Lesson on Isaiah 1:29-31

In the last lesson, we reviewed God's offer of redemption to those willing to receive it. In this lesson, we will read about the future of those who aren't willing to receive the offered redemption.

Isaiah 1:29-31.(NIV)(NASB)(NKJV)(NCV)

Previously, we discussed how God offers redemption to those who are willing to receive it. Isaiah 1:28, however, says that those who aren't willing to accept that redemption have only one future in store: they will perish. Our passage today explores in further detail what this word perish entails.

First of all, we read that perishing is not simply ceasing to exist. Rather, it involves shame and disgrace (v. 29). Although I can't prove it, I suspect that disgrace appears as a result of shattered pride. Proverbs 11:2 observes, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." And again, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Pride can't stand to be wrong, and eventually God will teach His people just how wrong their choices have been. Furthermore, God's teaching will reach the inhabitants of the whole earth, regardless of their belief during their lifetimes. Later in Isaiah, God proclaims, "'By myself I have sworn,/my mouth has uttered in all integrity/a word that will not be revoked:/Before me every knee will bow;/by me every tongue will swear'" (Isaiah 45:23).

In these three verses, we notice two words which the text repeats twice - oak(s) and garden(s). The NKJV, of course, calls the tree a terebinth instead of an oak. However, I don't think the type of tree is so significant as the association with the "spreading tree." Isaiah associates the oak and "every spreading tree" with pagan forms of worship in Isaiah 57:5. And when we return to the history of the kings during Isaiah's ministry, we find that, indeed, pagan worship is in full swing during the reign of Ahaz. The Bible records: "He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel . . . , following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree" (2 Kings 16:3-4, emphasis added). Isaiah 1:29 references a popular pagan worship practice.

The repetition of these terms seems particularly interesting because the first set refers to the prominent worship practices of the day, while the second set refers to the future of the rebellious people. In other words, the people share the fate of what they worship. When I say "worship" here, I do not mean the outward kind. The people of Judah outwardly worship their God but also outwardly worship the gods of other nations. The difference comes in where they find delight. They don't find delight in their God, but they do find delight in their pagan worship under the trees (v. 29). Where we find delight is usually a dead giveaway of where our worship truly lies. In the end, both the idol and its worshiper will come to total destruction (v. 29).

We can't underestimate the importance of this lesson that we share the fate of what we worship. The things of this life pass away, as do our bodies. But for those who worship Jesus, who delight in Him and long for His presence, they will share in His fate. Just as Jesus returned to life following His death, we will also live following our death (Romans 6:5). Furthermore, we will share in the full inheritance of God's kingdom. Jesus teaches that unlike the treasures of earth, the treasures of heaven exist "'where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.'" He goes on to warn us that we cannot serve two masters. We are only capable of devoting ourselves to things of earth or the things of eternity (Matthew 6:19-24). And we will share the fate of whatever receives our devotion.

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.