8 CSB

Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.

The book of Leviticus is a set of laws for how to live. While much of it is things NOT to do, this command to be holy is something we are commanded to do or become.

They are representing Yahweh to the nations - they need to be LIKE him!

They are in relationship with a holy God - they must be holy to stay in that relationship!

YOU AND I are also called to relationship with the Holy God of Israel and we are called to represent him to the nations around us. WE, just as the Jews, are called to be HOLY, like the one who called us out of darkness and into his glorious light:

1 Peter 1:14–16 CSB

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

Our CONDUCT is to be holy - like God’s. What does that mean?

The Evidence

Well, I believe Isaiah helps us understand that a little bit when he names the evidence he has against the people.

Verses 21-26 are a chiasmus. It is a literary style that uses a crisscross type of structure:

vs 21 -> vs 26

vs 22 -> vs 25

vs 23 -> vs 24

You start in verse 21 with the unfaithful city you end up in verse 26 with the faithful city restored. In verse 21 it is an unrighteous city and in 26 you have the righteous city. Similarly you can see the silver and dross in verse 22 that will be refined and the dross removed from them in verse 25. Do you see it?

Isaiah 1:21–23 ESV

How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

The evidence against them is that they have taken bribes, ignore the needs of the under served in society (widows and orphans) and they are rebels.

Interestingly, these are the same charges Jesus will levy against the religious leaders during his day. Not much will change here. Not yet.

These verses not only point out the shortcomings of the Jews, but they also point out the compassionate heart of God. In the books of the Law there are many laws that are designed to protect the widow and the orphan. The entire book of Ruth is a pointer to the value that God places on the widow and also how God rewards and blesses those that make them a priority.

In the NT there are commands about how we are to continue to look out for these people groups (see 1 Timothy 5). The first big problem in the church in Jerusalem was an issue of taking care of a certain group of widows (see Acts 6). And James, the brother of Jesus makes an incredibly bold statement:

James 1:27 CSB

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

The heart of God has always been for the under-served. He has always desired that his people look out for those that cannot look out for themselves, just as he looked out for us and provided Jesus to take our place in his sentencing of Justice.

Those that are in this category still include widows and orphans. It could also include foster children and unborn children. It might include the poor, the immigrant, slaves (victims of human trafficking) and the mentally challenged. I am sure we can make this list go on and on.

God’s expects his people, in all nations, in every generation to take up the cause of those that are less fortunate or unable to take care of themselves because we are called to represent HIM, and that is what HE does for us.

The Verdict

The verdict is that all rebels deserve punishment and will be wiped out.

Isaiah 1:20 CSB

But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 1:28 CSB

At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken, and those who abandon the Lord will perish.

We know from Jonah that God is a merciful God, slow to anger. So by the time we reach this point, it is very obvious that this is a just sentence. It is NOT a flippant and of anger, it is a punishment for repeated failure and persistent obstinance:

This will be brought out more in the book of Isaiah

I got to bring it out in the book of Jeremiah

We studied about it in the book of Malachi

So rather than focus on the verdict I want to focus on the the little “clauses” in this legal brief that seem like loopholes in a very cut and dry case.

There will be a restoration

Though God had a right to wipe them out completely, he also had an obligation to keep his promise to Abraham and Moses and David. So, though MOST will perish, SOME will be saved and refined.

Isaiah 1:24–26 CSB

Therefore the Lord God of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will get even with my foes; I will take revenge against my enemies. I will turn my hand against you and will burn away your dross completely; I will remove all your impurities. I will restore your judges to what they were at first, and your advisers to what they were at the start. Afterward you will be called the Righteous City, a Faithful Town.”

The second half of our chiasm shows how God will restore things back to the way they were, and even better. This is NOT going to be immediate. As a matter of fact, some of this will take place at a time referred to as “the day of the Lord” - which is a topic that I believe David is going to introduce us to next week.

God will eliminate his foes. In this case, that is the rebel Jews! What? Yeah, as rebels were are the enemies of God!

God will purify the people and restore justice and fellowship - once the sin is smelted away.

The MERCY of God

But there is one final section we really MUST look at. As much as I want to cover:

God calling the Jewish leaders Sodom and Gomorrah, or

Geek out about the 4 different titles Isaiah gives to Yahweh in this one chapter

I think our time is better spent focusing on God’s mercy.

Surely, the people deserved punishment, but the holy and righteous judge gives the people and out.

Isaiah 1:16–19 CSB

“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil. Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause. “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.

We call this repentance.

CHANGE. Do the OPPOSITE. REMOVE the evil and do what is good!

No matter what sin you and I struggle with, God calls us to repent. TRUE repentance means to stop rebelling against God and to obey him. Notice this list of what they need to do is the counter part to the accusations levied against them?

This is still the NT concept of repentance. I love this passage:

Ephesians 4:28 CSB

Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

The word repent is used in 1:27 and that word means to “return” or “turn back” - in this case to God. To go from abandoning God to turning back to him, from despising him to honoring him and from taking advantage of the widow and orphan to taking up their cause.

Can I just say that THIS is the model for dealing with sin in our own lives? Even addictive sins? STOP doing what is evil and LEARN to do what is good. Remove the evil from God’s sight.

I think that we often forget that God’s spirit now lives in us, and when we sin we are dragging a holy God into an unholy place and waving our sin in front of his eyes. God says to remove it from his sight. What a vivid picture and a great motivator for being holy!

Verse 18 is AWESOME. “come, lets settle this” - it is a legal phrase, like settling out of court! Come, let’s argue this out and come to an agreement:

repent and obey and it will go well!

rebel and turn away and it will go poorly.

BUT, IF You will obey and return, the judge promises to expunge our record. Not o seal it up and pull it our later, but to wipe it clean, remove it for good! This is STILL the mercy of the Judge today.

Psalm 103:12 CSB

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Hebrews 8:1–12 CSB

Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts prescribed by the law. These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. But finding fault with his people, he says: See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I showed no concern for them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in my covenant. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.

This is actually a quote from Jeremiah 31!

God said,” I don’t want your offerings, I want your hearts! I don’t need empty sacrifices, I need people who will follow me and trust me!

Hebrews 10:15–18 CSB

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says: This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds, and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Just as God reasoned with Israel, he wants to argue with you and me today - trust him! Obey him! And your sins will be washed clean as snow and God can bless you! Do not rebel against the Lord.

ASK:

Do you believe that God can forgive your sins? All them, completely?

Are you living in a way that a Holy God can occupy the same space as you and not be ashamed?

Not sin is too big for God to forgive. No rebellion is so far that God cannot redeem. No impurity in our lives is so tainted that God cannot make it pure again. God has made his case - will you accept his plea or stand in defiance to his mercy and compassion?