BIBLE STUDY: November 11th

The meeting opened with prayer

In the Scriptures, by the Spirit,
   May we see the Saviour's face,
Hear His word and heed His calling -
   Know His will and grow in grace.
Amen
 

We first took a look at the Introduction to this series of studies. We reminded ourselves that the Sacred Scriptures should be read and interpreted with the help of the Holy Spirit and under the guidance of the Megisterium of the Church, that the books of the Old Testament bear witness to "the divine pedagogy of God's saving love ...[and] prepare for the coming of Christ the Saviour of the universe" (Compendium of the Catechism, 21).

We considered in particular the historical background in which Isaiah was writing. King Solomon had allowed his wives to practice their own religions and pagan practices had become more and more commonplace among the Israelites; after Solomon's death, the kingdom had been split by faction whereby ten of the twelve 'tribes' of Israel formed a northern Kingdom and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin formed a southern kingdom. The northern kingdom had been captured by the Assyrians and its people dispersed and now the Assyrians were threatening Jerusalem. Isaiah is giving the Jews of the southern kingdom a wake-up call.

We also briefly considered the make-up of the whole book of Isaiah and then turned to the Book of Isaiah and considered the first chapter.
 

Isaiah 1:1-9

1

The vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, had concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2

Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth, for the LORD speaks: Sons have I raised and reared, but they have disowned me!

3

An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master's manger; But Israel does not know, my people has not understood.

4

Ah! sinful nation, people laden with wickedness, evil race, corrupt children! They have forsaken the LORD, spurned the Holy One of Israel, apostatized.

5

Where would you yet be struck, you that rebel again and again? The whole head is sick, the whole heart faint.

6

From the sole of the foot to the head there is no sound spot: Wound and welt and gaping gash, not drained, or bandaged, or eased with salve.

7

Your country is waste, your cities burnt with fire; Your land before your eyes strangers devour (a waste, like Sodom overthrown)--

8

And daughter Zion is left like a hut in a vineyard, Like a shed in a melon patch, like a city blockaded.

9

Unless the LORD of hosts had left us a scanty remnant, We had become as Sodom, we should be like Gomorrah.
 

In the opening verse, we noted that Isaiah's father, Amoz, is not the prophet Amos! In chapter 6, we shall learn that Isaiah was called to be a prophet in the same year that king Uzziah died (742 BC); his prophetic ministry was exercised under the next three kings of Judah: Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

The prophecy begins with a call to both heaven and earth to listen because the words of the prophecy are the LORD's. Isaiah is conveying the LORD's own mesage. The sons (or children) He has raised and who rebel against him are the Israelites, the people He chose to make his love known to the world. But they have forgotten Him. He ccntrasts their disobedience with that of an ox and an ass who are obedient to their master. Israel has apostatized because it has joined the worship of the LORD with that of pagan deities, and it has neglected God's high moral law.

The Israelites have been afflicted by internal division and a large part of them has been dispersed. Yet those who remain have not turned back to God. So, they are asked "Where would you yet be struck?" Why do they keep rebelling? it must be because the whole body of Israel is sick and they are not allowing themselves to be healed by God's saving love. In verse 7 , the Israelites are reminded of their present situation: the Assyrians have laid waste and depopulated their land and now their army is encamped before Jerusalem (for the reference to Sodom - see below).

We were reminded of our own neo-pagan society which has increasingly abandoned God and its Christian heritage;: "the whole head is sick, the whole heart faint."

By 'Daughter of Zion', the prophet means 'Jerusalem', once the proud capital of a great kingdom under David and his son, Solomon, but now in a sorry state and beseiged by enemies, just like a hut or shelter for watchmen and labourers. In deed, the prophet says, if it were not for the fact that there were still some faithful people in Jerusalem, God would have allowed it to be destroyed just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah is told in Genesis, chapters 18 and 19. When Abraham learns that Sodom is to be destroyed, he asks the LORD if He would spare the city if there were 50 just men in it; God replies that He would. Abraham then goes on to to ask what would happen if there were only 45, and again is told that the city would be spared. Indeed, Abraham keeps on bargaining with God until God tells him that the city would be spared if there were only 10 just men. Two angels are sent to the city and it is discovered that there is only one just man, Lot. So Lot and his family are rescued and the two cities destroyed. Scholars argue about the historicity of the story, but that does not concern us here. Isaiah is using this well known story to bring home a point: Jerusalem still has some just people living in it. It is a call to the rest of his fellow citizens to repent and turn back to the LORD.

