Isaiah is speaking about Israel, but as I read through Isaiah, I can’t help but think this is us now. This applies to us today, and it is a warning for us too, before it is too late. So, let us listen to God’s warning.  

Isaiah 1

² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
    for the Lord has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
    but they have rebelled against me.

We rebel so much against God. We don’t want to hear from him, and we don’t want to do what he wants us to do. We ignore his voice. Oh, how we break his heart when we rebel against our true Father, the one who truly loves us beyond any love we will ever know.

³ The ox knows its owner,
    and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
    my people do not understand.”

Even animals know who they belong to, but we reject our Father, our Creator, our one and true love, who blesses us and gives us everything we need.

⁴ Ah, sinful nation,
    a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
    children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
    they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
    they are utterly estranged.

How easy it is to choose to stay in sin and forsake Him. We choose the easy way and despise our Father, the one we should live for, be grateful for and love.

⁵ Why will you still be struck down?
    Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
    and the whole heart faint.
⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head,
    there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
    and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
    or softened with oil.

Why do we continue to rebel? Even knowing all that we do, we still rebel. Is it easier, and His path is difficult? But remember, what matters is where that path is taking us. Do we want to go there for eternity, or would we rather be with our loving creator who wants us? The one who loves us and can heal us from all disease and brokenness.

⁷ Your country lies desolate;
    your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
    foreigners devour your land;
    it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
⁸ And the daughter of Zion is left
    like a booth in a vineyard,
like a lodge in a cucumber field,
    like a besieged city.

These verses speak of the consequences of rebellion. How devastating Israel must have felt to see their cities burnt and be overthrown by foreigners, to be taken as slaves all because of their rebellion. The consequences of rebellion. So let us consider and count the cost of rejecting our loving Father.

⁹ If the Lord of hosts
    had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
    and become like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
    you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching^[b] of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
    says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
    and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
    or of lambs, or of goats.

¹² “When you come to appear before me,
    who has required of you
    this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Bring no more vain offerings;
    incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
    I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts
    my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    your hands are full of blood.

We do not want God to hide his face from us; this will be our doom. We do not want him to not listen to us. We want Him always with us, hearing us, guiding us, protecting us. We want to be in his presence where there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). We need to choose Him over the evil of this world. We need to obey Him.

¹⁶ Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
¹⁷     learn to do good;
seek justice,
    correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
    plead the widow’s cause.

And even after all that rebellion, He offers a way to come to Him. He tells them plainly how to be His, how to come back to Him. He says to remove all evil deeds, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression for the fatherless and the widows.

¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.

¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land;

It is not too late; he offers a way to make us all clean, as white as snow. If we are willing and obedient, we will be blessed by Him. He tells us so plainly, making it so easy to know what we have to do.

²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel,
    you shall be eaten by the sword;
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

²⁸ But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
    and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
²⁹ For they^[e] shall be ashamed of the oaks
    that you desired;
and you shall blush for the gardens
    that you have chosen.
³⁰ For you shall be like an oak
    whose leaf withers,
    and like a garden without water.
³¹ And the strong shall become tinder,
    and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
    with none to quench them.

But if we are not willing, here is the warning: rebels and sinners shall be broken and burnt, and none shall be quenched.

Which do we want to be?