The Message of the Isaiah: Fruit!
Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right… Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Isaiah 1:16-17, Matt 7:19)
You are warmly welcome!
Isaiah was a prominent prophet to Judah, who prophesied around 700 years before Christ – a contemporary of Hosea and Micah. He seems to have belonged to a family of high rank given the evident easy access to the king and close proximity with the priest (7:3, 8:2). His writings stand out: “For versatility of expression and brilliance of imagery Isaiah had no superior, not even a rival. His style marks the climax of Hebrew literary art” (ISBE). Isaiah recorded God’s message to Cyrus king of Persia before Cyrus had even been born and before Persia became a great power (Isaiah 44:28, 45:1-6). Isaiah bears at least twenty Messianic Prophecies that have their evident fulfillment in the New Testament. Isaiah is quoted directly more than fifty times in the New Testament – the second most quoted OT book (after Psalms).
So, what was the message of Isaiah? Suffice to start at the beginning of the book, since such a big and prominent scroll may not be hurriedly summarized. Isaiah’s opening chapter is an attack on false religiosity. In our day, he would be targeting pastors involved in financial fraud, choir and worship team members involved in fornication, dance and drama team members involved in secret sins and indecency, and any church leader or elder putting up a show yet in secret there are dark sports; Isaiah would also be targeting smart church goers who are consistent and seem deeply touched by the worship and message on Sunday morning, yet the rest of the days of the week are spent in the shady streets of naughty life. Isaiah starts off by attacking false religiosity that was abundant in his day and seems to be with us today!
Is God really not interested in ‘the multitude of your sacrifices’? How then shall his Priests and Levites survive, and how will the Chapel development project be moved ahead? Money is the blood of any economy; stop its flow and there will be a catastrophe! When God seems to be inviting this situation, there must be a serious point He is making. And the demand that He places above sacrifices must then receive utmost attention: ‘Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right’; in the words of John the Baptist, ‘Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.’ Jesus warns strongly that the tree that does not produce good fruit will end up in the fire!
‘Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed’ (James 5:16). Fortunately, there is a way out – and this is it – for your sacrifices to be accepted, and for amends to be made to restore a joyful fellowship with God and with one another.
God bless you all.