NOTES for Isa 1:1-31

This is the beginning of the book of the prophet Isaiah. Here the task of every prophecy becomes very clear: when people lose all spiritual and moral bearings, God, through His prophets, restores a true understanding of righteousness.

First, then: wash yourselves and become clean. To do this, we must agree that we are unclean and acknowledge our failure and sinfulness. Then we must cease doing evil and remove evil deeds “from before God's eyes,” that is, remove them entirely from life, because God sees everything. After that, we must do good, and the criterion of whether that good is genuine is selflessness. To save a slave and defend an orphan and a widow means doing something good for the weakest, poorest, and most powerless people in the world of that time, those from whom no reward for the good deed can be expected. Selflessness is a sign of mercy and self-sacrifice, which are so dear to God's heart.

Of course, by itself this call of the prophet does not give a person strength to live according to these principles. It only awakens the desire for such a life, while the possibility of the fullness of righteousness is opened in the New Covenant through Christ.