Isaiah 1:28-31

But God will *destroy all who continue to oppose him. False gods (‘sacred trees and sacred gardens’) have no life in them to give to people who *worship them.

Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
seize ~ to take a person’s possessions away from that person, either by law, or in a war. Or, to overcome a city or nation in order to rule it. Or, to take a person as a prisoner or a slave. Or, to hold something or someone firmly.'look-out ~ a person whose job is to watch for anything that may cause trouble; or a special building for use by that person.
worship ~ to praise God and to pray to him.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Jews ~ people who belong to the countries called Judah and Israel; people who belong to the 12 tribes of Israel.
tribe ~ a group of the later family of one father.
incense ~ substance to burn for its sweet smell to give honour to God.
sacrifice ~ a gift of value to give honour to God.
destroy ~ to kill or to punish completely.
Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, God’s names mean ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
wine ~ drink that people make from grapes.
grapes ~ small sweet fruit of vines; the juice makes wine.
vine ~ plant that produces grapes.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

Isaiah Begins to *Prophesy

Isaiah Chapter s 1 to 6

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

About the Book of Isaiah

There are 66 Chapter s in Isaiah’s book. The book is easier to understand if we divide it into main sections. Below is one way to do it. Isaiah was a *prophet. A ‘prophet’ tells people what God is saying. The words ‘king’, ‘servant’ and ‘*messiah’ do not always mean the same people in Isaiah’s book. That often confuses people who read it. The notes will help to explain those things. A *messiah is a leader, like a king. However, Christians believe that Jesus is the special *Messiah, whom God sent. So he is the *Messiah, with a capital M!

We can divide Isaiah’s book into 5 main sections.

• Chapter s 1 to 5 – Isaiah describes the people that live in Judah and Jerusalem.

• Chapter 6 – God makes Isaiah into a *prophet.

• Chapter s 7 to 40 – God’s king rules God’s people.

• Chapter s 41 to 55 – God’s servant saves God’s people.

• Chapter s 56 to 66 – God’s *messiah beats God’s enemies.

New *heavens and a new earth

People often ask, ‘Where do Christians go when they die? And where will they go when Jesus will return to the Earth?’

The Bible tells us the answers to those questions. When Christians’ bodies die, their spirits will go to Paradise. Christians believe that, because Jesus said it. He said it to the man that died next to him. Jesus said, ‘Today, you will be with me in Paradise’ (Luke 23:43). Jesus also used other words to describe that place. In John 14:2, he called it ‘my Father’s house’. And in Matthew 5:12, he said that Christians would receive their reward ‘in heaven’. ‘Heaven’ is the place where God lives.

When Jesus returns to the Earth, Christians will come with him. ‘God will bring with him the people that sleep in Jesus’ (1 Thessalonians 4:14). That means people that were trusting in Jesus at the time of their deaths.

After Jesus returns to the Earth, many wonderful things will happen. Here are two of them:

• Every Christian will have a new body. God will make each dead body alive again. Those people’s spirits will not live in Paradise any longer. Their spirits will come back to their new bodies.

• God will make the heavens and the Earth new. Here, ‘heavens’ means the place where God lives. And it also means everything in the skies. Christians will live on the New Earth in their new bodies. All the problems in our world will disappear.

There are many verses in the Bible that tell us about those things. But two books tell us more than the other books. One book is Revelation, in the New Testament (the last 27 books in the Bible). The other book is Isaiah, in the Old Testament (the first 39 books in the Bible). So, when we read the Book of Isaiah, we must remember these three things:

• Isaiah writes about what is happening during his life.

• Isaiah writes about what would happen in the future. He describes what would happen to Judah and Israel. And he describes what would happen to some other countries. They are the countries near Judah and Israel. Isaiah also writes about the time when Jesus would come to the Earth for the first time. This happened about 700 years after Isaiah lived.

• Isaiah writes about the New Heavens and the New Earth. Those will come after Jesus will return to the Earth for the second time. Of course, this is still in the future.

Isaiah Chapter s 1 to 5: Isaiah describes the people that live in Judah and Jerusalem

We can divide the first main section of Isaiah into 4 smaller sections. That will help us to understand it.

