The Lord has Spoken
Come with me, over the next six months on Fridays, as we walk through the writings of Isaiah, the great prophet who saw the glory of Christ and “spoke of Him” (John 12:41). We will, together, study “The Gospel According to Isaiah.” Consider these thoughts from chapter one.
Isaiah preached during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1). It was a time when God’s people had lost their spiritual focus. They offered sacrifices, multitudes of them, but God was fed up with them (1:11). He called their offerings “worthless” (1:13).
Why? Because they were not obeying the Law of Moses. They were a “sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him” (1:4).
At one time, under King David, Jerusalem was a city of righteousness (contrast 1:26). David reigned (albeit imperfectly) in “justice and righteousness” (1:21) but Israel had largely left those virtues behind.
They had turned so far away from God that He would turn also away from them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood” (1:15).
God would not listen to their prayers because they would not listen to God. In words made famous by Jesus (Matthew 13:14-15) and Paul (Acts 28:26-27), Isaiah told God’s children: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed” (6:9-10).
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Why should they listen? “For the Lord speaks,” that’s why. In 1:20 Isaiah says to Israel: “Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Israel’s sin will keep them from God’s holy presence. God is called the “Holy One” thirty times in the book. If Israel is to come into God’s holy presence, Israel must be forgiven. That’s why they must listen to God.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land” (1:18-19). “But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, and those who forsake the Lord will come to an end” (1:28).
Israel of Isaiah’s day is not unlike any nation existing today, including many in the nation of Christ. Sin was Israel’s problem and sin is our problem. But forgiveness is available. Isaiah shows us the way, the “path to Jesus.”
In the heart of the book that answers Isaiah’s call, the Father speaks from heaven and says, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5).
Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
–Paul Holland
