Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire.
- Isaiah 1:7
Writing late in the history of Judah, the prophet Isaiah’s work has long struck this author as having special application to our own time. In his long career, Isaiah witnessed much, including the final destruction of the Northern Kingdom by Assyria in 721 B.C. and a remarkable restoration of the Southern Kingdom under King Hezekiah.
In the opening chapter of the book named for him, Isaiah painted a stark and unflattering picture of the current state of Judah and Jerusalem in his day. Although they had a Godly heritage, the people of the Southern Kingdom had not only abandoned that heritage but were acting in ways that were the exact opposite of what had been laid down for them in the Law of Moses. Speaking through Isaiah, the Lord called them “children who are corruptors.” Not only were they themselves corrupt, but they corrupted others. Further, the Lord said of them that, “They have turned away backward.’ The inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah not only were off course but were going 180 degrees away from the direction God had called them to go.
Lux Lucet 
Leave a Reply