ISAIAH
Chapter 1:1-3
Part 2 of 3

Isaiah 1:1-3

quote:

"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."

The Lord was like a Father to Israel. Known tenderly as Abba, God raised them up as sons giving them loving affection and direction. I am including the following scriptures to help us understand the frustration and anguish God experienced with Israel, after having demonstrated such love for them.

Exodus 19:4-6
"You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel."

Deuteronomy 26:18-19
"And the LORD has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; 19 and that He shall set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken."

Leviticus 26:12-13
"I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you should not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect."

Exodus 23:20, 25-26
"Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ... 25 But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days."

Deuteronomy 32:7-14
"Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. 8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. 9 For the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. 10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, 11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. 12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him. 13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, 14 with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape."

Do you get a sense of how much God loves Israel and each one of us?!! He calls Israel His "treasured possession". With this expression, He is saying they were considered valuable enough to be the personal property or the treasury of a king. To God, they were as precious as the jewels in His crown! These scriptures with beautiful poetic language were written to Israel, but if you are a Christian, you have been given the awesome privilege of being grafted-in (Romans 11)). He loves us too!