November 11, 2025 • 38 mins
Send Questions or comments here! We'll respond back in future episodes.
A prophet opens court and calls the cosmos to the stand. We kick off our Isaiah series with a vivid walk through chapter 1, where God’s case against Judah exposes not only ancient failure but the patterns we repeat today: empty motions, stubborn hearts, and a drift from relationship to ritual. The scene is bracing—oxen and donkeys know their masters, yet people with promises forget the One who raised them.
We lay the groundwork for the whole series by situating Isaiah in real history, from Uzziah to Hezekiah, as empires rise and pressures mount. Then we trace the legal and relational threads: Deuteronomy 30’s choice between life and death, covenant faithfulness as more than law-keeping, and lament as a path to healing rather than despair. Along the way, we unpack core themes—“the Holy One of Israel,” communal and habitual sin, and the irony that creation obeys instinct while humans resist revealed love. The message cuts and consoles at once: justice confronts, mercy invites.
This episode is part exposition, part heart check. Expect clear explanations, cross-references that illuminate the text, and practical takeaways for prayer, repentance, and reordering your loves. If you’ve ever wondered how prophetic books speak to daily life, this opening chapter shows the map: identity, indictment, lament, and the open door to return. Listen in, follow along in the ESV if you can, and consider what “choose life” looks like in your week.
If this helps you think and live with purpose, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so others can find the series. Your reflections matter—tell us which verse challenged you most and why.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Moore (00:07):
Welcome to our first episode of what we're
gonna call this week ProphetsUnplugged.
That's the podcast whereancient wisdom meets modern
ears, and every once in a whilewe're gonna shake our head in
dismay at the Israelites becausehow could they be so stupid?
Well, today we're diving intoIsaiah chapter 1, where the
prophet doesn't exactly ease inwith a gentle hello.
(00:28):
Nope, Isaiah kicks things offlike a divine courtroom drama.
And uh spoiler alert here,Israel is definitely on trial.
I mean, think of it like this: you know, God is the parent, (00:36):
undefined
Israel is the rebelliousteenager, and Isaiah is the very
frustrated family counselortrying to bring everyone back to
the table.
There's talk of stubborndonkeys, bruised bodies, burnt
cities, and honestly, it's moreintense than a season finale of
your favorite drama series.
(00:57):
But don't worry, it's not allfire and brimstone, there's also
a powerful imitation to turnthings around.
To stop going through themotions and start living with
purpose.
So grab your coffee and maybe anotepad, and let's start to
unpack Isaiah chapter 1, wheredivine justice meets a call for
mercy, and yes, even prophetsget a little dramatic.
(01:18):
Let's get to it.
Welcome to Connecting the Gap.
This is a podcast aboutmarriage, public studies, and we
interview people that have astory.
I'm Daniel Moore, your host.
Thank you guys for joining usthis week.
(01:40):
If not through with our show,check out our website at the
www.connectingthegap.net.
Our platforms are there,YouTube and Rumble Links.
We're also on the ChristianPodcasting app at Edifi.
And we're also on your Alexaand Google Smart Devices.
You can also visit us onsocial, on Facebook, Instagram,
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If you're a fan of our show,please subscribe.
(02:00):
Feel free to leave a comment onour platforms and give us a
thumbs up or a five-star reviewin Apple Podcast.
And we'd be thankful to you fordoing that.
Also, as Minister here, we alsohave a new book out.
It's called Marriage is aMission, Living Out God's Design
for Marriage.
You can pick up your copy ofthe paperback at Amazon.com and
BarnesandNoble.com.
And in addition, you can alsoget it in a hardback format in
(02:23):
Kindle.
And we also have a six-sessionstudy guide, and those can be
purchased exclusively on Amazon.
So go pick yours up today andcheck it out.
Maybe if you enjoy that and ithelps you out, pass it on to a
friend or a family member thatcould probably use that as well.
And we just pray that it'll bea blessing to you.
Well, this week we are going tobe starting a brand new series.
(02:46):
We've got a little bit of newsound to our podcast.
We're changing our format up alittle bit and gonna kind of do
a little bit of a refresh as westart into this new series.
The series is going to go forquite a while.
Last week we did the intro andI talked a little bit about it,
but we're gonna be going throughthe book of Isaiah, and we're
gonna be going as far as we can.
(03:07):
I'm gonna try to keep thesearound 30 minutes or so, maybe a
little bit, you know, longersometimes possibly, but I'm
gonna try to keep them a littleshorter.
And so I don't know how manyverses we'll get through because
we're gonna try to pack a lotof extra stuff in as we go along
in areas where we can.
And I just want to make this aseducational as possible for all
of you that are listeners.
I Isaiah is a kind of adifficult book, really, in a lot
(03:30):
of ways to try to understand.
It has tons of symbolism uh init and just a lot of language
that's figurative and symbolic.
And so uh it's kind of hard forsome people to understand it.
And so I just want to take itnice and slow and easy, just try
to explain it the best that Ipossibly can, and the way that
God would have me to do that,and we'll be rabbit trailing off
(03:52):
into different areas of theBible occasionally to kind of
pull some things together as wego through Isaiah.
Overall, I just hope that youenjoy this series and I hope
that you learned something fromit.
And if you know anybody that'sa lover of this book in the
Bible, please tell them aboutthis so that they can join in as
well and learn with us each andevery week as we go through the
book of Isaiah here onConnecting the Gap.
(04:14):
So as we get started here thisweek with the first episode here
of our new series in Isaiah,we're going to of course start
with Isaiah chapter 1, verse 1.
(04:36):
And as I get ready to startthis, I do want to make you
aware that I am a big ESV fan.
And so most of my scripturesI'm going to be taking
throughout this whole series isgoing to come from the ESV.
I do like uh other translationsas well, and sometimes I'll
probably use some of thosepossibly as a backup view of
(04:58):
some of the scriptures we may gothrough.
Um but if you're going tofollow along with me and take
notes and use your Bible, if youdon't have an ESV version, then
you'll probably need to getinto the Bible app or Bible
Gateway and utilize their copiesof the ESV.
And that way you can see theexact verses that I'm reading as
I'm reading these as we gothrough this study.
(05:21):
So I just wanted to put thatout there that real quick here
before we got started.
That way you wouldn't be losthere right off the bat as soon
as I start reading verse onehere in just a second.
That way you'll know kind ofwhere I'm coming from on all of
this.
So we're going to go ahead andget started.
We'll see how far we can makeit.
Like I said, we're going to tryto keep these episodes within
(05:43):
about a 30-minute time frame,roughly, give or take just a
little bit.
So we'll go ahead here and getstarted.
So as we open up Isaiah, weturn to chapter 1, verse 1.
It starts like this it says,The vision of Isaiah, the son of
Amos, which he saw concerningJudah and Jerusalem in the days
(06:05):
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, andHezekiah, kings of Judah.
So this verse actually doesserve as the opening heading for
the entire book of Isaiah.
And the term vision hereencapsulates not just visual
revelations, but also oracles ordivine messages, you could say,
(06:26):
received by the prophet.
So Isaiah's prophecies inIsaiah are directed primarily at
Judah and its capital cityJerusalem, rather than the
northern kingdom of Israel.
And so we're going to bedealing with throughout this
first chapter for sure, here aswe go, we're going to be dealing
with the vision that Isaiahreceived from God.
(06:49):
So as we break up theseepisodes each week, and we have
to stop and then come back thenext week to continue this.
Always keep in mind, and I'lltry to remind you, but to keep
in mind as we're going alonghere that this is a vision that
Isaiah is sharing.
And you may have to go back andread some of the prior verses
(07:10):
on some of the other episodes totry to keep track of all of
this as we go through it.
Isaiah chapter 1 is a littlebit of an extensive, long
chapter.
So we'll do our best here,though, to keep all of these
things locked together.
