(a) What was God's message to the people of Israel through Isaiah when they offended Him? (b) In which two ways are these issues still prevalent in your soc...

(a) God's message to Israel through Isaiah when they offended Him (Isaiah 1)

• God, through Isaiah, summoned heaven and earth as witnesses and complained that Israel, the children He had reared, had rebelled against Him. Even the ox knows its owner, but Israel did not know or understand.
• He called them a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers who had forsaken the Lord and were utterly estranged.
• He described the nation as desolate and sick from the sole of the foot to the head, their cities burned and their land ruined by strangers.
• God rejected their empty religious worship. He was weary of their multitude of sacrifices, burnt offerings, incense, new moons, sabbaths and appointed feasts. He would not listen to their prayers because their hands were full of blood.
• He called them to repentance: Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
• He offered forgiveness and hope: Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. If they were willing and obedient they would eat the good of the land, but if they refused and rebelled they would be devoured by the sword.

(b) Two ways these issues are still prevalent in society

1. Empty and hypocritical religion. Many people today engage in outward worship, church attendance and offerings while living unjust and sinful lives, just as Israel did.
2. Injustice and oppression of the weak. Corruption, bribery, oppression of the poor, and neglect of orphans, widows and the vulnerable remain common in our communities, exactly the wrongs Isaiah condemned.