Feb 23, 2019
By now, we should have a firm grasp on the reality that God never treats sin lightly. In spite of Judah’s status as God’s chosen people, He was not going to put up with their rebellion against Him indefinitely. He warned them repeatedly that their judgment was coming, unless they repented and returned to Him. And in Isaiah 29:1-8, God makes it clear that their refusal to repent would bring not only His judgment but their own deaths. Their disobedience was punishable by death. And while He had provided them with the sacrificial system as a means of receiving atonement for their sins, they had even treated it with disdain. They had even defiled the temple of God itself by setting up idols to false gods within its walls. This blatant disrespect for God, His house, and the sacrificial system He had provided, was not something He could overlook. So, Isaiah is forced to warn the people of Judah that their rebellion was going to turn the sacrificer into the sacrifice. Rather than seeking atonement through a lamb, bull or goat, the guilty people of God would be forced to shed their own blood and give their own lives as payment for their sins.