Now, the time frame here iscritical as Isaiah ministered
during the reigns of Uzziah,which was about 792 to 740 BC.
(07:33):
And he also ministered duringJotham's reign of 750 to 735 BC,
roughly, and then overlappingwith his father.
And then Ahaz was reigning from735 to 715, and Isaiah was also
overlapping Hezekiah from about715 to 686 BC for his kingdom
(07:55):
reign.
And we of course talked alittle bit about that last week
in our intro.
And during these times, theywere tumultuous.
They were times that were verypolitically and spiritually
charged.
There was just a lot going on.
And the Israelites, the youknow, Judah, they had just taken
(08:16):
their eyes off of God.
And God was allowing them to bepunished.
And as we go through Isaiah,you're going to see how God is
pleading with them constantly totry to get them to come back.
He's offering that redemption,he's offering payment for their
sin if they would just turn backto him.
And this is a continuingconversation that goes on
(08:39):
between God and the kingdom ofJudah and Jerusalem through the
prophet Isaiah.
So during this time, theAssyrian Empire was on the rise,
and this was, of course, takingplace during Isaiah's ministry.
The northern kingdom of Israelwould end up being destroyed,
and that was around 722 BC, andthat was during the reign of
(09:02):
King Ahaz.
And then Judah itself facedintense pressure.
So Isaiah, who again was theson of Amos, and don't forget,
we do have a book in the Biblenamed Amos, that's AMOS the
prophet, that's not the sameperson.
Isaiah's dad was Amos with a Z.
He is believed to have comefrom a nobler, possibly royal
(09:26):
background, which would explainhis frequent access to kings and
political matters.
And we talked a little bitabout that last week as he was a
cousin to Uzziah.
So as we start off here inverse 1, basically it's letting
us know that this is a visionthat Isaiah is receiving, and
he's going to be delivering thisto Judah and Jerusalem.
(09:48):
As we move on to Isaiah chapter1, verse 2, we see Judah pretty
much go on trial.
The scripture goes, Hear Oheavens, and give ear, O earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Children have I reared andbrought up, but they have
rebelled against me.
So here this verse begins theprophetic oracle with a formal
(10:11):
call to witnesses.
So it's starting to look like alittle bit like a courtroom
here in the setting.
The heavens and the earth arethe witnesses that are being
called up in this vision.
And Judah will recognize thisas this is echoing the
covenantal language that's foundin Deuteronomy.
So by invoking these witnesses,Isaiah positions his message
(10:35):
within the legal framework ofthe covenant that was
established between God andIsrael at Sinai.
And you can see all about thatin Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse
19.
And actually what we're goingto do, we're going to go ahead
and float over to Deuteronomychapter 30, verse 19, and we're
going to take a quick look atthat here.
(10:56):
So that verse in Deuteronomysays, I call heaven and earth to
witness against you today thatI set before you life and death,
blessing and curse.
Therefore choose life, that youand your offspring may live.
So this verse here inDeuteronomy chapter 30 is a part
(11:17):
of Moses' final address to theIsraelites before they enter the
promised land.
Deuteronomy is essentially acovenant renewal document where
Moses reiterates God's laws andurges the people to remain
faithful to the covenant made atMount Sinai.
Chapter 30 here in Deuteronomyis a climactic moment in this
address where Moses presents aclear choice to the people life
(11:40):
and prosperity throughobedience, or death and
adversity through disobedience.
So years before Moses had theIsraelites at Mount Sinai,
giving them all of these laws,setting these covenants in place
between them and God, and evenat that time, they had their
choice to make, just like we dotoday.
They had a choice of life andprosperity through obedience to
(12:03):
God.
If they would follow God'sprecepts, follow his laws,
follow the path that God setthem on, then they would have
life.
They would have prosperity ineverything around them.
And of course, in essence, atthe end, they would have eternal
life.
But if they chose to go theirown way and let pride rise up
inside of them, let Satan putthe blinders on and cause them
(12:27):
to uh get distracted from theplan that God had for them in
each of their lives, then theywere going to make a choice at
that point.
They were going to be choosingdeath and adversity because they
would at that point beingdisobedient towards God.
And so when Isaiah is bringingthis back up here in verse 2 of
(12:50):
chapter 1, it's repeated thisway about the heaven and earth
being a witness because theIsraelites would recognize, you
know, Judah would recognize whatwas being said there because of
what happened here at MountSinai.
So the setting of Mount Sinaiwhen they had these covenants
(13:12):
given to them was in the plainsof Moab, which was just east of
the Jordan River.
So in Deuteronomy chapter 30,verse 19, Israel's on the verge
of entering Canaan, just to putthe setting here.
And Moses, knowing that he willnot enter with them, delivers a
series of speeches to preparethem for going into the promised
land.
And if you remember Moses, thereason that he didn't get to go
(13:36):
in, God instructed him to do acouple of things to reprimand
the Israelites while they werewandering around aimlessly in
the desert.
Moses had went to Egypt andrescued them out of Egypt with
the help of God.
And God was taking them throughthe desert, giving them cloud
by day and fire by night to leadthem to all the different
(14:00):
places, but they were grumbling,they were complaining.
They were actually not uhkeeping their faith in God like
they should have been.
And because of that, they werewondering aimlessly which they
would end up doing for 40 yearsbecause of their disobedience.
And Moses, out of anger anddesperation a few times, when
(14:20):
God would tell him to do somethings, like one instance, he
told him to uh take his rod andstrike a rock once to let the
water flow so that they wouldhave water because they were
grumbling, they were thirsty,they were hungry.
And Moses got mad and prettymuch put a beaten on the rock.
And uh that with a couple otherthings, God said, Moses, you
know, you're not going into theCanaan land.
(14:42):
You're not going to be able togo with them.
So Deuteronomy 30 here is partof the third and final speech
where Moses speaks of theblessings of obedience and the
consequences of rebellion.
So the invocation here ofheaven and earth as witnesses is
a common motif in ancient NearEastern treaties where natural
elements were often called uponto bear witness to covenants.
(15:04):
This shows the solemnity of themoment and the seriousness of
the choice that's beingpresented.
Moses sets before the people amoral and spiritual choice, life
and death, or blessing andcurse.
The terms are not merely aboutphysical survival, but they
encompass the totality of thecovenantal faithfulness and that
(15:26):
relationship that God wascalling them to between him and
the Israelites.
You know, when they wouldchoose life, it meant that they
were choosing to love, obey, andcling to God.
As if you move on to verse 20in chapter 30, there in
Deuteronomy, it's expanded andexplains that a little bit more,
which results in life for themand their descendants.
(15:47):
Matthew Henry, who's awell-known commentator, he notes
that Moses urges the people toconsider the consequences of
their actions.
He writes that the matter isfairly stated, life and death,
good and evil, are set beforethem.
The blessing and the curse areexplained and enforced by the
most powerful motives.
Matthew Henry emphasizes thatGod's commandments are not
(16:11):
burdensome, but they are for thepeople's good.
God has good that's going tocome out of that.
(16:35):
And Moses was trying to instillin the Israelites at this time
that God has your best interestin mind.
If you would only just beobedient, he just called them to
obedience.
John Gill, another well-knowncommentator, highlights the
covenantal nature of the choice.
He writes, Heaven and Earth arecalled to witness as enduring
(16:56):
and unchangeable and as beingaffected by the conduct of men.
He also points out that thechoice is not merely a passive
decision, but an active turningtoward God.
So heaven and earth, eventhough the topography might
change of what the earth lookslike, the the heavens may change
(17:17):
according to what clouds arefloating by or whatever it may
be, they're still a constant.
They're there.
They don't go away, they don'tchange.
And by calling them to be awitness, that shows that they
would be a permanent witness ofthat covenant between God, so
(17:37):
that just to solidify with theIsraelites that this is
something that's put into placethat's not ever going to change.