 
Isaiah 1:10-20

10

Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah!

11

What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the LORD. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure.

12

When you come in to visit me, who asks these things of you?

13

Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies, octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.

14

Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load.

15

When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood!

16

Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil;

17

learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow.

18

Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.

19

If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land;

20

But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!
 

We have another call, as in verse 2, to hear and to listen. This time the call is made to the unjust rulers of Judah, who are called "princes of Sodom", and to the unrighteous people of Judah, who are called "people of Gomorrah."

In modern English the word 'sodmy' now denotes sexual perversion, especially homosexual intercourse. This use of the word appears to date from the 17th century. In Ezekeiel we read: "look at the guilt of ... Sodom: she and her daughters were proud, sated with food, complacent in their prosperity, and they gave no help to the poor and needy. Rather, they became haughty and committed abominable crimes in my presence" (Ezekiel 16:44-50). The particular abominations in Genesis are clearly inhospitality and, possibly, xenophobia, as well as a threat of gang rape. The sin of Sodom and Gemorrah is rather that of arrogant selfishness, in which people smugly indulge their own pleasures and perversions with no thought of anyone else. This is, surely, what Isaiah has in mind. Is it not also true of so many in our neo-pagan and materialist western society?

Verses 11 to 15 are all a condemnation of outward religious observance given by people with selfish, unloving hearts. Indeed, we are told that their observance of the first of each lunar month (new moon), of the sabbath, of their assemblies for worship and of their octaves (i.e. eight-day solemnities, cf, our own 'Christmas Octave' and 'Easter Octave') are all tarnished with wickedness (verse 8). All their prayers, festivals, pilgrimages and other religious rites are worthless if they remain selfish and unrepentent. It is a solemn reminder to us - and one we hear time and again in the Scriptures - that outward observance without love of God and of our neighbour is not only worthless, it is actually repugnant to God.

With verse 16 we find a more positive note. There is something the rulers and people of Judah can do: "Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds ..... cease doing evil."; and verse 17 makes more specific what the good deeds are. Instead of selfishlessly seeking their own pleasure, they are to redress people who have been wronged and to help the weak and vulnerable. They must put things right.

This section finishes with a reminder that repented sin will be forgiven. The choice is in our own hands: Are we willing to obey, or shall we refuse and resist?

 
Isaiah 1:21-31

21

How has she turned adulteress, the faithful city, so upright! Justice used to lodge within her, but now, murderers.

22

Your silver is turned to dross, your wine is mixed with water.

23

Your princes are rebels and comrades of thieves; Each one of them loves a bribe and looks for gifts. The fatherless they defend not, and the widow's plea does not reach them.

24

Now, therefore, says the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah! I will take vengeance on my foes and fully repay my enemies!

25

I will turn my hand against you, and refine your dross in the furnace, removing all your alloy.

26

I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as in the beginning; After that you shall be called city of justice, faithful city.

27

Zion shall be redeemed by judgment, and her repentant ones by justice.

28

Rebels and sinners alike shall be crushed, those who desert the LORD shall be consumed.

29

You shall be ashamed of the terebinths which you prized, and blush for the groves which you chose.

30

You shall become like a tree with falling leaves, like a garden that has no water.

31

The strong man shall turn to tow, and his work shall become a spark; Both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench the flames.
 

Jerusalem, the once faithful city, is no longer faithful to God: it has condoned worship of other gods and has become unfaithful to God's law. It is like a woman who has become unfaithful to her husband. It has becme contaminated.

Verses 22 and 23 must surely be reference to merchants unscrupulously selling impure silver and watering down wine, and generally being corrupt and open to bribery. Once again we are reminded that in their selfishness they neglect the weak and vulnearable in their society.

But there is a promise of redemption. God will cleanse his people and Zion will be redeemed (This redemption will be fully realized in Christ's great act of reconciliation). Those who persist in resisting God's call will bring about their own condemnation.

This opening chapter of Isaiah finishes with a warning to those who have worshipped pagan gods among the terebinth trees and in other groves.
 

The meeting closed with prayer.

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Most of the scripture texts on this page are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.