Isaiah 1:2-9	Isaiah 1:10-20 Isaiah 2:6-21	Isaiah 1:21-31 Isaiah 2:22-4	Isaiah 5:1-30
The problems in their nation	The problems in their religion	The problems in their society	Punishment from God

In the notes, we can read what those three kinds of problems were. But Isaiah 2:1-5 and 4:2-6 are not about problems. They are about the ideal Jerusalem. They are good news! The best news is that God will change the heavens (the skies and the place where God lives). And he will change our Earth. He will make them new. He will do that when Jesus will return to the Earth. After Jesus has come back to the Earth, God’s people will live there!

Chapter 1

v1 Isaiah was the son of Amoz. This is what Isaiah ’saw’ (understood) about Judah and Jerusalem. He ‘saw’ [all this] while Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

Notes

This verse is probably a title for the whole book.

When Isaiah ‘saw’ all these things, he also understood them. In other words, he understood what God was telling him. Isaiah was a *prophet. A ‘prophet’ does two things:

• He tells people what God is saying about their world.

• He tells people things that will happen in the future.

Another word for ‘prophet’ is ‘seer’. A seer is a ‘see-er’, someone that sees. He sees what things mean. In other words, he understands what they mean. Isaiah saw what was happening in Judah and Jerusalem. Most people only saw good and bad things happening. Isaiah did not just see those things. He also ‘saw’ why those good and bad things were happening. He heard what God was saying to him. Isaiah ‘saw’ what the future situation would be for Judah and Israel and the surrounding countries. He ‘saw’ what would happen during Jesus’ life. He also ‘saw’ the New Earth that God will make in the future!

Isaiah lived about 700 years before Jesus came to the Earth. We call that time 700 B.C.. ‘B.C.’ means ‘years Before Christ came to the Earth’. While Isaiah was alive, there were several kings of Judah. Below is a table, in other words, a box that contains several smaller boxes. Students use this sort of table to make facts very clear. This one contains the years when 5 kings of Israel ruled. All the dates are *B.C.. As you can see, Bible students do not agree about the exact dates.

Name of King	Date in David Rohl’s book called ‘A Test of Time’.	Date in ‘The Oxford Bible Atlas’	Date in Victor Buksbazen’s book called ‘The *Prophet Isaiah’.	Date in Alec Motyer’s book called ‘The Prophecy of Isaiah’.
Uzziah	767-739	773-736	791-740	Died 740
Jotham	739-731	736	750-735	740-732
Ahaz	731-715	736-721	731-715	732-715
Hezekiah	715-686	721-694	715-686	715-686
Manasseh	686-642	694-640	686-642	Started 686

Isaiah was born when Uzziah was the king. In 2 Kings 15:1, the writer spells Uzziah’s name ‘Azariah’. Isaiah probably died when Manasseh was the king. Uzziah was ill at the end of his life. So his son Jotham was king together with him. And after that, Uzziah’s grandson Ahaz was king together with Jotham.

‘Isaiah’ is an English form of the *Hebrew word ‘Jeshaejahu’. That means ‘the *LORD makes people safe’. ‘*LORD’ is a special name for God. It is not a direct translation of the *Hebrew word. It refers to the *Hebrew word YHWH. Bible students are not sure what YHWH really means. It may mean that God will never die. People that use the word *LORD should do these three things:

• They should love God.

• They should obey God.

• They should serve God.

When people do those things, God also does something. He agrees to help those people. Also, he agrees to be their leader. Those people become ‘his people’. They belong to God. They will live on the New Earth when Jesus will return to the Earth.

Notice that the name ‘Jesus’ starts with the same letters as the *Hebrew name for Isaiah does. The *Hebrew word for Isaiah is ‘Jeshaejahu’ or ‘Yeshaeyahu’. In fact, we could translate both names as ‘The *LORD saves [his people].’ Both ‘Jesus’ and ‘Isaiah’ have the same meaning.

Isaiah’s father was Amoz. We know nothing about Amoz. He was not the same man as the *prophet Amos.

The *Jews were God’s people. Most of them lived in Israel. But some *Jews lived in Judah. Israel was on the north side of Judah. And it was much bigger than Judah. The capital of Israel was Samaria city and the capital of Judah was Jerusalem city. Assyria’s armies destroyed Israel in 722 B.C.. But Judah continued to exist as a nation until 586 B.C..

