fearful suffering was in store for them as a result. God, for them, was a God who punishes.
Consider the powerful lament of Isaiah’s opening chapter:
Ah, sinful nation,
people laden with iniquity,
offspring who do evil,
children who deal corruptly,
who have forsaken the L ORD ,
who have despised the Holy
One of Israel,
who are utterly estranged!
Why do you seek further beatings,
Why do you continue to rebel?…
Your country lies desolate,
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
aliens devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by
foreigners…
If the L ORD of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah. (Isa. 1:4–9)
One can hardly read this without thinking of that fierce cartoon with the caption “Beatings will continue until morale improves.” That indeed is Isaiah’s message, in words reminiscent of Hosea:
How the faithful city [i.e., Jerusalem]
has become a whore!
She that was full of justice,
righteousness lodged in her—
but now murderers!…
Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the orphan,
and the widow’s cause does not
come before them.
Therefore says the Sovereign, the
L ORD of hosts, the Mighty
One of Israel:
Ah, I will pour out my wrath on
my enemies,
and avenge myself on my foes!
I will turn my hand against you. (Isa. 1:21–25)
The people of God have now become the enemy of God. And he will act accordingly:
Instead of perfume there will be a
stench;
and instead of sash, a rope…
instead of beauty, shame.
Your men shall fall by the sword
and your warrior in battle.
And her gates shall lament and
mourn;
ravaged, she shall sit upon the
ground. (Isa. 3:24–26)
In one of the most famous passages of the book, Isaiah recounts a vision he has had of God himself, “sitting on a throne, high and lofty” above the Temple (6:1–2). The prophet is commissioned by God to proclaim his message, a message that the people will reject. When he asks the Lord how long he is to make this proclamation, he receives bad news—it is until the whole land is destroyed: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the L ORD sends everyone far away and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land” (6:11–12). And what has Judah done that makes it worthy of such judgment? They have robbed the poor, not cared for the needy, not tended to the widows and the orphans in distress (10:2–3). God will therefore send another great power against them for destruction.
And yet, as we saw with Amos, Isaiah anticipates that God’s wrath will not burn forever. On the contrary, he will save a remnant of his people and start again:
On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on the one who struck them, but will lean on the L ORD , the Holy One of Israel, in truth. Aremnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God…. For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their [i.e., the enemy’s] destruction…. On that day his burden will be removed from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck. (Isa. 10:20–27)
More than a century later, a similar message was proclaimed by Jeremiah, another prophet of Judah who anticipated that God would destroy the nation for its misdeeds. 24 A foreign power would march against it and bring terrible destruction:
I am going to bring upon you
a nation from far away,
O house of Israel,
says the L ORD.
It is an enduring nation,
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do
not know,
nor can you understand what
they say….
They shall eat up your harvest and
your food;
they shall eat up your sons and
your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks
and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and
your fig trees;
they
Consider the powerful lament of Isaiah’s opening chapter:
Ah, sinful nation,
people laden with iniquity,
offspring who do evil,
children who deal corruptly,
who have forsaken the L ORD ,
who have despised the Holy
One of Israel,
who are utterly estranged!
Why do you seek further beatings,
Why do you continue to rebel?…
Your country lies desolate,
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
aliens devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by
foreigners…
If the L ORD of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah. (Isa. 1:4–9)
One can hardly read this without thinking of that fierce cartoon with the caption “Beatings will continue until morale improves.” That indeed is Isaiah’s message, in words reminiscent of Hosea:
How the faithful city [i.e., Jerusalem]
has become a whore!
She that was full of justice,
righteousness lodged in her—
but now murderers!…
Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the orphan,
and the widow’s cause does not
come before them.
Therefore says the Sovereign, the
L ORD of hosts, the Mighty
One of Israel:
Ah, I will pour out my wrath on
my enemies,
and avenge myself on my foes!
I will turn my hand against you. (Isa. 1:21–25)
The people of God have now become the enemy of God. And he will act accordingly:
Instead of perfume there will be a
stench;
and instead of sash, a rope…
instead of beauty, shame.
Your men shall fall by the sword
and your warrior in battle.
And her gates shall lament and
mourn;
ravaged, she shall sit upon the
ground. (Isa. 3:24–26)
In one of the most famous passages of the book, Isaiah recounts a vision he has had of God himself, “sitting on a throne, high and lofty” above the Temple (6:1–2). The prophet is commissioned by God to proclaim his message, a message that the people will reject. When he asks the Lord how long he is to make this proclamation, he receives bad news—it is until the whole land is destroyed: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the L ORD sends everyone far away and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land” (6:11–12). And what has Judah done that makes it worthy of such judgment? They have robbed the poor, not cared for the needy, not tended to the widows and the orphans in distress (10:2–3). God will therefore send another great power against them for destruction.
And yet, as we saw with Amos, Isaiah anticipates that God’s wrath will not burn forever. On the contrary, he will save a remnant of his people and start again:
On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on the one who struck them, but will lean on the L ORD , the Holy One of Israel, in truth. Aremnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God…. For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their [i.e., the enemy’s] destruction…. On that day his burden will be removed from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck. (Isa. 10:20–27)
More than a century later, a similar message was proclaimed by Jeremiah, another prophet of Judah who anticipated that God would destroy the nation for its misdeeds. 24 A foreign power would march against it and bring terrible destruction:
I am going to bring upon you
a nation from far away,
O house of Israel,
says the L ORD.
It is an enduring nation,
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do
not know,
nor can you understand what
they say….
They shall eat up your harvest and
your food;
they shall eat up your sons and
your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks
and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and
your fig trees;
they
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