Lesson on Isaiah 1:4

In the previous lesson, we discovered the rebellion of God's people against Him. Isaiah doesn't leave the matter there. He can't. The problem is far too big. In fact, the people are loaded with sin. They have forsaken the Lord. Their sin offends their holy God.

Isaiah 1:4.(NIV)(NASB)(NKJV)(NCV)

On the surface, this verse offers nothing more than a catalog of Judah's failure. As a whole, they have become a sinful nation. They are "loaded with guilt" because they commit evil acts on a regular basis. Their corruption has carried them away from their God, the Holy One of Israel.

This name for God, the Holy One of Israel, seems significant to Isaiah. He's not the only Biblical author to use this name for God. It appears sprinkled occasionally through a few Psalms and a couple of times in Jeremiah. Isaiah, however, uses the term 25 times in the book of Isaiah and once in a speech in 2 Kings 19. When we consider similar terms like "their Holy One" (Isa. 10:17) and "the Holy One of Jacob" (Isa. 29:23), we find that God's holiness appears frequently in the book of Isaiah.

Remember our themes of rebellion and redemption. Although the word rebellion generally strikes a negative connotation, its value only makes sense within context. For example, we both know a guy named Mr. Smith, and I say to you one day, "Mr. Smith is a rebel." This statement by itself does not tell you whether Mr. Smith's actions are good or bad. The value depends on what he is rebelling against. If he rebels against the laws of justice, we think he should be arrested and punished. If he rebels against the practices of injustice, we think he should be lauded as a hero, or at least a good citizen.

The next logical question, then, is why we should assume that rebellion against God is wrong or bad. The answer to this question appears in the name, "the Holy One of Israel," which Isaiah finds so captivating. Holiness, in reference to God, describes His absolute purity. Age after age, He remains undefiled by all the things that undermine our best intentions-things such as selfishness, dishonesty, and confusion. Every good character quality God possesses perfectly. The word holiness encompasses them all: perfect justice, love, truth, mercy, compassion, and so on.

God's holiness is the reason Isaiah condemns Judah's rebellion with such vehemence. His holiness is also the reason Christians today sometimes think He's so distant. God doesn't turn away from us. But we do turn away from Him. When we commit sin, the act itself is turning away from God. Following that act, our natural inclination is to flee from God. (For Biblical examples of this tendency, check out the stories of Adam and Eve in the Garden, Jonah on the boat, and Peter after his denial of Christ.)

God is holy. This is good news for us. As the all-knowing and all-powerful Being, He runs the universe. And if He is just and compassionate, our lives are infinitely better than if He were corrupt and cruel. But His justice means that He can't ignore our sin, and His compassion means that He can't allow us to destroy ourselves without a second thought. That second thought is what Isaiah provides next.

To read the previous article, click here.
To read the next article, click here.

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.