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In verse 4 the people are spoken of as "corrupters"; in verse 5 their punishment is
spoken of in terms of "stripes" (1: 5); and in verse 7 their land and cities are said to be
"left desolate" (1: 7). At the heart of this ingratitude and rebellion lies the fact expressed
in verse 3: "Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider" (1: 3). The word
"consider" we shall meet again in Isa. 6: 9, 10 as "understand", and we therefore
postpone comment until this chapter is reached.
We also note in this chapter that the people who are so corrupt as to be likened to
Sodom and Gomorrha (1: 9, 10) are nevertheless deeply "religious". Sacrifices, oblations,
incense, were all enjoined by the law, but the Lord says of them here:
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? Who hath required this
at your hand, to tread (or trample) My courts?"
When religious observances have become a refuge from conscience, oblations become
"vain", incense an "abomination", and solemn assemblies "iniquity".
It is in this context that we find the first passage in Isaiah that is quoted in the N.T.:
"Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been
as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrha" (Isa. 1: 9).
This passage forms an integral part of the dispensational argument of Rom. 9:, and
the reader is referred to the articles on Romans in The Berean Expositor for fuller notes
on this important passage. A remnant by grace, saved at the time of trouble, was in its
turn a pledge that all Israel shall be saved in God's day of grace.
We reach a climax in chapter 1: at verse 18:
"Come now, and let us reason together."
The Companion Bible, together with several other commentaries, draws attention to
the fact that this passage speaks of putting an end to all reasoning rather than inviting it.
The Hebrew word yakash, which is translated here "reason together", means primarily
"to demonstrate what is right and true", and in some of its forms can mean "to reprove"
(Isa. 11: 4). The form of the verb in Isa. 1: 18 is equivalent to our passive, and suggests
reproof rather than continued reasoning. The Hebrew yakash gives us the word for "the
daysman", whom Job so longed for (Job 9: 33), and we can certainly see thought of the
Mediator behind Isa. 1: 18:
"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool."
The idea involved in the simile "as scarlet" is better seen when the Hebrew is
consulted. The word sheni, meaning "two", or "double", in the course of time came to
mean "double-dyed", by virtue of the fact that it was the custom to dip a garment twice
when dyeing it purple (See Horace and Pliny). The second word "crimson" refers to a
colour made from the Cochineal insect, our English word being derived from the Arabic