Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 1:21-31
Think on these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 1:21-31:
1. Isaiah uses strong language to condemn the unfaithfulness and idolatry of the people. In what ways can we distinguish between true faithfulness to God and religious rituals or actions that lack genuine spiritual significance? How do we guard against mere religious practices devoid of true devotion?
2. Despite the stark indictment, there's a promise of restoration and righteousness in Isaiah's prophecy. How can we reconcile God's judgment with His promise of restoration and renewal? What lessons can we draw from this tension between divine judgment and the potential for redemption?
3. The imagery of water and fire is prevalent in Isaiah's depiction of judgment. How does this symbolism resonate with the concept of spiritual drought and divine judgment in our lives today? In what ways does the water of Christ's salvation quench the spiritual dryness caused by sin and rebellion?
Transcript:
Well, we see here that Isaiah isn't messing around, is he? Isaiah is using strong language. Notice how this chapter starts out, verse 21. This is difficult for us to say, difficult for us to hear, how the faithful city has become a whore. She who was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderous. Notice what has happened. Remember, this language of whore here, the idea is idolatry, that they have gone from their faithful one, from being faithful to God to going after idols. And so that is the ultimate issue. They're not only just not doing good works for people, as we see later on, where they're not doing justice, they're also worshiping false idol. That's the idea here, unfaithfulness, idolatry. And notice what else is saying here, righteousness used to be here, but now murderers. These terrible things are being done, not righteousness anymore, but even things such as murder. And notice the imagery here. Your silver has become troughs. Your best draws. Your best wine is mixed with water. It's been watered down. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them. They don't care about those who are the most vulnerable.
We see in verse 24, Isaiah uses a very strong, powerful name. Therefore, the Lord declares the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. This is a strong title for God, and obviously every title for God is going to be strong. But you get the idea of the Lord of hosts. He's powerful over many. He is the mighty one. This is what God says is going to happen. Now, one thing that is really good to see here, despite this strong language, is that God says in verse 26, And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterwards, you shall be called the City of righteousness, the faithful city. What God is going to do there is going to do something good. It's going to bring repentance. It's going to bring righteousness. It's going to bring faithfulness. They are not hopeless. God is chastising them for a purpose. This is not punishment for punishment; it's punishment to bring them to repentance, to bring them to righteousness, to bring them back into the fold. And so, we see this imagery that continues to go through here, and we're going to see some more of this imagery as we go through Isaiah, this idea here of burning and a lack of water.
Water is going to be symbolic with plenty and with righteousness and with good things. Fire, obviously, is the idea of judgment. As this chapter closes up, we're getting this imagery strong. We're seeing dryness, where you should be like an oak whose leaf withers. We understand when you look at withered leaves, get an idea of something that has failed, something that is not doing well. That's an image of judgment, and there is no water. And we know what our gardens look like without water. We know what a field can look like if there's plenty of rain. But if there is no water, we can tell what drought looks like. And we know the imagery there. We don't need to think about it too much. We understand this. And we see in the strong shall become tinder, and has worked spark. So, these strong trees, these harvests that could be like the garden, they're dry, they don't have water. His work is a spark. In other words, God coming to them in judgment is the spark that's going to light these things on fire, that's going to cause this judgment. Notice what he said, Both of them shall burn together with none to quench them.
There is no water. This is the imagery that Isaiah starts off with, starts off with. It is harsh. It is difficult to hear, difficult to read. There is, there's sense that we say, How can God do this? We're all rebels and sinners, but all sin is subject to judgment, right? And we are blessed in being people of God and being those who have been redeemed by Christ. We understand that that judgment has been poured out in Christ. And so, we come to God in repentance, just like I mentioned on Wednesday, we come to God understanding that we have the water of salvation. Even though we deserve the spark and the dryness of our sin to ignite us in judgment, it said, We have the water of Christ. We have His living water. We have the Spirit. We have that convicting us of sin that we might turn away from. So may we be like how God describes the city in the future. May when we see what our sin has done and how it angers God and how it disappoints God, as we read here, may we desire to drink of that water and turn away from our sin in repentance, that we might live lives that are faithful to God, and bring glory to His name.