Isaiah ‘saw’ all these things while 4 different kings ruled over Judah. Those kings were Uzziah, then Jotham, then Ahaz and finally Hezekiah. Bible students are not sure exactly when Isaiah ‘saw’ the things in Chapter s 1-5. It may have been when Uzziah was alive. Or it may have been later. These Chapter s show us three things about the *Jews when Isaiah was alive. In Chapter 1, the writer emphasises these three things.

1) In Isaiah 1:2-9, we learn that the whole nation was not obeying God.

2) In Isaiah 1:10-20, we learn this. The people were not always sincere in their religion. (We see this problem also in Isaiah 2:6 21).

3) In Isaiah 1:21-26, we learn about their moral attitude. It was not always good. (We see this problem also in Isaiah 2:22-4 and 5:1-30).

As we read Isaiah’s book, we must always remember those things. But we must also remember that Isaiah’s book contains a message of hope too. It is for those people who are sorry about their evil deeds. If they start to obey God, then God promises good things to them:

• God promised to send his *Messiah to save his people.

• God promised to make New *Heavens and a New Earth for his people.

The problems in the nation

v2 Skies, hear [the *LORD]! And earth, listen [to him], because the *LORD himself has spoken! [He has said], ‘I have looked after sons and I have brought them up. But they, [even] they, have fought against me.

v3 [The animal called] an ox knows his master. And [the animal called] a donkey knows where his owner feeds him. But [the people in] Israel do not know [their master]. My people do not understand [me].’

v4 Ah! You are a nation [of people] that are always doing wrong things. You are people that are guilty. [It is like] a load [that you] carry. You are [people’s] *descendants that are always doing evil things. [You are like] sons [that are becoming] really bad. They have gone away from the *LORD. They have hated the *Holy [God] of Israel. They have turned away, [so that] their backs [are towards him].

v5 [You] should [not let somebody] continue to hit you. You [should not] continue to fight against [God]. All your head has bruises [because of the fight]. All your heart is sick.

v6 From the sole (part underneath) of your foot to the top of your head, [your body] is not healthy. [There are] injuries and bruises and open sore places. [Nobody] has washed them, and nobody has put a bandage on them. And nobody has put *oil on them.

v7 [Enemies] ruined your country. They burned your cities with fire. Foreigners took everything away from your fields. They did it in front of you! Those strangers ruined [your land] and they destroyed [it].

v8 And they left the *Daughter of Zion alone, as a shed stands alone in a *vineyard. [The city and its people are] like a hut [where] melons (large fruits) [grow] in a field. They are like a city that has enemies all round it.

v9 The *LORD of Everything has left a few people among us alive. Unless he had done that, we would have become like Sodom [city]. We would have become like Gomorrah [city].

Notes

Verse 2 God’s message here is like a speech in a court. We must imagine that we are in a court of law. The *LORD says that his sons, in other words, the *Jews, are fighting against him. The *Jews were the people that lived in Israel and Judah. God had brought them up, but they did not obey him. The *LORD asks all things to listen to him. He asks all things to hear his speech. ‘Skies’ means everything above the Earth. That includes the place called heaven, where God lives. ‘Earth’ means everything in the Earth and on the Earth. God is speaking to everything that he has created in nature. He wants everything to hear him. He wants everything to listen to him. As in Psalms 50:4, ‘everything’ means ‘nature as a whole’.

Verse 3 An ox is like a cow, and a donkey is like a small horse. Even animals know who looks after them. The ox knows. And so does the donkey, although many people consider it a stupid animal! But the people in Israel do not realise what God has done for them. They do not realise it, because they really are too stupid.

‘Israel’ here may mean both countries, Israel and Judah. But if Isaiah wrote this verse after 722 *B.C., then it may mean only Judah. That is because the Assyrians (people from Assyria) destroyed Israel in 722 *B.C.. There are no dates in Isaiah Chapter s 1 to 5. To ‘know God’ means to live like a member of God’s family. It is to be one among his children (verse 2).

Verse 4 Isaiah was a *prophet. He was speaking for God. In the first part of the verse, he spoke directly. He spoke directly to the people. The people were becoming very bad. Their deeds were evil, so they were guilty. ‘Guilty’ means that they were responsible for their evil deeds. That responsibility was like a heavy load that they had to carry. God punishes people that are guilty. The words ‘nation’ and ‘people’ mean the people that lived in Judah and Jerusalem. So do the words ‘*descendants’ and ‘sons’ here. Notice that Isaiah often has 3 or 4 groups of things or people in a verse. It is part of his technique. The people were guilty because they had ‘gone away from the *LORD’. It means that they had not obeyed him. And the people had done something even worse. They had fought against the *LORD. The first word, ‘ah’, is ‘hoy’ in the *Hebrew language. We could translate it as ‘Hi!’ God wanted people to listen to him. God was asking for their attention.

