"Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him."

Isaiah 1:2-4

In Philip Roth’s novel, American Pastoral,2 the daughter of a devoted and morally assiduous father is exposed as a terrorist. This mirrors the Lord’s experience. His covenant love, which nurtures his children, is ‘rebelled against’ (v. 2) and ‘spurned’ (v. 4), leaving him ‘forsaken’ (v. 4). Turning their backs on God, the people behave like strangers to their families, the images of disloyalty comparing unfavorably with farm animals who understand their dependence on their owners (v. 3). The New Testament warns us not to forsake our first love.

The Holy One of Israel (v. 4) cannot simply ignore or indulge their ingratitude. Judah is in ruins, as enemies, strangers, and foreign nations gain the ascendency. Judah, however, is still considered a daughter (v. . Their plight would be like that of the totally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah unless the Lord had other plans (v. 9). They will avoid destruction, but not by the means they think. The remedy does not lie in trying to appease God with outward signs of devotion, which will multiply his anger or simply bore him (vv. 14, 15). What does God look for? Refraining from doing wrong and starting to care for the oppressed, the orphans and the widows, grasping what he is concerned for. Their repentance must be about loving their neighbors as they love themselves.

CLOSING PRAYER

Holy Lord, I confess that my thoughts and actions do not always please you. Thank you for the forgiveness that is mine through Christ Jesus.
(Edited from Encounter with God)