This passage is the conclusionof the exhortation to obedience,
the choice between life anddeath.
It's not only a legalformality, but a deeply personal
and communal decision.
Now they're being called tolove the Lord, to walk in his
(17:57):
ways, and to keep hiscommandments.
If they did that, that wouldmean that they were choosing
life, just like we do, when wedo those same things that God
has called us to.
So this verse in Deuteronomybasically encapsulates the
covenant theology that runsthroughout Deuteronomy, which is
this that obedience bringsblessing and life, disobedience
(18:19):
brings curse and death.
It also reflects the heart ofthe Mosaic Law.
It's not merely a legal code,but a call to re to relational
fidelity with God.
The appeal to choose life, it'snot just a command, it's
actually an invitation.
And what is God inviting themto?
This was a promise God wasputting upon all of them.
(19:00):
And though that that was spokento ancient Israel back then, as
I've kind of stated here acouple of times, that principle
remains relevant today.
You know, the call to chooselife continues to resignate as
an invitation to align withGod's will, leading to spiritual
vitality and blessing.
It emphasizes humanresponsibility and responding to
(19:21):
God's revealed will and theimpact of our choices on
ourselves and futuregenerations.
And if you look through eventhe New Testament, God has many,
many promises there that showsthat if we just follow the plan
that He set before us, that wewill be blessed in many ways.
And of course, we're not doingthis just for a blessing.
We're doing it because we lovethe Lord.
(19:41):
That's the whole reason that wefollow him like we do.
God rewards us for that.
And so it's always important tokeep that in mind whenever uh
Satan comes up against us andstarts throwing these options,
these whys in the road, theseforks in the road, and we have
to start deciding which way arewe going to go.
Well, you can never fail if youfollow the path that God has
(20:05):
set before you, as he hasblessings in store for you and
into your generations to come.
So here in verse 2, God speaksas a father who has raised his
children.
And when he says, Children haveI reared, he's referencing to
Israel and Judah when he'sspeaking that.
And of course, as he's raisedthem up, he was met with
(20:26):
rebellion.
The notion of divineparenthood, that highlights both
God's love and Judah'singratitude.
And as we go throughout chapterone here, we're going to be
elaborating more on that.
The rebellion here refers toidolatry, social injustice, and
covenant-breaking behavior thatcharacterized Judah during this
era.
(20:46):
As we move along here a littlefurther into this chapter,
they're going to start beingcompared to Sodom and Gomorrah.
I mean, the things that theywere doing was completely evil
at this time of Isaiah.
And God was very disappointed.
He was very sad with a brokenheart, basically, if you see, uh
try to understand the way thatGod felt towards this whole
(21:07):
situation.
So that's kind of the essenceand the background there of
using Deuteronomy chapter 32,uh, where it was stated to for
the heavens to give ear, and Godwould speak, and let the earth
hear the words of his mouth,that those are unchanging words
(21:28):
that God was speaking.
And if you go to Hosea chapter11, verses 1 and 2, it also
shows a similar father-childtheme, and of course, Israel's
rebellion.
As we talked last week, Hoseais another prophet that was
actually speaking, you know,against Israel's rebellion and
things that they were partakingin.
And if you look at Exodus 4,verse 22, uh, that's another
(21:50):
place that solidifies Israel andrefers to them as God's
firstborn son.
These people were very closeand very dear to God's heart.
And the things that they weredoing, was he was not happy with
them at all because of thatrebellion that they had
introduced into the kingdomthere of Israel.
As we move on to verse three,it says, The ox knows its owner,
(22:17):
and the donkey its master'scrib, but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.
So this verse here is veryinteresting.
It offers a powerfulillustration through a little
bit of irony.
You know, Isaiah uses commondomesticated animals, the ox and
(22:37):
the donkey, to shame Israel.
Even these lowly animalsrecognize and respond to their
master's care, but God's chosenpeople have failed to
acknowledge him.
You know, if if you are on afarm or if you've ever worked on
a farm or own a farm, you'llknow that the ox and the donkey,
they're probably two of themost stubborn animals that you
could own.
Now, a lot of animals will havestubborn streaks in them,
(22:59):
there's no doubt about that.
But when you think of the oxand the donkey, the first thing
that usually comes to mind isthe fact that they're stubborn
and they're rebellious.
But those two animals, theystill know who their owners are,
and their owners can still getthem to do the things that they
ask them to do.
(23:20):
They might be stubborn for alittle bit and they might have
to tap them a little with, youknow, the stick or whatever it
may take to get them movingright along.
But even those animalsrecognize and respond to their
master's care.
But on the flip side of that,here we have human beings that
God has created in his image.
He's given them this promise ofblessings, and at this point in
(23:44):
their lives, they are not evenacknowledging God.
It's like they don't even knowhim.
The term know here in thescripture conveys more than
cognitive awareness.
It implies a relationalunderstanding, it implies
loyalty and recognition.
You know, Israel's failure isnot ignorance, it's not that
they don't know who God is,they've never been told.
(24:07):
It's not that they're not fullyaware of what these covenants
were and that they were supposedto be keeping them, it has
nothing to do with that.
What it comes down to is Israelis there, they have a willful
rejection here.
And this theme is going torecur throughout Isaiah.
As we move through chapter tochapter, you're going to see how
no matter how much they gettalked to by Isaiah, they
(24:28):
continue to willfully reject Godand to choose to not
acknowledge Him.
So the implication here, whenit's talking about how stubborn
and rebellious they are, it'svery stark.
The people that God nurturedand loved, they in essence are
behaving worse than animals.
Another cross-reference herethat we can go to to kind of to
(24:50):
dig this just a little bitdeeper for you guys and give you
a little bit more context is inJeremiah chapter 8, verse 7.
You know, in Jeremiah, when hewas going after Israel, he said
this even the stork in theheavens knows her times, and the
turtle dove, the swallow andthe crane, they keep the time of
their coming.
But my people, they know notthe rules of the Lord.
(25:13):
So here, this verse is part ofa prophetic lament, and as you
know, Jeremiah was the weepingprophet, and he actually wrote
the book of Lamentations, whichis just full of laments.
But here it's part of aprophetic lament where God,
through the prophet Jeremiah,rebukes the people of Judah for
their spiritual ignorance andthe rebellion.
(25:33):
So now not only is did Isaiahdo it, but Jeremiah, another
prophet, was also hammering onthem as well.
And this verse uses acomparison from nature to
highlight the irrationalbehavior of God's people.
Here Jeremiah contrasts theinstinctual obedience of
migratory birds with thedisobedience of the people of
(25:55):
Judah.
You know, birds like the stork,the turtle dove, the swallow,
and the crane, theyinstinctively follow the seasons
and know when to migrate.
You know, when it startsgetting cold out and it's start,
especially here in the Midwestwhere I live, you'll start
seeing the Canadian geese flyover.
They'll start flying south forthe winter when it's starting to
(26:15):
get cold.
They know when the winter'scoming.
These are animals.
I mean, they don't have a mindlike we do, they don't have the
education that we have, but yetthe way that God has created
them, they know when they'resupposed to do what they do.
They act according to theirnatural order and the timing
that God has built intocreation.
But here again, in contrast,God's own people of Judah, who
(26:40):
have been given his law andinstruction, who are supposed to
be fully aware of what God'sexpecting of them, fail to
recognize or follow hisguidance.
The phrase in this verse, knowsnot the rules of the Lord,
refers to their ignorance orwillful neglect of God's law or
the Torah.
Despite having divinerevelation, the people act more
(27:01):
foolishly than animals thatoperate by instinct.
It is a powerful indictment ofJudah's spiritual condition.
Here again, Matthew notes thatanimals follow the order God has
set for them, while humans whohave reason and revelation,
well, they often don't.
He writes that this shows theperverseness of human nature
(27:22):
when it turns away from God.
