A step forward on our Path into verse two reveals the opening essence of the Vision - God longing for Reunion with His Children, who have rejected Him.
"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. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not Understand.”
Because the Spirit of God is unchanging, we can hear, feel, and illuminate the same underlying intention and desire through other scripture, such as the prophetic words of Jesus speaking to Israel from God:
"'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling."
Separated by centuries, the voice of Jesus reverberates and harmonizes with the voice of Isaiah, because they are inspired by and flowing from the same unchanging Spirit.
The opening setting is one of estrangement, and desire for Reconciliation and At-One-Ment.
"Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged."
As we get to Know God, we should discover that the word LORD in all capitals in scripture is the English translation of the the Hebrew tetragrammaton, usually transliterated as YHWH, the proper name for God in the Jewish Torah. Because many Jewish people hold the name of God as too sacred to speak, it is often replaced in speech with HaShem (literally, The Name).
The many "names of God" describe many aspects of the Absolute, and point back to the One Ultimate Reality - the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, Who guides the subsequent transformations of Reality over Time.
The basic spiritual impulse, or Spiritual Element in the universe, manifests in the deep desire for Progress towards Unity through Love. The progression towards Unity through Love is the polar opposite movement of estrangement. The essence of the Way is The Movement of All Creation towards its Source. The essence of The Anti-Movement is the divisive movement away from Unity, towards Estrangement.
The Anti-Movement towards The Anti-Goal can perhaps be conceptually thought of as Entropy.
The Movement towards The Goal can be conceptually thought of as the Anti-Entropic force of the universe, which is associated with the working of God.
Here, we see Israel in a state of utter estrangement - the exact opposite of the Will and Intention of God. If the Goal of God is for us All to be United As One in Harmony, Right Relationship, and Shalom, The Anti-Goal is the state of utter and complete Estrangement.
Utter Estrangement is the State of Being that lies at the logical end of The Anti-Movement.
"Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it..."
Any parent understands the pain of watching a child inflict suffering upon themselves because of their sheer foolishness and rebellion against the Wisdom, Principles, and Values that would cause them to Progress towards the fullness of their Potential and flourish.
Here, "Why will you still be struck down" speaks to the inevitable fall and destruction that lies at the end of their current trajectory. Those who willfully and utterly estrange them selves from God are always eventually struck down. Pride, the Sin that separates us from God, always comes before The Fall.
Next, is the call to Attention:
"Hear the word of the LORD..." "Give ear to the teaching of our God..."
It is the Knowledge of God, that comes as a result of attending to and hearing the Word of God, that marks the Way towards At-One-Ment.
Forward to The Patterns Of Spiraling Up, And Spiraling Down
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