Isaiah 1:1-9

“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; The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.’” (Isaiah 1:2–3, NKJV)

Today we begin a new section of Scripture called The Prophets. There are four major prophets and six minor prophets. Lamentations follows the book of Jeremiah and is considered one of the books of Writings.

Isaiah is the longest book of the prophets having 66 chapters. He speaks clearly about the first and second Advents of Christ. His prophecies are directly quoted 66 times in the New Testament and are in 20 out of the 27 books.

Isaiah begins his prophesies with the LORD bringing an indictment against His people. It is as though He is calling all of creation to be the jury in a trial against Israel. Israel was a strong patriarchal culture where cursing one’s father was punishable by death. Therefore, they would immediately understand the seriousness of the charge that they had been rebellious children. They had dishonored and disrespected the Father of their nation. The ox knows its owner and obeys his commands. The donkey knows the way to its master’s feeding trough. But God’s rebellious children do not know, and when the nation deteriorates, the people do not consider why this is happening.

Israel had been founded on the Word of God, but the people had abandoned God’s commandments. Likewise, our nation was founded on the Word of God, but we also have rebelled against the truths of Scripture to do what is right in our own eyes. Whenever a people forsakes righteousness to pursue wickedness, they can expect to reap the consequences of corruption and devastation.

This is why I believe Isaiah is a book for our time. It is the tender heart of God wooing His people back to Himself, desiring to reason with them. Their whole head was hurt, and their whole heart was sick, and yet they had refused to listen and turn from their sins.

We cannot allow ourselves to make their same mistake.