It's almost like we just loseall of our marbles and we just
don't know what we're doing orwhere we're headed.
We just seem to lose just allsense of direction and just
become, you know, very stupidindividuals.
John Gill also explains thatthe birds mentioned are known
for their migration habits andthat the people of Judah they
should have been morediscerning.
After all, they received thelaw of the prophets.
(27:45):
Their failure to understand andobey is pretty much it's
unexcusable.
There is no excuse whatsoeverfor the way that they were
acting.
You know, they emphasize theirony in the verse that the
irrational animals are morefaithful to their God given
instincts than Israel is to itscovenant obligations.
And remember, the Israelitesand Judah they had promises of
(28:06):
blessings if they followed thesethings.
So this here reveals the depthof Judah's apostasy.
As we've looked here atJeremiah 8, verse 7, you know,
there's imagery used here fromnature that's being used as an
irony on purpose to make fun ofand shame Judah for its failure
(28:26):
to follow God's law.
So while even birds obeynatural order, God's people
ignore his commandments.
You know, this verse highlightsthe irrationality and the
tragedy of spiritual rebellion,especially among those who have
been given divine truth.
It shows just how low we cango.
If Satan comes in and he triesto destroy us from the inside
(28:52):
out, tries to destroy to destroyour families, we have a choice
that we have to make.
And Satan can drag us to thelowest of the of the lows into
the depths of despair.
He can drag us through allkinds of places that we would
never want to go.
And it's all by our choice.
We're the ones that make upthat decision in which way that
(29:13):
we're going to go whenever thoseuh options and those decisions
are thrown our way.
So so here in uh verse three,oh Judah's not looking too well.
They're they're looking prettystupid at this point.
I'm sure glad that I've I was Iam not Judah, although there's
(29:34):
a time in my life that I waspretty stupid too.
I've not always walked withGod, I've had my moments, so I
totally understand how that canhappen.
Uh, but the Israelites, they'rein deep.
And and Isaiah is really tryingto work on them here.
So as we wrap up today herewith with verse four, in Isaiah
chapter one, it says, Ah, sinfulnation, a people laden with
(29:56):
iniquity, offspring ofevildoers, children who deal
corruptly.
They have forsaken the Lord.
They have despised the Holy Oneof Israel.
They are utterly estranged.
So this verse here, as we weretalking here just a while ago,
this is a lament.
And what is a lament?
Well, a lament is a passionateexpression of grief or sorrow,
(30:20):
and it's often articulatedthrough music, poetry, or song.
It can also refer to a formalexpression of mourning, such as
an elegy or a dirge.
In essence, a lament conveysdeep feelings of regret or
mourning for something that islost.
So as we look at this lamenthere in verse 4, the word awe,
(30:43):
which starts off that verse, theHebrew word for that is hoy, H
O Y.
That word actually in Hebrewexpresses grief and sorrow.
And Isaiah uses strongcovenantal language to accuse
Judah.
As we read on in two thatverse, it mentions a sinful
nation and people laden withiniquity.
(31:06):
Those two little phrasesindicate that sin is both
communal and habitual.
It's not only widespreadthroughout the whole kingdom of
Judah, but this is also one ofthose situations where it's
habitual sin.
They do it, they don't learntheir lesson, and then they do
it all over again.
And there's scripture in theBible about habitual sins.
(31:28):
And that's something that wehave to break.
Those end up becomingaddictions and life-controlling
issues if we're not careful.
As we go on into this verse, itsays, offspring of evildoers.
That little line emphasizesgenerational degradation,
suggests a legacy of rebellion.
So not only is God calling outJudah themselves, but he's also
(31:52):
going to be calling out theoffspring, because the offspring
are taking on the attributes oftheir families and where
they're coming from.
The term holy one of Israel inthis verse is uniquely Isaiah,
as it appears more than twodozen times throughout the book
of Isaiah.
This term emphasizes God'sabsolute purity and covenantal
(32:15):
faithfulness.
Judah's forsaking and despisingindicate a total breakdown of
the covenant relationship.
And in this verse where it saysthat they're utterly estranged,
that's a term of alienation,showing how far the people have
removed themselves from theirdivine father.
If you've ever been in asituation with a relative, maybe
(32:37):
it's a parent, a mom and dad,or some grandparents, maybe it's
your siblings, when you usethat word that you are estranged
from them, you typically haveno relationship.
It's one of those situationswhere maybe you haven't talked
to your dad in 20 or 30 years,maybe you haven't spoken to your
mother in 10 to 15 years, oryour siblings in eight to ten
(32:59):
years.
You'll start using that termestranged.
And here in this scripture,Isaiah is doing just that.
He's referring to Judah andJerusalem as they are utterly
estranged.
They have no relationship withGod, they have totally rejected
him and the covenants that heset before them.
(33:20):
You know, in Exodus 19:6,Israel was meant to be a holy
nation, and this is what'smaking this current condition
that they're in even moretragic.
Amos 9 10 and Ezekiel chapter16 describe the moral decay of
the people.
Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12warns against an evil,
(33:42):
unbelieving heart, which leadsyou to fall away from the living
God.
So, in essence, the Israeliteshere God had chosen them.
They were his chosen people.
And the fact that he had chosenthem to be a holy nation, to
give them the blessings that hewas going to, that makes their
(34:02):
condition trag tragic in thesituation that they are in.
But they are there because oftheir evilness and their
unbelieving hearts.
It has caused them to fall awayfrom the living God that
created them.
Here in these first fourverses, as we start off in
Isaiah, it begins with thecourtroom scene in which God
indicts his people for covenantunfaithfulness.
(34:25):
The tone in this these fewverses is deeply emotional.
It's portraying God as both ajudge and a loving father who
has been rejected by hischildren.
These foundational verses herein the beginning of Isaiah, they
set the tones for the things ofjudgment, purification, and
eventual redemption that we'regoing to see run throughout the
(34:48):
rest of this book of Isaiah.
So, in summary, as we closetoday, as we've made it through
(35:09):
Isaiah chapter 1, verses 1through 4, these scriptures open
the book of Isaiah with apowerful and sobering
introduction.
These verses, they set the tonefor the entire prophetic
message by presenting God's deepdisappointment with his people.
The passage begins byidentifying Isaiah the son of
(35:30):
Amos, and we learn the time andthe period of his ministry,
which was during the reigns ofUzziah, Jotha, Mahaz, and
Hezekiah, the kings of Judah.
This situates Isaiah's messagein a time of political
instability and a major moraldecline in the kingdom of Judah.
The Lord here speaks throughIsaiah, calling heaven and earth
(35:53):
as witnesses to his complaintagainst Israel.
God uses the imagery of aparent raising children who have
rebelled, highlighting the painand the betrayal that he is
feeling.
Despite all of that that Godhas done for them, the people of
Israel have turned away.
They are described as a sinfulnation, laden with iniquity,
(36:14):
offspring of evildoers andcorruptors.
They have forsaken the Lord,despise the Holy One of Israel,
and are utterly estranged.
This passage, though, it's notjust a condemnation.
It's also a call to recognizethe broken relationship between
God and his people.
It reveals the heart of aloving father who is grieved by
(36:36):
the rebellion of his children.
The imagery of an ox knowingits owner and a donkey its
master's crib.
While Israel does not know orunderstand, this emphasizes the
unnaturalness of theirrebellion.
Even animals show more loyaltythan God's own people.
As we look at this for today,we need to reflect on our own
(36:59):
relationship with God.
Are there areas in your liveswhere you've turned away, where
you've taken his blessings forgranted or ignored his guidance?
You know, we can sit here andsay, well, that's not me.
I'm so glad I'm not Israel.
But you know, just like Israel,we are prone to spiritual
forgetfulness and rebellion.
But this passage also invitesus to return to a God who is
(37:24):
deeply invested in us, who longsfor restored relationship
rather than judgment.
