A. Israel's condition and God's solution ch. 1

As chapters 1-5 introduce the whole book, so chapter 1 introduces the rest of the introduction to the book (chs. 2-5). It presents the situation in Judah in the second half of the eighth century and reveals God's will for His people. This chapter summarizes all Isaiah's characteristic and essential teachings. Judgment from the Lord had to come on the people of Judah because they had sinned against Him. This judgment would purify and perfect them because God had a future for them. God's indictment of His people is similar to a covenant lawsuit.

 1. The title of the book 1:1

The book claims Isaiah as its author. His name summarizes the revelation of the book, namely, that it is Yahweh who saves. Obadiah was the only other writing prophet who described his book as a vision. This unusual title stresses that what Isaiah wrote reflects reality accurately; he saw it. This word does not mean that everything that Isaiah wrote is what he saw in one or more visions. Though unstated, this vision (the prophecies that constitute this book) came from God. According to Jewish tradition Isaiah's father, Amoz (not the prophet Amos), was the brother of King Amaziah, Uzziah's father, which would have made Isaiah King Uzziah's cousin. Isaiah ministered in and to the people of Jerusalem and Judah, but he saw them as the real Israel since they lived under the Davidic kings, in contrast to the residents of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The kings of Judah mentioned ruled from 792-686 B.C.

 2. Israel's condition 1:2-9

Israel was guilty of forsaking her God and, as a result, she had become broken and desolate.

1:2-3 God Himself charged the Israelites with their sin. He called the heavens and earth to listen (cf. Deut. 30:19; 32:1). His people had not only violated His covenant but common decency and good sense.²¹It was unthinkable that children should revolt against a loving father who nurtured them. Even stupid oxen and donkeys know their master, but the Israelites did not realize who cared for them.

1:4-9 The prophet amplified God's charge and proved it by referring to Israel's condition. He lamented that Israel's state was the logical outcome of her behavior. She had forsaken the Holy One of Israel, "the transcendent God, who is wholly separate from the frailty and finiteness of Creation (his majesty-holiness), and wholly separate from the sinfulness and defilement of man (his purity-holiness)."²²She was consequently experiencing the destructive results of her sin in national disease and in political and social catastrophes (vv. 5-6; cf. 53:4-10; Deut. 27-30). It was customary in Isaiah's day for people to squeeze the puss out of a wound, to pull a cut together with a bandage, and to pour olive oil on sores to aid healing.²³

Isaiah moved from describing Israel as a sick and injured body to a desolate, conquered land (vv. 7-9; cf. Lev. 26; Deut. 28-29). The description "daughter of Zion"(v. 8) emphasizes that God feels about His wayward people as a father feels about his daughter. He loves her, has committed himself to protecting her, and takes pains to guard her from all evil and danger.

Many Israelite families lived in villages but built little shelters in their fields and camped there during the harvest season. After the harvest these little shacks looked pitiful, abandoned, useless, and deteriorating. Unless the LORD of armies had preserved a few faithful in Judah, as He preserved Lot and his family, He would have destroyed the nation as He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 10; cf. Gen. 19; Rom. 9:29).²⁴

 3. God's solution 1:10-20

The prophet laid out two alternatives for the people to choose between in relating to God in their pitiful condition. They could continue to rely on religious ritual (cult) to manipulate God (vv. 10-15), or they could change their ways and live morally and ethically pure lives (vv. 16-17). The choice was theirs (vv. 18-20).

 4. Israel's response 1:21-31

While God's invitation to repent was genuine (vv. 16-20), the nation had so thoroughly departed from Him that repentance was not forthcoming and discipline was inevitable. The prophet bemoaned the depth of Israel's apostasy and announced that the Lord would have to purify His people in the furnace of affliction before they would become what He intended them to be.²⁶