The ‘Holy [God] of Israel’ is a special name for God. Isaiah used that name more than any other writer in the Bible. Isaiah used it 25 times. The other writers in the Old Testament (the first 39 books in the Bible) used it 7 times in total. Notice that the word for ‘God’ is not in the *Hebrew text here. The name is just ‘Holy’. It is Isaiah’s special name for God. Here, again, the ‘Holy [God] of Israel’ probably means the God of Judah. That would be true if Assyria’s armies had already destroyed the northern country, usually called Israel. Isaiah 6:3 probably shows us why Isaiah used that name ‘Holy’ to describe God. ‘Holy’ means ‘very, very good’. It means ‘so good that you are separate from everybody else’. Only God is really holy. When people ‘turn their backs’ towards God, they do not listen to him. They do not obey him. Those people do not really mean what they say in God’s house. They are not sincere in their religion.

Verse 5 The *Hebrew text of this verse actually starts with two questions. Firstly, ‘Why should somebody [an enemy] continue to beat you (hit you with a stick)?’ It probably means, ‘God has been using an enemy to punish you. Do not let God continue that.’ Secondly, ‘Why do you continue to fight against God?’ It probably means, ‘Do not fight. Then God will stop the enemy that is punishing you!’ Isaiah mentions the bruises where the stick had hit them. He means that they felt ill inside themselves (in their hearts). That is a description of the whole nation. It does not mean each person in it. In the same way as a person can be ill, a whole nation can be ill.

Verse 6 In this verse, we learn that the whole nation of people is sick. The verse describes the nation as if it were one person. Its foot is sick. Its head is sick. And every part of the nation’s body between those parts is sick. Probably, the ‘sole (part underneath) of its foot’ means the poor people. The ‘top of its head’ may mean the people in the government. And every part between those means everybody else. God is using an enemy to punish everybody. Nobody is helping them with medical care. In other words, nobody is helping the nation to recover from war. An enemy is still attacking them (verses 7-8). It means that Judah is not a safe place. The oil is not oil that people use for fuel. It comes from a fruit called the *olive. People used to put that oil on bruises. An ‘open sore place’ means ‘a sore place without a bandage’.

Verse 7 Here, we read about some results of wars. It was those wars that had hurt the people. In one war, the armies from Assyria destroyed Israel. Then those armies destroyed much of Judah too. But the armies did not destroy Jerusalem. The account about that is in Isaiah Chapter s 36 to 37.

Verse 8 So the armies left Jerusalem like a shed in a *vineyard. It was alone. There was no thing or person that could help its people. A ‘vineyard’ is a place where people produce *grapes. People use the small fruits called *grapes to make wine. A ‘melon’ is a fruit also. Here Jerusalem is called ‘Zion’, its old name. ‘The Daughter of Zion’ means the men and women that lived in that city. And it includes the people in Judah who lived near Jerusalem. Isaiah was a poet. ‘Daughter of Zion’ is poetry that means ‘people in Jerusalem’. Those people were all born in Jerusalem or they were born near it. So it was as if Jerusalem was their mother. The Bible often refers to cities as female. (Read Psalms 87 in the Easy English Psalms.)

Verse 9 God destroyed the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah because their inhabitants were very wicked. The account about that is in Genesis chapter 19. An idea that Isaiah often wrote about is ‘the few people among us’. In some translations, ‘the few people’ are called ‘the *remnant’. Those people loved God and they obeyed him. They still did that, even when nobody else did it. ‘*LORD of Everything’ is a special name for God. The *Hebrew word that we translate as ‘Everything’ may mean ‘angels’. An ‘angel’ is a servant of God in heaven. Heaven is the place where God lives. One English translation has ‘*LORD of Armies of *Angels’. Another translation has ‘*LORD that has all power’.

