Reading: Isaiah 1-4, Psalm 109
Ever filed a lawsuit? It is not very much fun. Lots of paperwork, talking to lawyers. Waiting. And more waiting. And even more waiting. In many ways, that is the book of Isaiah. He is filing a covenantal lawsuit against the nation of Israel, specifically the city of Jerusalem, the priesthood, and the house of David. Unlike Elijah and Elisha, who perform miraculous signs, Isaiah mostly writes extensive oracles of accusation, basing everything he says on the covenant laws in the books of Moses. Eventually, his words will expand beyond Israel, both in accusation and promise, but that is getting ahead of ourselves.
The book of Isaiah open not with the introduction of the famous prophet, which will follow in chapter 6, but with a five chapter long accusation. Imagine sitting in a theater waiting for a show to start, but before the star comes on stage, he has a long accusation against the audience read to them. That is the opening of Isaiah.
The first chapter expressed what the people of Israel have come to: destruction and ruin. They are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, both in terms of actions and of results. But God has allowed a remnant of his people to remain, though they are as bad as Sodom. Isaiah calls out the people who continue to offer sacrifices at the Temple despite not changing their behavior. This will be a major theme through all the later prophets: the sacrificial system set up in Leviticus to allow the impure people to interact with the pure God of Israel has lost its efficacy, because those participating in it have forgotten what it meant. The system was never the point, entering into the presence of God was what it was all about.
The second half of the first chapter is a lament of what could have been, beginning with a promise of what God is still willing to do. One of the most comforting lines in all of Scripture is Isaiah 1:18-19. One of the most terrifying is Isaiah 1:20. The prophet goes on to mourn how Jerusalem could have, should have, been a city of light to the world, and a city of refuge to the poor, the widow, and the orphan. Judgment is declared- Jerusalem will be that city, by means of being radically purified.
The next section, beginning in chapter 2 and continuing to almost the end of chapter 3, is basically a list of charges and judgments against Israel, again beginning with a promise. Isaiah laments that Jerusalem should have, and will yet be, a city from which God’s commands flow out to the world. Remember that this is shorthand for God making all things new. The commands of God are embodied in the tabernacle, a new kind of place, a restoration of the Garden. Isaiah is pulling this right from the books of Moses and applying it to the present situation in Israel. The prophet announces judgment for idolatry, pride, and trust in foreign nations and gods. His predictions of how judgment will come also proceed directly from the books of Moses. In chapter 3 he turns to the leadership of the nation, and pronounces that the people will be ruled over by even to weakest in society- the children and women. He states that the men of Israel will become afraid to lead, rejecting authority and leadership even when pushed to it by their brothers. This scathing indictment of Israel closes with the prediction that the land will be so depopulated that there will be seven women for each man in the nation. Given what we’ve heard about the reticence of the men to lead anything, this is a really bad situation for everyone.
Chapter 4 finally shows something hopeful, but even this is couched inside of judgment. God will restore and glorify Jerusalem again, but it will be through a purifying fire. We are being given a picture of things to come throughout the book of Isaiah. The prophet is speaking of God as a keeper of promises- both the blessings and the curses. God will restore the glory of Jerusalem because of his promises to Israel and David. But it will be through discipline for their disobedience that it happens, again because of his promises to Israel and David.