So as we end today's episode,I'm encouraging you to take a
moment of honestself-examination.
Ask yourself, am I living in away that honors the one who has
given me everything?
(37:44):
Am I aware of his presence andlordship in my daily life?
We need to let these few verseshere in the first of Isaiah be
a wake-up call, not just ajudgment, but of love.
God is not indifferent, hecares deeply and desires our
hearts to turn back to him.
Well, that's going to be allfor this week.
(38:07):
And as we go, we believe thatGod's word never fails us.
God's word has stood the testof time, and through Jesus'
death on the cross, he hasconnected the gap.
This is an extension ofConnecting the Gap Ministries,
and we pray that you have ablessed week.
Welcome to our first episode of what we're
gonna call this week ProphetsUnplugged.
That's the podcast whereancient wisdom meets modern
ears, and every once in a whilewe're gonna shake our head in
dismay at the Israelites becausehow could they be so stupid?
Well, today we're diving intoIsaiah chapter 1, where the
prophet doesn't exactly ease inwith a gentle hello.
(00:28):
Nope, Isaiah kicks things offlike a divine courtroom drama.
And uh spoiler alert here,Israel is definitely on trial.
I mean, think of it like this: you know, God is the parent, (00:36):
undefined
Israel is the rebelliousteenager, and Isaiah is the very
frustrated family counselortrying to bring everyone back to
the table.
There's talk of stubborndonkeys, bruised bodies, burnt
cities, and honestly, it's moreintense than a season finale of
your favorite drama series.
(00:57):
But don't worry, it's not allfire and brimstone, there's also
a powerful imitation to turnthings around.
To stop going through themotions and start living with
purpose.
So grab your coffee and maybe anotepad, and let's start to
unpack Isaiah chapter 1, wheredivine justice meets a call for
mercy, and yes, even prophetsget a little dramatic.
(01:18):
Let's get to it.
Welcome to Connecting the Gap.
This is a podcast aboutmarriage, public studies, and we
interview people that have astory.
I'm Daniel Moore, your host.
Thank you guys for joining usthis week.
(01:40):
If not through with our show,check out our website at the
www.connectingthegap.net.
Our platforms are there,YouTube and Rumble Links.
We're also on the ChristianPodcasting app at Edifi.
And we're also on your Alexaand Google Smart Devices.
You can also visit us onsocial, on Facebook, Instagram,
and X at CTGapOnline.
If you're a fan of our show,please subscribe.
(02:00):
Feel free to leave a comment onour platforms and give us a
thumbs up or a five-star reviewin Apple Podcast.
And we'd be thankful to you fordoing that.
Also, as Minister here, we alsohave a new book out.
It's called Marriage is aMission, Living Out God's Design
for Marriage.
You can pick up your copy ofthe paperback at Amazon.com and
BarnesandNoble.com.
And in addition, you can alsoget it in a hardback format in
(02:23):
Kindle.
And we also have a six-sessionstudy guide, and those can be
purchased exclusively on Amazon.
So go pick yours up today andcheck it out.
Maybe if you enjoy that and ithelps you out, pass it on to a
friend or a family member thatcould probably use that as well.
And we just pray that it'll bea blessing to you.
Well, this week we are going tobe starting a brand new series.
(02:46):
We've got a little bit of newsound to our podcast.
We're changing our format up alittle bit and gonna kind of do
a little bit of a refresh as westart into this new series.
The series is going to go forquite a while.
Last week we did the intro andI talked a little bit about it,
but we're gonna be going throughthe book of Isaiah, and we're
gonna be going as far as we can.
(03:07):
I'm gonna try to keep thesearound 30 minutes or so, maybe a
little bit, you know, longersometimes possibly, but I'm
gonna try to keep them a littleshorter.
And so I don't know how manyverses we'll get through because
we're gonna try to pack a lotof extra stuff in as we go along
in areas where we can.
And I just want to make this aseducational as possible for all
of you that are listeners.
I Isaiah is a kind of adifficult book, really, in a lot
(03:30):
of ways to try to understand.
It has tons of symbolism uh init and just a lot of language
that's figurative and symbolic.
And so uh it's kind of hard forsome people to understand it.
And so I just want to take itnice and slow and easy, just try
to explain it the best that Ipossibly can, and the way that
God would have me to do that,and we'll be rabbit trailing off
(03:52):
into different areas of theBible occasionally to kind of
pull some things together as wego through Isaiah.
Overall, I just hope that youenjoy this series and I hope
that you learned something fromit.
And if you know anybody that'sa lover of this book in the
Bible, please tell them aboutthis so that they can join in as
well and learn with us each andevery week as we go through the
book of Isaiah here onConnecting the Gap.
(04:14):
So as we get started here thisweek with the first episode here
of our new series in Isaiah,we're going to of course start
with Isaiah chapter 1, verse 1.
(04:36):
And as I get ready to startthis, I do want to make you
aware that I am a big ESV fan.
And so most of my scripturesI'm going to be taking
throughout this whole series isgoing to come from the ESV.
I do like uh other translationsas well, and sometimes I'll
probably use some of thosepossibly as a backup view of
(04:58):
some of the scriptures we may gothrough.
Um but if you're going tofollow along with me and take
notes and use your Bible, if youdon't have an ESV version, then
you'll probably need to getinto the Bible app or Bible
Gateway and utilize their copiesof the ESV.
And that way you can see theexact verses that I'm reading as
I'm reading these as we gothrough this study.
(05:21):
So I just wanted to put thatout there that real quick here
before we got started.
That way you wouldn't be losthere right off the bat as soon
as I start reading verse onehere in just a second.
That way you'll know kind ofwhere I'm coming from on all of
this.
So we're going to go ahead andget started.
We'll see how far we can makeit.
Like I said, we're going to tryto keep these episodes within
(05:43):
about a 30-minute time frame,roughly, give or take just a
little bit.
So we'll go ahead here and getstarted.
So as we open up Isaiah, weturn to chapter 1, verse 1.
It starts like this it says,The vision of Isaiah, the son of
Amos, which he saw concerningJudah and Jerusalem in the days
(06:05):
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, andHezekiah, kings of Judah.
So this verse actually doesserve as the opening heading for
the entire book of Isaiah.
And the term vision hereencapsulates not just visual
revelations, but also oracles ordivine messages, you could say,
(06:26):
received by the prophet.
So Isaiah's prophecies inIsaiah are directed primarily at
Judah and its capital cityJerusalem, rather than the
northern kingdom of Israel.
And so we're going to bedealing with throughout this
first chapter for sure, here aswe go, we're going to be dealing
with the vision that Isaiahreceived from God.
(06:49):
So as we break up theseepisodes each week, and we have
to stop and then come back thenext week to continue this.
Always keep in mind, and I'lltry to remind you, but to keep
in mind as we're going alonghere that this is a vision that
Isaiah is sharing.
And you may have to go back andread some of the prior verses
(07:10):
on some of the other episodes totry to keep track of all of
this as we go through it.
Isaiah chapter 1 is a littlebit of an extensive, long
chapter.
So we'll do our best here,though, to keep all of these
things locked together.
Now, the time frame here iscritical as Isaiah ministered
during the reigns of Uzziah,which was about 792 to 740 BC.
(07:33):
And he also ministered duringJotham's reign of 750 to 735 BC,
roughly, and then overlappingwith his father.
And then Ahaz was reigning from735 to 715, and Isaiah was also
overlapping Hezekiah from about715 to 686 BC for his kingdom
(07:55):
reign.
And we of course talked alittle bit about that last week
in our intro.
And during these times, theywere tumultuous.
They were times that were verypolitically and spiritually
charged.
There was just a lot going on.
And the Israelites, the youknow, Judah, they had just taken
(08:16):
their eyes off of God.
And God was allowing them to bepunished.
