Text: Isaiah 1

Context: In church history, the book of Isaiah is sometimes referred to as “the Romans of the Old Testament.” Why? Because of its massive theological teaching about our sinfulness and of God’s salvation of his people. Isaiah was a staggeringly literary writer. His metaphors, images, diction, and poetry are simply unlike anyone else’s. In chapter one of his book, he begins in vv. 2-3 by comparing the people of Judah to beasts, recalcitrant beasts who refuse to hear and understand: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

Connection & Application: Isaiah wrote in the 700s B.C. to a nation and culture that knew the right things to do, but that largely refused to obey. Sound familiar? We are undergoing a cultural revolution in America and the West that is nothing short of spiritual, intellectual, and moral suicide. And yet God’s Word remains steadfast, constant, and sure. Hear again from Isaiah: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 1:19-20).