Week 11: Broken and Consumed


Isaiah 1:28-31 English Standard Version (ESV)

28 But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks
that you desired;
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.30 For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers,
and like a garden without water.31 And the strong shall become tinder,
and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
with none to quench them.


As we finish out the first chapter with these last four verses we see what will happen to those not a part what was happening in the previous verse. There the city was redeemed as those who were in her repented, but what about those individuals who chose not to repent? They are here lumped together as rebels and sinners, along with those who forsake the Lord. They shall be broken and consumed as there will be no place for them in a redeemed Jerusalem.

Isaiah then uses two examples to describe these people and what shall become of them. First he uses the oak, which is usually a sign of righteousness and strength to the people of Israel. But here they will look upon the oaks they have chosen with shame. The oaks they chose might be the ones associated with the high places, where false gods were worshiped, oaks that will not last, whose leaves will wither, putting their trust in something that will not last. And then the picture is much the same as they will have the same sense of shame with the gardens they choose. They will be without water, which in the long term means they will be without good fruit. When the righteous judgment comes they will be much like the foolish virgins with no oil for their lamps.

And what will become of them? They have modeled themselves after the oak that is dying instead of the Oak of Righteousness. Even though they were mighty and strong, they shall become dried out in death. It is interesting that as Paul says our works shall be tested with fire, while here Isaiah says the works themselves shall be the catalyst for the fire. And instead of being saved through the fire, they shall burn with their works, with nothing to quench them, much as the description Christ himself gives of those who forsake Him.


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