And as we go through Isaiah,you're going to see how God is
pleading with them constantly totry to get them to come back.
He's offering that redemption,he's offering payment for their
sin if they would just turn backto him.
And this is a continuingconversation that goes on
(08:39):
between God and the kingdom ofJudah and Jerusalem through the
prophet Isaiah.
So during this time, theAssyrian Empire was on the rise,
and this was, of course, takingplace during Isaiah's ministry.
The northern kingdom of Israelwould end up being destroyed,
and that was around 722 BC, andthat was during the reign of
(09:02):
King Ahaz.
And then Judah itself facedintense pressure.
So Isaiah, who again was theson of Amos, and don't forget,
we do have a book in the Biblenamed Amos, that's AMOS the
prophet, that's not the sameperson.
Isaiah's dad was Amos with a Z.
He is believed to have comefrom a nobler, possibly royal
(09:26):
background, which would explainhis frequent access to kings and
political matters.
And we talked a little bitabout that last week as he was a
cousin to Uzziah.
So as we start off here inverse 1, basically it's letting
us know that this is a visionthat Isaiah is receiving, and
he's going to be delivering thisto Judah and Jerusalem.
(09:48):
As we move on to Isaiah chapter1, verse 2, we see Judah pretty
much go on trial.
The scripture goes, Hear Oheavens, and give ear, O earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Children have I reared andbrought up, but they have
rebelled against me.
So here this verse begins theprophetic oracle with a formal
(10:11):
call to witnesses.
So it's starting to look like alittle bit like a courtroom
here in the setting.
The heavens and the earth arethe witnesses that are being
called up in this vision.
And Judah will recognize thisas this is echoing the
covenantal language that's foundin Deuteronomy.
So by invoking these witnesses,Isaiah positions his message
(10:35):
within the legal framework ofthe covenant that was
established between God andIsrael at Sinai.
And you can see all about thatin Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse
19.
And actually what we're goingto do, we're going to go ahead
and float over to Deuteronomychapter 30, verse 19, and we're
going to take a quick look atthat here.
(10:56):
So that verse in Deuteronomysays, I call heaven and earth to
witness against you today thatI set before you life and death,
blessing and curse.
Therefore choose life, that youand your offspring may live.
So this verse here inDeuteronomy chapter 30 is a part
(11:17):
of Moses' final address to theIsraelites before they enter the
promised land.
Deuteronomy is essentially acovenant renewal document where
Moses reiterates God's laws andurges the people to remain
faithful to the covenant made atMount Sinai.
Chapter 30 here in Deuteronomyis a climactic moment in this
address where Moses presents aclear choice to the people life
(11:40):
and prosperity throughobedience, or death and
adversity through disobedience.
So years before Moses had theIsraelites at Mount Sinai,
giving them all of these laws,setting these covenants in place
between them and God, and evenat that time, they had their
choice to make, just like we dotoday.
They had a choice of life andprosperity through obedience to
(12:03):
God.
If they would follow God'sprecepts, follow his laws,
follow the path that God setthem on, then they would have
life.
They would have prosperity ineverything around them.
And of course, in essence, atthe end, they would have eternal
life.
But if they chose to go theirown way and let pride rise up
inside of them, let Satan putthe blinders on and cause them
(12:27):
to uh get distracted from theplan that God had for them in
each of their lives, then theywere going to make a choice at
that point.
They were going to be choosingdeath and adversity because they
would at that point beingdisobedient towards God.
And so when Isaiah is bringingthis back up here in verse 2 of
(12:50):
chapter 1, it's repeated thisway about the heaven and earth
being a witness because theIsraelites would recognize, you
know, Judah would recognize whatwas being said there because of
what happened here at MountSinai.
So the setting of Mount Sinaiwhen they had these covenants
(13:12):
given to them was in the plainsof Moab, which was just east of
the Jordan River.
So in Deuteronomy chapter 30,verse 19, Israel's on the verge
of entering Canaan, just to putthe setting here.
And Moses, knowing that he willnot enter with them, delivers a
series of speeches to preparethem for going into the promised
land.
And if you remember Moses, thereason that he didn't get to go
(13:36):
in, God instructed him to do acouple of things to reprimand
the Israelites while they werewandering around aimlessly in
the desert.
Moses had went to Egypt andrescued them out of Egypt with
the help of God.
And God was taking them throughthe desert, giving them cloud
by day and fire by night to leadthem to all the different
(14:00):
places, but they were grumbling,they were complaining.
They were actually not uhkeeping their faith in God like
they should have been.
And because of that, they werewondering aimlessly which they
would end up doing for 40 yearsbecause of their disobedience.
And Moses, out of anger anddesperation a few times, when
(14:20):
God would tell him to do somethings, like one instance, he
told him to uh take his rod andstrike a rock once to let the
water flow so that they wouldhave water because they were
grumbling, they were thirsty,they were hungry.
And Moses got mad and prettymuch put a beaten on the rock.
And uh that with a couple otherthings, God said, Moses, you
know, you're not going into theCanaan land.
(14:42):
You're not going to be able togo with them.
So Deuteronomy 30 here is partof the third and final speech
where Moses speaks of theblessings of obedience and the
consequences of rebellion.
So the invocation here ofheaven and earth as witnesses is
a common motif in ancient NearEastern treaties where natural
elements were often called uponto bear witness to covenants.
(15:04):
This shows the solemnity of themoment and the seriousness of
the choice that's beingpresented.
Moses sets before the people amoral and spiritual choice, life
and death, or blessing andcurse.
The terms are not merely aboutphysical survival, but they
encompass the totality of thecovenantal faithfulness and that
(15:26):
relationship that God wascalling them to between him and
the Israelites.
You know, when they wouldchoose life, it meant that they
were choosing to love, obey, andcling to God.
As if you move on to verse 20in chapter 30, there in
Deuteronomy, it's expanded andexplains that a little bit more,
which results in life for themand their descendants.
(15:47):
Matthew Henry, who's awell-known commentator, he notes
that Moses urges the people toconsider the consequences of
their actions.
He writes that the matter isfairly stated, life and death,
good and evil, are set beforethem.
The blessing and the curse areexplained and enforced by the
most powerful motives.
Matthew Henry emphasizes thatGod's commandments are not
(16:11):
burdensome, but they are for thepeople's good.
God has good that's going tocome out of that.
(16:35):
And Moses was trying to instillin the Israelites at this time
that God has your best interestin mind.
If you would only just beobedient, he just called them to
obedience.
John Gill, another well-knowncommentator, highlights the
covenantal nature of the choice.
He writes, Heaven and Earth arecalled to witness as enduring
(16:56):
and unchangeable and as beingaffected by the conduct of men.
He also points out that thechoice is not merely a passive
decision, but an active turningtoward God.
So heaven and earth, eventhough the topography might
change of what the earth lookslike, the the heavens may change
(17:17):
according to what clouds arefloating by or whatever it may
be, they're still a constant.
They're there.
They don't go away, they don'tchange.
And by calling them to be awitness, that shows that they
would be a permanent witness ofthat covenant between God, so
(17:37):
that just to solidify with theIsraelites that this is
something that's put into placethat's not ever going to change.
This passage is the conclusionof the exhortation to obedience,
the choice between life anddeath.
It's not only a legalformality, but a deeply personal
and communal decision.
Now they're being called tolove the Lord, to walk in his
(17:57):
ways, and to keep hiscommandments.
If they did that, that wouldmean that they were choosing
life, just like we do, when wedo those same things that God
has called us to.
So this verse in Deuteronomybasically encapsulates the
covenant theology that runsthroughout Deuteronomy, which is
this that obedience bringsblessing and life, disobedience
(18:19):
brings curse and death.
It also reflects the heart ofthe Mosaic Law.
It's not merely a legal code,but a call to re to relational
fidelity with God.
