Isaiah 1:2-3 English Standard Version

The Wickedness of Judah

² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. ³ The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

1,2,3 is a reminder of order and our God is a God of order.

Who is listening? Heaven and earth is the inclusive term which should indicate to us that we have lessons to learn from the behaviors of others listed here. The terms owner and master in verse three are clear indicators. We belong to God. We follow the commands of our Lord. Do we know Him in relationship to those truths? Has He imparted understanding to us as His children?

First truths are important. Hear the Word of the Lord. “Hear O heavens, and give ear, O earth.” Is He speaking to you of His plans for us? Nothing can be gleaned of His plans by understanding just one or two lines of scripture. It takes much more to reveal God’s plans.

The word theme comes to mind. In literary terms it is carried throughout a book, a story, or article in which there is a transition from one event to another that are all linked together using a common theme. In this sense the mistakes of those kings in those times indicate a historical context. History repeats itself over and over again if left unchecked.

The historical context of Isaiah 1 has repeated itself over and over again throughout history with little if any attention to how those passages indicate how things will turn out for any given time period if the warnings provided are ignored.

Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

One cannot remember what one does not study.

Isaiah 1:16-17 English Standard Version

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Several days ago yesterday’s devotional was written. As I prepared to study this morning the two verses prior to Isaiah 1:8 were used for the daily verse in BibleGateway. Because I used Isaiah 1:8 two days in a row, it is fresh on my mind. This causes me to ponder the contents of Isaiah 1 deeper than I had in using quotes from that chapter.

There are several meaningful passages in the opening chapter of Isaiah. Some are quoted later in the bible. If one is a student of the bible, it is easy to recall other places within the bible where parts of our opening verses are paraphrased or quoted in part.

To pay proper homage to this important chapter it is best received in total and see the flow of the language as it moves through the subject matter from human error to God’s intentions toward man. Taking just one line of scripture and using it as I have the past few days omits the contextual flow.

Excerpts will leave us without important elements of understanding. Who is speaking, who is listening, what is the condition or circumstances of the hearer at the time of the writing? All these things bring a deeper meaning to what God is telling us about His plans for all of us.

The opening verse sets the tone of the times. v. 1 “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

Have we studied about these four kings of Judah? Can we understand the circumstances of the people of Judah and Jerusalem without seeing what these kings did while they ruled? Circumstances are repeated over and over again in history, even today.