Your cities are burned with fire

Isaiah 1 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Rebellion of God’s People

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

² Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the Lord speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me. ³ “An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger,
But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

⁴ Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.

⁵ Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick
And the whole heart is faint. ⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil.

⁷ Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. ⁸ The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. ⁹ Unless the Lord of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah. ¹¹ “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. ¹² “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? ¹³ “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. ¹⁴ “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶ “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
Cease to do evil, ¹⁷ Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan,
Plead for the widow.

¹⁸ “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. ¹⁹ “If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; ²⁰ “But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.” Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

²¹ How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, But now murderers. ²² Your silver has become dross, Your drink diluted with water. ²³ Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe And chases after rewards They do not defend the orphan, Nor does the widow’s plea come before them.

²⁴ Therefore the Lord God of hosts, The Mighty One of Israel, declares, “Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries And avenge Myself on My foes. ²⁵ “I will also turn My hand against you, And will smelt away your dross as with lye And will remove all your alloy. ²⁶ “Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; After that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city.”

²⁷ Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness. ²⁸ But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, And those who forsake the Lord will come to an end. ²⁹ Surely you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, And you will be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen. ³⁰ For you will be like an oak whose leaf fades away Or as a garden that has no water. ³¹ The strong man will become tinder, His work also a spark. Thus they shall both burn together And there will be none to quench them.

Many people question why God would allow the evil in the world. They ask why He does not stop tragedies from happening. Some, who believe, continue to pray that God would bless this nation. This nation has truly been blessed, but can we really continue to expect that God would bless us?    Look at the message, in today’s text, to God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel:  Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the Lord speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.  “An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.  He says:  Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers… Unless the Lord of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.

Sodom and Gomorrah were of course the nations destroyed because of unrighteousness and immorality. In Genesis 18 Abraham spoke to God on behalf of Sodom. Verse 32 says:   Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”    God would have spared the city for the sake of ten righteous people, but the city was destroyed. That’s why it was said that it was vital that there were a few survivors, a remnant of God’s people. In our nation today there is also a remnant of people who believe. But our nation as a whole has turned from God. We are a sinful nation which not only has turned from God, but as the rebellious nation spoken of in today’s text, has even despised Him. Far from simply not following God we have rejected Him. If you look at our cities, the words in the text could be spoken of them also:  Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.  Where God and His law are rejected there is lawlessness. Many of our cities have chosen to become sanctuaries for lawlessness. Our culture and our society has rejected our Christ centered and God centered values and faith in favor of almost anything else, and so our cities are racked with violence, desolation and poverty.

Will our nation hear and heed the word of the Lord?   Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah.  “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. …“Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.  “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.  “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.  “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil,  Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.  “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.  “If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land;  “But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.” Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.     Are not the hands of our nation covered in blood? Our nation has sanctioned the killing of more than 50 million babies since 1973. Still God says: “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.  “If you consent and obey.”  Just as the nation of Israel could not be righteous through religious traditions, so too do we need more than religion if we expect that God would bless this nation. In 2 Chronicles 7:13-16 God revealed to Solomon what is necessary for the restoration of the land, saying:  If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.    Jesus Christ died for our sins. It is through Him that we are made white as snow. The cross though was to forgive us from our sins, not to sanction them. In Luke 23:34 Jesus says:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  We are forgiven even of the sins we are unaware of, but those we know, those we are aware of through God’s word and through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we must turn from; we must repent.

If we would pray and ask that God would heal and bless this nation we must be reconciled to God through Christ and reconciled to His will through obedience.  The word to the nation of Israel was:  “Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; After that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city.” Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness. But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, And those who forsake the Lord will come to an end.”   God gave us a free will. Both as individuals and as a nation we must choose the path we will take. Will we say, God bless America? Will we first turn from our wicked ways?  Will we: Wash ourselves, make ourselves clean; Remove the evil of our deeds from His sight. Cease to do evil,  Learn to do good; Seek justice?

Forgive us God. Wash us clean of innocent blood through the blood of Christ. Holy Spirit show us and convict us of our sin and every evil way and lead us to do good and to walk in obedience to God’s will. God bless our nation as we bless and become obedient to You. Amen.