The appeal to choose life, it'snot just a command, it's
actually an invitation.
And what is God inviting themto?
This was a promise God wasputting upon all of them.
(19:00):
And though that that was spokento ancient Israel back then, as
I've kind of stated here acouple of times, that principle
remains relevant today.
You know, the call to chooselife continues to resignate as
an invitation to align withGod's will, leading to spiritual
vitality and blessing.
It emphasizes humanresponsibility and responding to
(19:21):
God's revealed will and theimpact of our choices on
ourselves and futuregenerations.
And if you look through eventhe New Testament, God has many,
many promises there that showsthat if we just follow the plan
that He set before us, that wewill be blessed in many ways.
And of course, we're not doingthis just for a blessing.
We're doing it because we lovethe Lord.
(19:41):
That's the whole reason that wefollow him like we do.
God rewards us for that.
And so it's always important tokeep that in mind whenever uh
Satan comes up against us andstarts throwing these options,
these whys in the road, theseforks in the road, and we have
to start deciding which way arewe going to go.
Well, you can never fail if youfollow the path that God has
(20:05):
set before you, as he hasblessings in store for you and
into your generations to come.
So here in verse 2, God speaksas a father who has raised his
children.
And when he says, Children haveI reared, he's referencing to
Israel and Judah when he'sspeaking that.
And of course, as he's raisedthem up, he was met with
(20:26):
rebellion.
The notion of divineparenthood, that highlights both
God's love and Judah'singratitude.
And as we go throughout chapterone here, we're going to be
elaborating more on that.
The rebellion here refers toidolatry, social injustice, and
covenant-breaking behavior thatcharacterized Judah during this
era.
(20:46):
As we move along here a littlefurther into this chapter,
they're going to start beingcompared to Sodom and Gomorrah.
I mean, the things that theywere doing was completely evil
at this time of Isaiah.
And God was very disappointed.
He was very sad with a brokenheart, basically, if you see, uh
try to understand the way thatGod felt towards this whole
(21:07):
situation.
So that's kind of the essenceand the background there of
using Deuteronomy chapter 32,uh, where it was stated to for
the heavens to give ear, and Godwould speak, and let the earth
hear the words of his mouth,that those are unchanging words
(21:28):
that God was speaking.
And if you go to Hosea chapter11, verses 1 and 2, it also
shows a similar father-childtheme, and of course, Israel's
rebellion.
As we talked last week, Hoseais another prophet that was
actually speaking, you know,against Israel's rebellion and
things that they were partakingin.
And if you look at Exodus 4,verse 22, uh, that's another
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place that solidifies Israel andrefers to them as God's
firstborn son.
These people were very closeand very dear to God's heart.
And the things that they weredoing, was he was not happy with
them at all because of thatrebellion that they had
introduced into the kingdomthere of Israel.
As we move on to verse three,it says, The ox knows its owner,
(22:17):
and the donkey its master'scrib, but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.
So this verse here is veryinteresting.
It offers a powerfulillustration through a little
bit of irony.
You know, Isaiah uses commondomesticated animals, the ox and
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the donkey, to shame Israel.
Even these lowly animalsrecognize and respond to their
master's care, but God's chosenpeople have failed to
acknowledge him.
You know, if if you are on afarm or if you've ever worked on
a farm or own a farm, you'llknow that the ox and the donkey,
they're probably two of themost stubborn animals that you
could own.
Now, a lot of animals will havestubborn streaks in them,
(22:59):
there's no doubt about that.
But when you think of the oxand the donkey, the first thing
that usually comes to mind isthe fact that they're stubborn
and they're rebellious.
But those two animals, theystill know who their owners are,
and their owners can still getthem to do the things that they
ask them to do.
(23:20):
They might be stubborn for alittle bit and they might have
to tap them a little with, youknow, the stick or whatever it
may take to get them movingright along.
But even those animalsrecognize and respond to their
master's care.
But on the flip side of that,here we have human beings that
God has created in his image.
He's given them this promise ofblessings, and at this point in
(23:44):
their lives, they are not evenacknowledging God.
It's like they don't even knowhim.
The term know here in thescripture conveys more than
cognitive awareness.
It implies a relationalunderstanding, it implies
loyalty and recognition.
You know, Israel's failure isnot ignorance, it's not that
they don't know who God is,they've never been told.
(24:07):
It's not that they're not fullyaware of what these covenants
were and that they were supposedto be keeping them, it has
nothing to do with that.
What it comes down to is Israelis there, they have a willful
rejection here.
And this theme is going torecur throughout Isaiah.
As we move through chapter tochapter, you're going to see how
no matter how much they gettalked to by Isaiah, they
(24:28):
continue to willfully reject Godand to choose to not
acknowledge Him.
So the implication here, whenit's talking about how stubborn
and rebellious they are, it'svery stark.
The people that God nurturedand loved, they in essence are
behaving worse than animals.
Another cross-reference herethat we can go to to kind of to
(24:50):
dig this just a little bitdeeper for you guys and give you
a little bit more context is inJeremiah chapter 8, verse 7.
You know, in Jeremiah, when hewas going after Israel, he said
this even the stork in theheavens knows her times, and the
turtle dove, the swallow andthe crane, they keep the time of
their coming.
But my people, they know notthe rules of the Lord.
(25:13):
So here, this verse is part ofa prophetic lament, and as you
know, Jeremiah was the weepingprophet, and he actually wrote
the book of Lamentations, whichis just full of laments.
But here it's part of aprophetic lament where God,
through the prophet Jeremiah,rebukes the people of Judah for
their spiritual ignorance andthe rebellion.
(25:33):
So now not only is did Isaiahdo it, but Jeremiah, another
prophet, was also hammering onthem as well.
And this verse uses acomparison from nature to
highlight the irrationalbehavior of God's people.
Here Jeremiah contrasts theinstinctual obedience of
migratory birds with thedisobedience of the people of
(25:55):
Judah.
You know, birds like the stork,the turtle dove, the swallow,
and the crane, theyinstinctively follow the seasons
and know when to migrate.
You know, when it startsgetting cold out and it's start,
especially here in the Midwestwhere I live, you'll start
seeing the Canadian geese flyover.
They'll start flying south forthe winter when it's starting to
(26:15):
get cold.
They know when the winter'scoming.
These are animals.
I mean, they don't have a mindlike we do, they don't have the
education that we have, but yetthe way that God has created
them, they know when they'resupposed to do what they do.
They act according to theirnatural order and the timing
that God has built intocreation.
But here again, in contrast,God's own people of Judah, who
(26:40):
have been given his law andinstruction, who are supposed to
be fully aware of what God'sexpecting of them, fail to
recognize or follow hisguidance.
The phrase in this verse, knowsnot the rules of the Lord,
refers to their ignorance orwillful neglect of God's law or
the Torah.
Despite having divinerevelation, the people act more
(27:01):
foolishly than animals thatoperate by instinct.
It is a powerful indictment ofJudah's spiritual condition.
Here again, Matthew notes thatanimals follow the order God has
set for them, while humans whohave reason and revelation,
well, they often don't.
He writes that this shows theperverseness of human nature
(27:22):
when it turns away from God.
It's almost like we just loseall of our marbles and we just
don't know what we're doing orwhere we're headed.
We just seem to lose just allsense of direction and just
become, you know, very stupidindividuals.
John Gill also explains thatthe birds mentioned are known
for their migration habits andthat the people of Judah they
should have been morediscerning.
After all, they received thelaw of the prophets.
(27:45):
Their failure to understand andobey is pretty much it's
unexcusable.
There is no excuse whatsoeverfor the way that they were
acting.
You know, they emphasize theirony in the verse that the
irrational animals are morefaithful to their God given
instincts than Israel is to itscovenant obligations.
And remember, the Israelitesand Judah they had promises of
(28:06):
blessings if they followed thesethings.
