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July 10 - Isaiah 1 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it is Sean. Here it is Monday, it is the
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  10th of July and I am so glad to have your company as we begin an
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  awfully grand adventure today. Today, not only is it school
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  holidays for those of you who are in that part of life in this
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  part of the world, but it is also the day that we open up a
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  pretty significant new book of the Bible.
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  Today we shall begin journeying through the book of Isaiah.
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  This is the prophet who is most quoted in the New Testament.
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  You'll hear Jesus quote Isaiah. All sorts of New Testament
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  authors quote Isaiah. It is an epic book, epic not
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  only in its size but also in its scope.
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  Isaiah is split into three main parts.
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  The 1st is when he is prophesying, when he's got the
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  Assyrian empire breathing down Israel's neck and they are under
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  threat as this new empire is rising.
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  The second part? Is when they have been taken
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  into exile. And thirdly, there is a third
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  part when they have returned to the land from exile and are
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  rebuilding Jerusalem. And you might be thinking hang
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  on to text Sean that that's like span of over 150 years.
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  True that there is ongoing debate among scholars about.
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  Is this one author who has gathered the writings of Isaiah
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  over time and put it together with other writings?
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  Is it a number of different prophets who have all prophesied
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  together? Is it just different mouthpieces
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  of God writing? Thankfully, we don't need to
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  bother ourselves too much with all that.
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  What we need to know is that this is a prophetic voice
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  speaking God's words to his people both when the threat
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  rises. When they go into exile and then
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  when they return. These prophecies came to a
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  number of different kings through the years and we will
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  talk about them as we reach them.
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  But for now, let us read this introductory chapter that sets
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  the scene for what is to come. Join me friends.
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  Let's go back and hear as we read together Isaiah, chapter
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  one. These are the visions that
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  Isaiah, son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
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  He saw these visions during the years when Uziah, Jotham a has,
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  and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
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  Listen, O heavens, pay attention earth.
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  This is what the Lord says. The children I raised and cared
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  for have rebelled against me. Even an ox knows its owner, and
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  a donkey recognizes its master's care.
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  But Israel doesn't know its master.
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  My people don't recognize my care for them.
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  Oh, what a sinful nation They are loaded down with a burden of
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  guilt. They are evil people, corrupt
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  children who've rejected the Lord.
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  They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs
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  on him. Why do you continue to invite
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  punishment? Must you rebel forever?
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  Your head is injured and your heart is sick.
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  You are battered from head to foot, covered with bruises,
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  welts and infected wounds without any soothing ointments
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  or bandages. Your country lies in ruins and
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  your towns are burned. Foreigners plunder your fields
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  before your eyes and destroy everything they see.
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  Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman's
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  shelter in a vineyard. Like a lean to in a cucumber
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  field after the harvest. Like a helpless city under
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  siege. If the Lord of Heaven's armies
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  had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like
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  Sodom. Destroyed, like Gomorrah.
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  Listen to the Lord. You, leaders of Sodom, listen to
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  the lore of our God, people of Gomorrah.
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  What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?
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  Says the Lord. I am sick of your burnt
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  offerings of Rams and the fat of fatted cattle.
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  I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
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  When you come to worship me, Who asked you to parade through my
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  courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing me your
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  meaningless gifts. The incense of your offering
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  disgusts me. As for your celebrations of the
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  new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting.
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  They are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious
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  meetings. I hate your New Moon
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  celebrations and your annual festivals.
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  They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them.
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  When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look that you
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  offer many prayers. I will not listen, for your
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  hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
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  Wash yourselves and be clean. Get your sins out of my sight.
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  Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good.
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  Seek justice. Help thee oppressed.
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  Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.
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  Come now, let's settle. This, says the Lord.
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  Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as
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  white as snow. Though they are red like
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  Crimson. I will make them as white as
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  wool. If you will only obey me, you
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  will have plenty to eat. But if you turn away and refuse
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  to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
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  I, the Lord, have spoken. See how Jerusalem, once so
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  faithful, has become a prostitute.
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  Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled
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  with murderers once like pure silver.
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  You have become like worth the slag, once so pure you are now
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  like watered down wine. Your leaders are rebels, the
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  companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and
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  demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the case of orphans or
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  fight for the rights of widows. Therefore the Lord, the Lord of
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  heaven's armies, the mighty one of Israel, says.
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  I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back my foes.
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  I will raise my fist against you.
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  I will melt you down and skim off your slag.
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  I will remove all your impurities.
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  Then I will give you good judges again and wise counselors like
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  you used to have. Then Jerusalem will again be
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  called the home of justice and the faithful city.
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  The Zion will be restored by justice.
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  Those who repent will be revived by righteousness.
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  But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those
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  who desert the Lord will be consumed.
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  You will be ashamed of your idol worship in Groves of sacred
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  oaks. You will blush because you
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  worshipped in gardens dedicated to idols.
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  You will be like a great tree with withered leaves, like a
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  garden. Without water, the strongest
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  among you will disappear like straw.
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  Their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire.
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  They and their evil works will burn up together, and no one
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  will be able to put out the fire Our Lord, as we begin this epic
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  journey of Isaiah. As we cover so much ground
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  through the words of this prophet, we will cover your
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  people unfaithful, your people faithful, your people in exile,
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  your people returned and your promises come good, so much
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  ground we will cover. I pray that you shape our hearts
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  that as we hear these words. That we would encounter you.
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  We would encounter your faithfulness, your love for us,
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  your mercy, and the incredible God that you are.
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  So we come before you with hearts, Lift it up full of
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  praise, ready to be shaped and transformed by your word.
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  And we pray. All this in your name, Jesus.
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  Amen.