The problems in the people’s religion

v10 You rulers of Sodom [city], hear the words that the *LORD [is saying to you]! You people in Gomorrah [city], listen! Listen to what God is teaching [to] you!

v11 ‘All the [animals and] things that you burn for me do not matter,’ says the *LORD. ‘I do not want you to burn any more male sheep. Do not burn fat from animals that have eaten a lot. The blood of *bulls, young sheep or male goats does not please me.

v12 [Nobody] told you to walk all over the yards [round] my [*temple]. [You do that] whenever you come to appear in front of me.

v13 Do not offer to me things that mean nothing! When [you burn] *incense [to give honour] to me, the smell is awful! I do not like your meetings [at the time when the] moon [is] new. And [I do not like] your *Sabbaths. And your special meetings are evil!

v14 I hate your meetings [at the time when the] moon [is] new. And [I hate] your special meetings! They are like a heavy load to me. I do not want to carry it again!

v15 Whenever you lift your hands [for prayer], I will not look at you. Even if you say many prayers, I will not listen [to you]. There is blood on your hands!

v16 Wash [the blood from yourselves] and make yourselves clean! Remove the bad things that you do. [Do not do them], then I will not see them! Do not do evil things.

v17 Relearn to do what is right. Make sure that the courts of law give fair decisions and fair punishments. Remove the cruel person. Defend [the children] that have no father. Speak [in court] for the widow.’

Notes

In verses 2-9, Isaiah told the people that war had ruined their country. The account about that is in 2 Chronicles chapter 28. Now he tells them why God used an enemy to do it. There were two main reasons:

• They were not sincere in their religion (Isaiah 1:10-20 and 2:6-21).

• They did many wrong things (Isaiah 1:21-31 and 2:22-4:1).

Verse 10 Judah’s rulers are like the rulers of Sodom city were. And Judah’s people are like the people in Gomorrah city were. Isaiah describes the *Jews in that way to link this verse with verse 9. For us, verse 10 can mean anyone that does not obey God’s rules.

Verse 11 In their religion, the *Jews burned many things. They did that because God had told them to do it. We can read about that in the Book of Leviticus. The *Jews burned things because they wanted to make God happy. They burned animals such as male sheep, young sheep and *bulls. ‘The blood’ means that the people killed the animals. Then they burned them. This verse does not mean that their religion itself was wrong. But many people did not really mean what they were doing in their religion. They were not sincere about it. That is what was wrong.

In this verse, we have ‘says the *LORD’. The *Hebrew words really mean ‘the *LORD is always saying’. Only Isaiah uses those words, apart from Psalms 12:5. He uses those words in Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 33:10; Isaiah 40:1; Isaiah 40:25; Isaiah 41:21 and Isaiah 66:1. Perhaps Isaiah wrote Psalms 12 also!

Verse 12 The *Jews went to the *temple to burn things. They did that to give honour to God. They burned animals that they had killed. And they burned grain. The *temple was God’s house in Jerusalem. Only God’s special servants, the priests, could go into the house of God. Everybody else could only go into the open areas round the *temple. In verse 12, ‘you come to appear in front of me’ means this. ‘You come and you burn things for me.’ The *Hebrew words for ‘[nobody] told you’ actually mean ‘who told you?’ The *Hebrew words for ‘walk over’ actually mean ‘put your feet down with force’.

Verse 13 Again, these things were not wrong, if people really meant them. But if people did not really mean them, then these things were wrong. Here, people did not mean them. They were not sincere in their religion. They had special meetings at the time when the moon was new (Ezekiel 46:3; Ezekiel 46:6). And they had special meetings on the days called the Sabbath. The ‘Sabbath’ was the 7^th day of their week. It was the same day as our Saturday. ‘Incense’ made a sweet smell when people burned it. The priests burned it during the ceremonies at the *temple.

Verse 14 This verse makes God seem like a man! He is tired because he has been carrying a heavy load. That heavy load means the religion of his people, the *Jews. The load is heavy because they are not sincere in their religion. Remember that God is not like a man. But God made man ‘like God’ (Genesis 1:26).

Verse 15 ‘There is blood on your hands’ may mean two things:

• the blood of the animals that they burned. Those animals were male sheep, young sheep, *bulls and male goats.

• the blood of people that they had murdered. The people were not sincere in their religion, because some of them murdered other people.

Verse 16 God wants his people not to do evil things any longer. The *Hebrew words mean that they do evil things ‘in front of his eyes’. That means that they do those things ‘in front of him’. Then he can see it easily. But he does not want to see it. He wants them not to do it.

