What does Isaiah 1:28 mean?
Isaiah has been painfully clear and will continue to do so. There is no hope for those in Judah who refuse to repent of their sinful ways and to return to faithfulness to the Lord. He emphasizes that "rebels and sinners" will be destroyed by the Lord together. In other words, God's judgment will come down equally on those who are "merely" sinners, failing to obey God. As well as those who are "rebels," denying God's right to rule over them. Lesser disobedience will be no protection from the coming destruction. When God's message is clear, and so are the consequences, there is no room for halfhearted obedience.Those who forsake Yahweh will be consumed. The time to repent and return to obedience is now, not later. Isaiah is pointing forward to the coming invasion of Judah by the Babylonians, who will decimate the city and carry the people of God into exile (Isaiah 36).
Isaiah 1:21–31 focuses on the city of Jerusalem as representative of the people of Judah in Israel. Once faithful to God and known for justice, the city has become a prostitute and a town in which murderers walk free and leaders are friends with thieves. The Lord declares that He will purify the corruption from the city and return it to a place of justice. Those who repent will be redeemed. Those who don't will be broken and consumed. Those who have worshipped false gods will be embarrassed and then destroyed.
After identifying himself as the son of Amoz, Isaiah begins his vision from the Lord with the introduction of God's lawsuit against the people of Israel. His children are living in rebellion against Him. They are saturated in sin and have forsaken the Lord. Their spiritual sickness will lead to their destruction, though a few will be saved. Their offerings are meaningless because of their sinful lifestyles. If they repent now, they will be redeemed. If not, they will be destroyed. The Lord will restore justice to once righteous Jerusalem. All who do not repent will be consumed.
