Isaiah 1:10-20
I am so excited about this program and this experiment that my D-Group and I are conducting. (I lead a small group of High School boys who are using this site to study through the book of Isaiah) This site is promising to be a powerful tool at, not only technically but, motivationally helping with Bible study.
As I love to do I have used the reader's ease of switching through translations to help clarify the meaning of phrases. The two places where this proved to be most apparent was in verses 11 and 18.
In verse 11, the second line has an interesting switch of voicing from the ESV/NASB ("I have had enough of burnt offerings...) to NIV/TNIV ("I have more than enough of burnt offerings...). The former makes you feel as if The LORD wanted them to offer sacrifices but now tires of how they are doing it; while the latter makes you start to think maybe it was never about the sacrifices in the first place - The LORD already has enough of them after all.
In verse 18, I was interested to why God was calling us to come reason with Him about all of this sin matter. My ESV Study Bible pointed out that the word "reason" could be translated "dispute" but when I used the NLT to compare these verses, the meaning really jumped out at me: "'Come now, let's settle this...'"
This leads me to my overall impression of these verses. God is speaking to His people, the nation of Israel (specifically Judah) and saying, "I am tired of your empty religious practices while you ignore the heart of my law: To love me and hate sin!" And then He says, "So do good!" That is a hard message to swallow. While I understand how horrible it would be to unrepentently go through the religious motions, I also understand how hard it is to "do good". But how amazing it is that at the end of this chastisement God says, "let's settle this!" And He does by saying if we will listen to Him, He will take care of our sins. He will wash us white as snow. He will offer us grace.
If we will just listen.
And it ends..."I, the LORD, have spoken!"
Lord, thank you for settling the matter for me. Help me to continue listening.
Created over 3 years ago
