Observations from Isaiah

Lesson II : Israel’s Failure to Lovingly Obey the Lord (1:1-31)

“While chs. 1-5 may be justly said to introduce the book as a whole, it may also be said that ch. 1 introduces the introduction. In a very succinct way this chapter details Judah’s situation in God’s sight and calls them to return to him…. [T]he chapter sets the stage for what follows, declaring the inevitably destructive results of leaving God, the foolishness of rote religion, the necessity of justice, the corruption of the leadership, and in it all the possibility of redemption and restoration. These are the great themes of the book and they are stated in a grippingly concise. way here.” [John N. Oswalt, New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Isaiah, Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids MI, 1986]