Isaiah 1:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

NIV: Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: 'I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

NASB: Listen, heavens, and hear, earth; For the Lord has spoken: 'Sons I have raised and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.

CSB: Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the Lord has spoken: "I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

NLT: Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the Lord says: 'The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me.

KJV: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

NKJV: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me;

Beginning with this verse, the first five chapters of Isaiah present God's case against His people Israel. These chapters are described as a lawsuit and are sometimes called the "great arraignment." As in a court of law, God will show how His people have broken the covenant agreement between Him and them. They are failing, repeatedly, to keep their end of their contractual arrangement with Him while He is keeping His end. God's case will be thorough and devastating.

Yahweh begins by calling the heavens and earth to witness what He is about to say. Using poetic language, the Lord suggests that even works of creation will agree with Him about the behavior of His people. Nature itself will confirm His case against them.

The Lord's case, boiled down, is this: The children He has brought up have rebelled against Him. He created and developed and cared for and protected His children Israel from their beginning as a single man into a nation of millions. They have repaid Him with disobedience and defiance.

Isaiah 1:2–20 begins a presentation somewhat like a lawsuit against the people of Judah in Israel. The Lord will show many of the ways they have broken their covenant with Him. The people are saturated with sin. They have forsaken Him. Isaiah describes a spiritual sickness Israel refuses to treat. It will lead to their physical destruction by enemy invaders. Their offerings are meaningless because of their sinful rebellion. God calls them to stop sinning and to do good. He offers to make their sins white as snow if they repent and to consume them if they rebel.

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.

Isaiah 1 begins Isaiah's massive book of prophecy with the Lord presenting a lawsuit against His people Israel in Judah for breach of covenant. They live in rebellion against Him and are saturated in sin. They refuse to treat their spiritual illness and will be decimated by their enemies. Their offerings are meaningless. They must stop doing evil and start doing what is good. The Lord will burn off the corrupt from Jerusalem and return it to a place of justice and righteousness. Those who refuse to repent will be broken and destroyed.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).

Accessed 5/4/2024 11:20:12 AM