Come back, Isaiah tells the people, and be repentant. Instead of the status quo, the prophet calls the people to give up their wickedness and come to the Lord so that the Lord can show mercy on them and pardon them. The words of the Lord and the prophet don t require the people to give up everything, but to give up those things that are not important to their salvation. You see, while in exile, the people had given up on the Lord, and focused on material needs and possessions. Now, as they are to be restored to their land, the people are called to set aside the excesses in their life and return to the presence of the Lord.
Life is about to change.
We hear the words of the Lord again at the end of the reading. God is telling the people that God sees, thinks, and acts differently than the people. That shouldn t be a surprise to anyone God is greater than anything one might imagine, and one s ability to comprehend is significantly less than God s ability. However, this doesn t mean one can go and ignore God, but that one should recognize one s limitations, and accept on faith that which God promises to do. During the long period of the covenant, God frequently acted in ways the Hebrew people didn t fully understand.