Verse 17 God wants his people to do fair things. He wants them to obey the law. And he wants judges to give fair punishment to people that do not obey the law. Isaiah gives three examples of how to obey the law:

• Remove the cruel person. Cruel and powerful people made poor and weak people work for them. The cruel, powerful people did not act fairly towards the weak people. They did not give fair wages to the weak people. They were unkind to the weak people.

• Defend the children that have no father. That means young children whose father has died. God’s people must ‘be like a father’ to them.

• Speak (in court) for the widow. In other words, make certain that widows have their rights. Widows’ rights are what the law gives them.

v18 ‘Come now,’ says the *LORD. ‘Let us reason together. Even if your *sins are like a bright red colour, they may become as white as snow. Even if they are like a deep red colour, they may become as [white as] wool.

v19 If you decide to obey [me], then you will eat the best things in [your] country.

v20 But if you refuse to obey me, an enemy will kill you with a sword!’ That is what the *LORD has said.

Notes

Verse 18 The word ‘reason’ makes us think again about a court of law. Read again the note about verse 2. *Sin means the wrong things that we do. People are guilty of *sin when they do not obey God’s laws. The colour of the *sin is the colour of the blood. Read verse 15 again. If we agree with God, our *sin will become white. It will become white like snow or like a sheep’s wool. The best sheep’s wool is white. The important thing about that is the change in colour. God can change us. *Sin is like dirt, because it spoils our lives. But when God has changed our lives, we will be clean, like new snow. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Verse 19 ‘Obey’ may mean ‘obey God’. Or it may mean ‘obey what God says in verse 17’. ‘Eat’ means more than to enjoy good food. It also means to enjoy everything. That means all the good things that we have in our life. It also means what God’s people will enjoy on the New Earth.

Verse 20 In verses 19 and 20, God is ‘playing with words’. That is, he uses the same word to mean two different things. The same *Hebrew word for ‘eat’ also means ‘kill’. So the *Hebrew words for ‘will kill you with the sword’ are actually ‘the sword will eat you’. Either you will eat the best things in your country (verse 19) or the sword will eat you (verse 20)! That is how God is ‘playing with words’. Although he uses the same word in verses 19 and 20, the meanings are different.

v21 [The *LORD says,] ‘Look at the people in the city! Before, they were loyal. But now, they have become like a prostitute (a woman that has sex for money)! Before, the city was full of people that did right things. Good people lived in it. Now, murderers live there.

v22 Your silver has become rubbish. Somebody has mixed your good wine with water.

v23 Your leaders do not obey me. They are the companions of thieves. Everybody loves a *bribe and everybody wants gifts. They do not defend children who have no father. They do not discuss what the widow wants. [They do not discuss it in a court of law.]’

v24 So this is what the *Lord says. He is the *LORD of Everything and [he is] the Strong God of Israel. [He says], ‘I will be very angry with my enemies, [the people in Judah]. I will punish the people that oppose me.

v25 I will fight against you. I will burn away the rubbish in you. [I will wash it away] as soap does. And I will take away everything that is not clean.

v26 I will give you back your judges, as you had them at the beginning. [That was at the beginning of your nation.] And [I will give] people [to you] to advise you. It was like that when [your nation] began. After that, people will call you “the City of Good People”. And they will call you “the City of Loyal People”.’

Notes

Verse 21 In the *Hebrew Bible, Jerusalem is called here ‘the loyal city’. Earlier, when their nation began, the people in that city had been loyal. They did the things that they had promised to God. That is what ‘loyal’ means. And also, they did what was fair. The people were good. Only God is completely good. God wants people to do good things. When people are good, they do those good things. But at the time when Isaiah was writing his book, people were not acting fairly. People were not loyal and they were not good. Murderers were living in Jerusalem.

In the *Hebrew Bible, writers often describe cities as female. So here, Isaiah refers to Jerusalem as ‘she’ or ‘her’. A woman called a ‘prostitute’ sells her body for the purpose of sex. She is not loyal to one man. Similarly, Jerusalem was not loyal to one God.

Verse 22 Silver is a valuable metal, as gold is valuable. But here Isaiah does not mean the silver that the people own. He means the people themselves. Before, they were fair and good, but now they are the opposite. (We have learned that from verse 21.) They are like wine that was good before. But now it has no value, because somebody has mixed it with water.

