Isaiah 1:10-20 Come, Let Us Reason
7/2/00e D. Marion Clark
Introduction
We are finally getting back to Isaiah. If you can recall four weeks back, God was rather upset with Israel. When I use the term Israel, by the way, I am using the covenant name for God’s people. Isaiah is actually preaching in and most to Judah, but he will often refer to the country with the covenant name of Israel. Anyhow, God is upset because his covenant people have rebelled against him persisting in sin.
After a quote from God complaining about Israel in verses 2 and 3, Isaiah bemoans the sin and condition of his nation, concluding with this observation in verse 9:
9 Unless the LORD Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.
God’s chastisement was so severe that, if he had not checked his punishment, Israel would have been as thoroughly destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah, the two cities obliterated in the book of Genesis. The mention of those two cities set up Isaiah’s introduction to the next portion of his message from God.
The Insult 10
Have you ever been insulted? I mean really insulted. Someone calls you by the most offensive term to you or refers to you in the most despicable image you could imagine. If so, you might be able to understand the insult that Israel receives from God.
10 Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the law of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
Before, Isaiah compared the devastation Israel received to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Here he calls both Israel’s rulers and Israel’s people by the names of the cities that embody the ultimate in degradation. That Israel was not destroyed was not due to the people being less sinful than the degraded citizens of those wicked cities, but to God’s mercy. In truth, the people of God’s covenant were just as offensive.
God Offended 11-15
In these next verses, which further express how offended God is by his people, we are made to understand what their sin and rebellion was not. The people had not abandoned the worship of God. They had not, at least consciously rejected God and his Law. Indeed, they would have considered themselves rather faithful in their observing the religious laws of the covenant. They are bringing sacrifices to the Temple, good ones too – animals fattened specifically for sacrifice. Hebrews 10:22 says, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. They were shedding lots of blood through their sacrifices. They attended the Temple frequently and participated faithfully in the religious celebrations established by the law of Moses. They regularly prayed. The practice of religion was as strong as ever, and God hated it.
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the LORD.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
But, God, you commanded these sacrifices.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
Trampling of courts? You are the one who asked us to come.
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
What do you mean “evil assemblies”? These are the assemblies you appointed. Keeping the Sabbath is your command.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
But you have always wanted us to pray to you. You hate when we worship other gods; why will you not listen when we turn to you?
Here’s why: Your hands are full of blood. God does not mean they are bloody from their sacrifices. They are bloody from the guilt of their sins, specifically the sins of violence against their neighbors. They may have the religious ceremonial laws down pat, but they grossly violate the laws of justice. As will be made clearer in the book, they cheat their neighbors; they do not defend the weak, those who are especially vulnerable to being taken advantage of; they take bribes, they steal; they lie. And then they come to church and worship.
That’s the trampling of the courts – to unashamedly worship God in his temple, all the while despising his laws of justice and mercy. That’s the meaningless offerings – sacrifices offered up for sin that in truth they treasure. That’s the evil assemblies – to celebrate the sacred festivals of God with evil hearts.
True Worship 16,17
If they truly desire to offer true worship, worship that is pleasing to God, here is what they must do. They must obey God’s laws of justice and mercy.
16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
He doesn’t mean hide their evil deeds. Get rid of them altogether. To be out of God’s sight is to be eliminated.
Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right!
They need to repent, which means to stop sinning and start obeying. The problem with the Israelites is that they wanted to cling to their evil deeds while doing good. “I may not be the most moral person or the best neighbor, but I do have a heart for pleasing God.” No, you must stop the wrong and do right; not do right alongside the wrong, but in place of the wrong.
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
Notice the proactive command. God is not merely telling his people to not be unjust, not to oppress. He commands them to actively see that justice is carried out. “Take it upon yourselves to defend the cause of those who can’t defend for themselves. Go out and encourage the oppressed, or, as another possible translation, correct the oppressor.
God’s Justice 19, 20
We are going to skip over to verses 19 and 20. Note again, as we did in the previous passage, God’s just control. God is not wringing his hands wondering what to do about these bad boys and girls. They are not getting away with their bad behavior as was already pointed out. If anything, their problem was their inability to understand the poor condition they were in. But God is just. For those who walk in righteousness, they will not merely get by; they will enjoy blessing. But for those who insist on continuing in their oppressive ways, they will not merely be stopped; they will be destroyed.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Real Cleansing 18-20
All of this is well and good. It makes sense. God opposes wicked hearts and behavior; he wants his people to be just and compassionate. But what doesn’t seem to make good sense is the very thing for which he says “let us reason.”
Go back with me to verses 15 and 16. At the end of verse 15, God says, Your hands are full of blood. Then he says, wash and make yourselves clean. But how does one do that? It is one thing to stop doing bad things; it is another to clean away the guilt of the past. That was Jean Valjean’s dilemma in Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Miserables. His true enemy that dogged him through life was not the officer, Javert, but his own sense of guilt.
God says, make yourselves clean. And he furthermore holds out the promise that we really can become clean.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
These sins which are blood-stained red can not only take on a white appearance, but actually become as naturally white as snow or unblemished wool.
But how, God, can such a change take place? He doesn’t say. How can we make ourselves clean? He just passes on to how we ought to live. But we do try to live right. We do try to be kind. And yet always in our hearts we know that we could do more. We could be more patient and more compassionate. We could take less offense and be more forgiving.
Always in the back of our minds is the guilt of the past: the hurtful words we spoke; the slight we gave to someone; the mean trick, the lie, the immoral act. For all the good we would do, we cannot cleanse away the stain already on our souls.
And yet, there is the command – cleanse yourselves. There is the promise – your sins shall be white. Does God command what we cannot do? Does he promise what we cannot have? What is this reasoning that he wants us to do?
The answer is to give up our own reasoning. That’s what got the Israelites in trouble in the first place. “It’s okay that I messed up. I’ll just give better sacrifices.” “I can’t give up what I know to be sin, but I’ll make up by going to all the church services.”
“Come, now,” God says. “You can’t be good enough, and you can’t make up for the sin you’ve already done. The only reasonable thing to do is to turn to me for mercy.” As we go through Isaiah, we will see what the mercy of God involves. But then, you already know where it will lead – to the cross of Christ. It is there God’s people will find not only mercy, but the cleansing that makes their souls as white as snow.
