Isaiah 1:2 - The Witnesses Are Called

It has been pointed out by many that the opening lines of Isaiah's prophecy are an allusion to the song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 which begins thus:

“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

We will find as we go along that Isaiah spends a lot of time reminding the people of their covenant with God and thus he uses a lot of the language of Moses--especially from Deuteronomy--in his prophecy.

It is good to keep in mind that as a nation Israel and Judah were in a covenant relationship with God. This, I think, gets lost a bit on us--or at least its importance to the biblical narrative--because we are not used to looking at the Bible through this lens. The prevalent viewpoint in our day has been the dispensational viewpoint which tends to downplay the covenantal aspects of God's relationship with his people. But this covenantal aspect is paramount to our ability to understand the relationship between the Old Testament (Covenant) and the New Testament (Covenant).

The Old Covenant (as St. Paul called it) was a conditional covenant. It was based on conditional promises.  Basically, it was this:  Obey me (and my commands) and I will bless you. Disobey me and I will curse you. Obey me and live and prosper. Disobey me and be cursed and die. Paul covers this extensively in Galatians and it is a major theme in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Here is that covenant as it was given to God's people in Moses's own words:

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:19,20)

In the ancient near east when men or nations made solemn agreements together, these covenants were sworn to by both parties in the presence of witnesses. Moses calls the heavens and the earth as a witness to the covenant which the people have just sworn to enter into with God. If they break the conditions of this covenant, then those witnesses can and will be called forward as a testimony against them and God will be found just in meting out judgment against them for their breaking of the covenant. In fact, Moses uses this same language more than once in warning them of what will happen to them after he dies.

Deuteronomy 4:25-27 “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

And again:

Deuteronomy 31:28,29 "Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

It is for this reason that Isaiah begins his opening prophecy to God's people with this language--to remind them that they are in covenant with God, to point out that they have broken that covenant, and to warn them that the witnesses of this are being called forward and judgment will soon be pronounced against them. Following the calling forward of these witnesses, God will make his case:

Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.

Although you and I are not under the Mosaic Law in the sense of being participants in the Old Covenant and its conditional promises, we still have a duty of love to live out the precepts of that law by faith and through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we delve into this case God is making against his people there are two things we should consider as we read. One is a look inward . . . How does my life measure up to God's perfect law? In what ways have I failed? Do I see myself or my inclinations mirrored in the failings of ancient Judah? The other is a look upward . . . How thankful we are as we see our own failings that One came who perfectly kept God's law and then passed the blessing and life he rightfully earned onto us, though we did nothing to deserve it.