Verse 23 The leaders do not obey God. People give them *bribes (money or gifts to persuade them to do bad things). Because of the *bribes, the leaders do what those people want. And those people want the opposite of God’s law. Everybody wants gifts in that way. It means that they will do anything for money. Or maybe they will do it for something that is valuable. Some children have no father, because their fathers are dead. Those children cannot pay the *bribes, and neither can the widows. So the leaders refuse to do what is fair and right to assist them. ‘What the widow wants’ refers to the law. The law orders that she should have certain things. Today, we call that ‘her rights’.

Verse 24 There are several names for God here:

• The *Lord. This means that he is the master over everything. He has authority.

• The *LORD of Everything. The note about verse 1 explained that ‘*LORD’ is a special name for God. But ‘*LORD of Everything’ is another special name. Read the note about verse 9.

• The Strong God of Israel. In some translations, this is ‘the Mighty God of Israel’. ‘Mighty’ means ‘very, very powerful’. There is a similar name for God in Genesis 49:24; Isaiah 49:26 and Isaiah 60:16. But it does not appear anywhere else in the Old Testament (the first 39 books in the Bible).

In this verse, God’s enemies are his own people, the *Jews. They are his enemies because they have not obeyed him.

Verse 25 In verses 25 and 26, ‘you’ means Jerusalem. God speaks as if he is speaking to the city. His message is to the *Jews, especially the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Here, the *Hebrew words mean ‘I will turn my hand against you’. That usually means ‘I will fight against you’. Until now, God has helped the *Jews. But now he will fight against the bad things that they do. There are two special descriptions here. They show us what God will do:

• He will burn away the rubbish, as people burn rubbish away from metals to make the metals pure.

• He will wash away the dirt, as people wash away dirt with soap. That will take away everything that is not clean. It will remove everything that makes the *Jews bad people.

Verse 26 When the people are clean (verse 25), then the city and the nation will be clean. God will give their judges back to them. And he will give their other leaders back to them. It will be the same as when David was king 300 years before. At that time, the judges decided who had done right things. And they decided who had done wrong things. They also decided what punishment bad people should have.

v27 When the people in Zion (Jerusalem) act fairly, that will *redeem them. The people there that *repent will become very good.

v28 But some people will fight [against God] and they will not obey [him]. [An enemy] will defeat them together. Also, some people will go away from the *LORD. [An enemy] will kill [them with a sword].

v29 But you will be ashamed of the trees called oaks that gave you delight. Also, you will be very ashamed of the gardens that you have chosen.

v30 Actually, you will be like an oak tree whose leaves die. And [you will be] like a garden without water.

v31 Strong people will become as weak as cotton. Their work will be just a flash [of light]. [Fire] will burn the people and it will burn their work. Nobody will put out the fire.

Notes

Verse 27 ‘Redeem’ means ‘buy back’. A member of someone’s family could ‘redeem’ that person (buy the person back) from a difficult situation. There is a special note about ‘redeem’ for Isaiah 43:1. When the people in Zion (Jerusalem) are fair, they will ‘buy back’ their city from evil enemies. But God will help them to do that. He will help them after they repent. When people ‘repent’, they are sorry. They are sorry that they have not obeyed God. Also, they promise to obey him now. And they promise to obey him in the future. Only God is really very, very good. But he can make his people very good too.

Verse 28 Someone will defeat the people that do not obey God. And someone will kill those people. In this verse, we do not learn who will do this. But somewhere else in Isaiah’s book, he tells us who it will be. It will be the armies from Assyria. (Look at Isaiah 10:5-7.)

Verse 29 The oak tree is a large, strong tree. Its leaves die in the winter and then they fall off. But it grows new leaves again in the spring. The people considered that it was like life after death. So the oak tree was a special tree in old religions. That was true in Canaan. Canaan was the name of Israel before the *Jews lived in that country. But the *Jews kept some religion from old Canaan, and that included the oak trees. They made God angry because they praised false gods by the oak trees. Instead, the *Jews should have praised only the real God. The same was true about their gardens. The *Jews praised false gods in the gardens. But they should have praised only the real God. The oak trees became sacred things for the *Jews. And so did the gardens. People consider something as ‘sacred’ when it has a special connection with their religion. ‘You will be ashamed’ means that God will punish the people.

Verse 30 This was their punishment. They would die, just like a garden that has no water!

