Bible Verse Synopsis 7-17-25
Isaiah 1:
Isaiah 1: Isaiah opens his book of the Bible with God making His case against Israel. Verse 4 says: "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children who are corruptors: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward." The tone of this verse is harsh and defeating. The Lord is using Isaiah as His mouthpiece. Israel was so deep in sin at this point, that God is not sure He can save them. Israel has made Him angry with their behavior. God, through Isaiah, continues to bash Israel for its shortcomings in Verses 5-8. Verse 7 says: "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers." The Israel God once knew is no longer there. The suffering of Israel has been occurring for too long. Unfortunately it will never end, that is until Christ comes. If you were Israel in this stanza, what would God be saying to you?
Verse 9 says: “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we would have been like unto Gomorrah.” Israel was only left with a small remnant of faithful people. The rest had become heathens like those in Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, because of this small cohort, God saves Israel again, when the rest deserved to be treated as the heathens of Sodom and Gomorrah were. Are we heathens as well?
Hear the Word and listen to what the Lord says. Without this we are doomed to be like the heathens. Isaiah continues his message with an example of empty sacrifices. The Lord does not want your sacrifice if it has no meaning. If you are in attendance only in the body, what good is that? The ceremony meant little. It was the accountability and the repentance that held value in God’s eyes. Verse 13 says: “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.” God had asked for these things in the Old Law and now He is disgusted. The people had taken the religion out of the practices. What things from God do you not give thanks for? Have you undercut your faith with a lack of praise and accountability to the Lord? These questions are magnified by Verse 15: “And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” What things do you bring before the Lord so He may benefit?
Verse 18 says: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be scarlet, they shall be white as snow: though they be red Ike crimson, they shall be as wool.” God invited us to work with Him! Our sins are evil and cannot be forgiven, they are scarlet: the obvious color of blood. Yet through Him we need not be scarlet, but as white as new fallen snow. Through Him and through Jesus Christ, we are purified. Verses 19 and 20 says: “If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:” “But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.” This is a welcome and a warning. When we are with Him we will eat of the good land, His Kingdom. But, if we fail to do so and fall into the traps of the flesh, as Israel’s leaders have, then we are destined for hell. How can we more often do the things the Lord asks of us? Do you cherish the widow and commune with the fatherless? Isaiah mentions these points multiple times in this chapter.
In Verses 24 through 27, Isaiah expounds on the promises of God. Verse 26 says: “And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning: afterward you shall be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.” God is making His promise to Israel again. They will be lifted above the World and through His power alone, will become the center of His earthly Kingdom. What other promises from God are we forgetting? Are you prepared for Zion to be here on this earth?
Isaiah ends this chapter with a warning. Verse 28 says: “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” This is in reference to those without Faith or Love for God. We are all sinners. However, as mentioned earlier our sins will be washed away and turned from scarlet to the color of snow. Verse 31 caps the warning: “And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.” The strong men and the designers of the idols and those that worship them are doomed to burn in hell for eternity. The fire shall be unquenchable. Do we fear the fire as we are called to fear the Lord? Where is your life and your decisions leading you?