So this here reveals the depthof Judah's apostasy.
As we've looked here atJeremiah 8, verse 7, you know,
there's imagery used here fromnature that's being used as an
irony on purpose to make fun ofand shame Judah for its failure
(28:26):
to follow God's law.
So while even birds obeynatural order, God's people
ignore his commandments.
You know, this verse highlightsthe irrationality and the
tragedy of spiritual rebellion,especially among those who have
been given divine truth.
It shows just how low we cango.
If Satan comes in and he triesto destroy us from the inside
(28:52):
out, tries to destroy to destroyour families, we have a choice
that we have to make.
And Satan can drag us to thelowest of the of the lows into
the depths of despair.
He can drag us through allkinds of places that we would
never want to go.
And it's all by our choice.
We're the ones that make upthat decision in which way that
(29:13):
we're going to go whenever thoseuh options and those decisions
are thrown our way.
So so here in uh verse three,oh Judah's not looking too well.
They're they're looking prettystupid at this point.
I'm sure glad that I've I was Iam not Judah, although there's
(29:34):
a time in my life that I waspretty stupid too.
I've not always walked withGod, I've had my moments, so I
totally understand how that canhappen.
Uh, but the Israelites, they'rein deep.
And and Isaiah is really tryingto work on them here.
So as we wrap up today herewith with verse four, in Isaiah
chapter one, it says, Ah, sinfulnation, a people laden with
(29:56):
iniquity, offspring ofevildoers, children who deal
corruptly.
They have forsaken the Lord.
They have despised the Holy Oneof Israel.
They are utterly estranged.
So this verse here, as we weretalking here just a while ago,
this is a lament.
And what is a lament?
Well, a lament is a passionateexpression of grief or sorrow,
(30:20):
and it's often articulatedthrough music, poetry, or song.
It can also refer to a formalexpression of mourning, such as
an elegy or a dirge.
In essence, a lament conveysdeep feelings of regret or
mourning for something that islost.
So as we look at this lamenthere in verse 4, the word awe,
(30:43):
which starts off that verse, theHebrew word for that is hoy, H
O Y.
That word actually in Hebrewexpresses grief and sorrow.
And Isaiah uses strongcovenantal language to accuse
Judah.
As we read on in two thatverse, it mentions a sinful
nation and people laden withiniquity.
(31:06):
Those two little phrasesindicate that sin is both
communal and habitual.
It's not only widespreadthroughout the whole kingdom of
Judah, but this is also one ofthose situations where it's
habitual sin.
They do it, they don't learntheir lesson, and then they do
it all over again.
And there's scripture in theBible about habitual sins.
(31:28):
And that's something that wehave to break.
Those end up becomingaddictions and life-controlling
issues if we're not careful.
As we go on into this verse, itsays, offspring of evildoers.
That little line emphasizesgenerational degradation,
suggests a legacy of rebellion.
So not only is God calling outJudah themselves, but he's also
(31:52):
going to be calling out theoffspring, because the offspring
are taking on the attributes oftheir families and where
they're coming from.
The term holy one of Israel inthis verse is uniquely Isaiah,
as it appears more than twodozen times throughout the book
of Isaiah.
This term emphasizes God'sabsolute purity and covenantal
(32:15):
faithfulness.
Judah's forsaking and despisingindicate a total breakdown of
the covenant relationship.
And in this verse where it saysthat they're utterly estranged,
that's a term of alienation,showing how far the people have
removed themselves from theirdivine father.
If you've ever been in asituation with a relative, maybe
(32:37):
it's a parent, a mom and dad,or some grandparents, maybe it's
your siblings, when you usethat word that you are estranged
from them, you typically haveno relationship.
It's one of those situationswhere maybe you haven't talked
to your dad in 20 or 30 years,maybe you haven't spoken to your
mother in 10 to 15 years, oryour siblings in eight to ten
(32:59):
years.
You'll start using that termestranged.
And here in this scripture,Isaiah is doing just that.
He's referring to Judah andJerusalem as they are utterly
estranged.
They have no relationship withGod, they have totally rejected
him and the covenants that heset before them.
(33:20):
You know, in Exodus 19:6,Israel was meant to be a holy
nation, and this is what'smaking this current condition
that they're in even moretragic.
Amos 9 10 and Ezekiel chapter16 describe the moral decay of
the people.
Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12warns against an evil,
(33:42):
unbelieving heart, which leadsyou to fall away from the living
God.
So, in essence, the Israeliteshere God had chosen them.
They were his chosen people.
And the fact that he had chosenthem to be a holy nation, to
give them the blessings that hewas going to, that makes their
(34:02):
condition trag tragic in thesituation that they are in.
But they are there because oftheir evilness and their
unbelieving hearts.
It has caused them to fall awayfrom the living God that
created them.
Here in these first fourverses, as we start off in
Isaiah, it begins with thecourtroom scene in which God
indicts his people for covenantunfaithfulness.
(34:25):
The tone in this these fewverses is deeply emotional.
It's portraying God as both ajudge and a loving father who
has been rejected by hischildren.
These foundational verses herein the beginning of Isaiah, they
set the tones for the things ofjudgment, purification, and
eventual redemption that we'regoing to see run throughout the
(34:48):
rest of this book of Isaiah.
So, in summary, as we closetoday, as we've made it through
(35:09):
Isaiah chapter 1, verses 1through 4, these scriptures open
the book of Isaiah with apowerful and sobering
introduction.
These verses, they set the tonefor the entire prophetic
message by presenting God's deepdisappointment with his people.
The passage begins byidentifying Isaiah the son of
(35:30):
Amos, and we learn the time andthe period of his ministry,
which was during the reigns ofUzziah, Jotha, Mahaz, and
Hezekiah, the kings of Judah.
This situates Isaiah's messagein a time of political
instability and a major moraldecline in the kingdom of Judah.
The Lord here speaks throughIsaiah, calling heaven and earth
(35:53):
as witnesses to his complaintagainst Israel.
God uses the imagery of aparent raising children who have
rebelled, highlighting the painand the betrayal that he is
feeling.
Despite all of that that Godhas done for them, the people of
Israel have turned away.
They are described as a sinfulnation, laden with iniquity,
(36:14):
offspring of evildoers andcorruptors.
They have forsaken the Lord,despise the Holy One of Israel,
and are utterly estranged.
This passage, though, it's notjust a condemnation.
It's also a call to recognizethe broken relationship between
God and his people.
It reveals the heart of aloving father who is grieved by
(36:36):
the rebellion of his children.
The imagery of an ox knowingits owner and a donkey its
master's crib.
While Israel does not know orunderstand, this emphasizes the
unnaturalness of theirrebellion.
Even animals show more loyaltythan God's own people.
As we look at this for today,we need to reflect on our own
(36:59):
relationship with God.
Are there areas in your liveswhere you've turned away, where
you've taken his blessings forgranted or ignored his guidance?
You know, we can sit here andsay, well, that's not me.
I'm so glad I'm not Israel.
But you know, just like Israel,we are prone to spiritual
forgetfulness and rebellion.
But this passage also invitesus to return to a God who is
(37:24):
deeply invested in us, who longsfor restored relationship
rather than judgment.
So as we end today's episode,I'm encouraging you to take a
moment of honestself-examination.
Ask yourself, am I living in away that honors the one who has
given me everything?
(37:44):
Am I aware of his presence andlordship in my daily life?
We need to let these few verseshere in the first of Isaiah be
a wake-up call, not just ajudgment, but of love.
God is not indifferent, hecares deeply and desires our
hearts to turn back to him.
Well, that's going to be allfor this week.
(38:07):
And as we go, we believe thatGod's word never fails us.
God's word has stood the testof time, and through Jesus'
death on the cross, he hasconnected the gap.
This is an extension ofConnecting the Gap Ministries,
and we pray that you have ablessed week.
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