Verse 31 Some people’s translation for ‘as weak as cotton’ is ‘something that burns easily’. Bible students are not certain which is correct. But they are sure that nothing can stop God’s fire (in other words, his punishment). God sends his fire when he is angry!

Something to do

1. Study Isaiah 1:21-26. It is a special kind of poetry, because it follows a pattern. We show the pattern here by means of capital letters and numbers.

A1 The city’s people were not still loyal (in verse 21a).

B1 There were no good judges (in verse 21b).

C1 Everything with value had become rubbish (in verse 22).

D1 Rulers on earth were bad (in verse 23).

D2 But God in heaven is the real ruler (verse 24).

C2 God will burn the rubbish away (verse 25).

B2 There will be good judges again (verse 26a).

A2 The city’s people will be loyal again (verse 26b).

(The small letters after the verse numbers show the parts of the verses. For example verse 21a is the first part of verse 21, and 21b is the last part.)

Notice that A1 and A2 are about the city’s loyal people. B1 and B2 are about judges. C1 and C2 are about rubbish. And D1 and D2 are about rulers. This type of poetry is called an inclusio. There are very many inclusios in Isaiah’s book. And there are also many inclusios in the Book of Psalms.

2. When we read Isaiah chapter 1, we can imagine a court of law. In that court, God is the judge. Now read Psalms 50. There, too, we can imagine a court of law where God is the judge.

3. Read Isaiah 1:18-20. Then learn it. Try to say it while you are not looking at the words.

4. Isaiah says several important things in his book:

• God is the real ruler of the world. People are not its real rulers.

• God will punish bad people, even his own people.

• God will be good to people that *repent.

• There will always be a few people that love God. They will continue to serve God.

Look at each thing in the list above. In Isaiah chapter 1, find a verse where we read about each thing.

5. Read 2 Kings Chapter s 15 to 20. The events in those Chapter s happened when Isaiah was alive.

heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
prophesy ~ tell people what God is saying.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
prophet ~ someone who says what God is saying. There is a note at Isaiah 1:1.
messiah ~ a special leader. With a capital M (that is, ‘Messiah’) it means Jesus to Christians.
messiah ~ a special leader. With a capital M (that is, ‘Messiah’) it means Jesus to Christians.
heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
prophet ~ someone who says what God is saying. There is a note at Isaiah 1:1.
LORD ~ a special name for God that only his servants should use. It is not a translation. It represents the Hebrew word YHWH. It probably means that God is always alive.
lord ~ master. When it has a capital L (that is, ‘Lord’) it is a name for God.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
Jews ~ the people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
descendants ~ future members of a family.
holy ~ very, very good. Only God is really holy. He is so holy that he is separate from everybody else.
oil ~ a liquid that people obtain from a fruit called the olive. People cook with it and they use it in lamps. It is not the same as oil for a car.
olive ~ a fruit that gives oil.'Daughter of Zion ~ in Isaiah, ‘people who live in Jerusalem or Judah’.
vineyard ~ a field where people grow grapes.
grapes ~ fruits that people use to make wine.
olive ~ a fruit that gives oil.
oil ~ a liquid that people obtain from a fruit called the olive. People cook with it and they use it in lamps. It is not the same as oil for a car.
grapes ~ fruits that people use to make wine.
remnant ~ a bit of something bigger. In Isaiah, it often means the few people that still obeyed God.
angel ~ a special servant of God in heaven.
heaven ~ God’s home.
bull ~ a male animal of the same kind as a cow.
temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem. False gods also had temples.
incense ~ a substance that makes a sweet smell when people burn it.
Sabbath ~ the 7^th day of the week (Saturday), when the Jews worshipped God. It was a day for rest and prayer.
Jews ~ the people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
worship ~ to tell God (or a false god) that he is wonderful; and also, to tell him that you love him.
sin ~ not to obey God. Or, what you do when you do not obey God.
sin ~ not to obey God. Or, what you do when you do not obey God.
bribe ~ a gift that persuades someone to do something that may be wrong.
LORD ~ a special name for God that only his servants should use. It is not a translation. It represents the Hebrew word YHWH. It probably means that God is always alive.
lord ~ master. When it has a capital L (that is, ‘Lord’) it is a name for God.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
redeem ~ a member of your family buys you from an enemy.
repent ~ be sorry for your sins. Tell God you will try not to do them again.
sin ~ not to obey God. Or, what you do when you do not obey God.