Isaiah 1 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes
Isaiah 1 Short Summary:
Judah’s wickedness and God’s displeasure with their vain worship. Jerusalem was once a city of righteousness, but it became a city that welcomed evildoers. God called on them to put away their evil and cleanse themselves.
Isaiah 1 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
Isaiah prophesied in the 8th and 7th Century BC, roughly 740-680 BC.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Isaiah – The son of Amoz (1:1). God commissioned Isaiah as His prophet to Judah.
Uzziah – The king of Judah when the words of Isaiah 1 were spoken. He reigned 52 years in Judah (2 Chronicles 26:3).
The Citizens of Judah – Isaiah’s words in this chapter are directed towards the people of Judah, especially towards the citizens of Jerusalem.
DEFINITIONS:
Dross (1:25) – When metal is melted down for purification, the impurities float to the top and are removed. These impurities are called dross.
Lye (1:25) – A strong alkaline solution useful for cleaning metals.
Alloy (1:25) – A metal made by combining two metallic elements. For our purpose, think of this as a metal that isn’t pure but mixed.
Zion (1:27) – Zion refers to the hill/mountain where David’s palace was built in Jerusalem. This area was on the southeast side of the city. Zion is sometimes used to refer to the city of Jerusalem as a whole.
OUTLINE:
INTRODUCTION (1:1):
The first verse is a short introduction to the book. The book documents the visions and prophecies of Isaiah in Judah during the reign of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
JUDAH’S WICKEDNESS (1:2-10):
God compared the people of Judah to children who grew up to hate their parents.
God had cared for them, but now that they were grown as a nation, they wanted nothing to do with Him.
Judah was infected with rebellion, evil deeds, and iniquity. The nation was like a sick man, diseased from head to toe.
Isaiah described the ruin of their nation. He said their cities were burned and foreigners devoured their land.
The Book of 2 Chronicles chronicles how nations like the Edomites, Assyrians, and the Philistines pillage Judah during the reign of King Ahaz.
2 Chr 28:19 – For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful.
Isaiah compared the wicked people of Jerusalem to the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that the only reason Jerusalem hadn’t suffered the fate of those cities was the mercy of God.
VAIN WORSHIP AND A CALL TO REPENTENCE (1:11-20):
God, through Isaiah, called out the people of Judah for their inauthentic worship. They went through all the motions of worshipping, but their hearts weren’t in it.
Their religious assemblies were an abomination to God. He didn’t care if they offered sacrifices to Him if their lives were wicked.
God invited them back to doing what was right, encouraging them that if they would put away their evil and injustice, He would forgive them of their sins.
He said, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (1:18).
GOD WILL PURGE THE EVIL CITY (1:21-31):
After offering pardon, God returned to condemning the current state of the city.
The once pure city was now like a whore, its silver defiled with dross, and its wine mixed with water. Its rulers kept company with thieves and took brides that perverted justice.
God promised to purge the city of its impurity. The fires of His judgement would purify the city. The evil people that tainted it would be cast out.
The city would once again be known as a faithful city, and God would give it rulers who would uphold righteousness.
APPLICATION
Many churches prioritize and measure their success on how many people attend their Sunday morning worship assembly, but the first chapter of Isaiah shows us that may not be a wise measure of success.
A true measure of success is what percentage of your worship attendees show up for worship AND then live for God throughout their week.
The people of Judah were attending all their worship services, but God hated their worship because they didn’t live for Him the rest of the time.
A bigger congregation isn’t always better. If the only thing the leadership of a congregation cares about is their Sunday attendance number, that is a sign of serious underlying problems.
On a personal level, we need to be introspective about whether our weekdays sync up with the words of worship we offer to God on Sundays. We need to give serious attention to harmonizing the way we worship with the way we live.
