I allowed the description of verse 2, “they have rebelled against me,” to be the focus of this sermon. Most of the section describes what this rebellion is like. It’s important to state that our Christian lives are lived out with this stubbornness playing a major part of it. Sanctification occurs as our rebellious tendencies are conquered little by little. Verses 9 and 16-17 are Isaiah’s first glimpses of hope. The “few survivors” or remnant of verse 9 are those who respond to the instructions in verses 16-17. The entire book of Isaiah will continue to aim at creating a people among God’s people who respond to the command to wash up. Of course, we wash ourselves in the blood of the Lamb, that Servant described in detail later in Isaiah 53. God provides for our cleansing as we trust Him. Statistics consistently tell us that the Church is looking more and more like society and less and less like her Savior. The opening of Isaiah’s Gospel shows God’s intention to stop this trend.

Often, the way a book of the Bible begins and ends will provide clues for what the book is intended to do. In the case of Isaiah, the purpose of our sermons can be seen in the description of God’s people in 1:2 (“but they have rebelled against me”) and the repeated refrain in 66:24 (“the men who have rebelled against me”). Let this emphasis determine the purpose of the middle of Isaiah. Throughout the book we’re encouraging all who come to worship to be sure they are truly worshiping God and not simply claiming to worship while rebelling against Him.