Chapter 59
I still very much like verse 2. God doesn't just go away and stay. Our sins separate us from Him, and He refuses to hear. It could be argued, and maybe rightly so, that this verse is about how God deals with nations, rather than individuals. Surely he hears the prayers of the saved, even when they are far from Him?
2021, Here is what is going on in the US today:
1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. [Isa 59:1-2 ESV]
These verses are about the nation of Israel, not about a person in Israel. The nation has moved away from God, abandoned any serious devotion to Him, and goes about their daily lives without no thought of Him at all. This attitude, and the total disregard of the rules and commands of God, have made a separation. That is, the sins of that nation are the cause of what is to come. God did not move away, those people, by their actions, moved away. Because of this, God will not see, nor will he hear their prayers. There were still s few good people in Israel at this time, but there were not enough to keep that nation in favorable regard. God had let the nation go.
This is a FB post, but needs to be smoothed a bit. Found it on a "short" morning.
These verses go on and on with specifics about what is going on in the nation. Through vs 8 Isaiah indicts them. Things like frivolous lawsuits aimed at money, not at justice, rampant lies. Then it says they "hatch adders eggs" and "weave the spider's web". These two metaphors carry on for many verses. Perhaps the first is about carefully crafting a plan that will release evil on others...and perhaps backfire on oneself. Eggs don't hatch unless cared for, but if it is adders that hatch, the results may be destructive even to the one who planned it. This makes sense. And the spiders web...about trapping those unaware of the web. About deceiving the innocent. No justice in this, just evil. So...disregard of collateral damage, and random injustice. Yes. Those who do these things are a problem. Like MSM telling lies for political gain. Like the lies Fauci is telling us. Evil is all around us. Are we as far gone as Israel was? Will God even be as patient with us as He was with them?
The description, or the further accusation of those that are addressed here, is a national indictment. It is not about an individual but about a culture, as in vs 4:
4 No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. [Isa 59:4 ESV]
So context says verse 2 is about the nation. Somehow, there is a line that a whole nation can cross, a line of what is and is not an acceptable level of justice, and behavior, and a way that we treat each other, that God - only God - can measure. And when we cross it as a nation, God removes His hand from that nation and the progression of Romans 1...or of Isaiah 1...begins. Another good study - comparing these two chapters.
More about the character of such a nation, such a culture:
7 Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. [Isa 59:7 ESV]
vs 9 starts with therefore - so here begin the consequences of such a culture. Here is how individuals in such a culture live their lives:
10 We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. [Isa 59:10 ESV]
11 We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. [Isa 59:11 ESV]
What descriptive language. Pictures from words.
2023 - Vss 1-13 are a scathing indictment of the kind of place Jerusalem - Judah - has become. It is a corrupt place where the law is used to gain advantage rather than for justice. This verse:
4 No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. [Isa 59:4 ESV]. They do it to tie up resources, to financially drain, to discredit. It is not about justice or fairness at all. It is not in these verses, but the judges who permit such things are also corrupt, hiding behind the letter and ignoring the intent. Playing favorites at every turn, enriching themselves with bribes. Sounds a little too familiar doesn't it, in a time where fender benders turn into multi-million dollar lawsuits, depending on the financial conditions of the one at fault, rather than having much at all to do with injuries actually sustained? This is characteristic of the kind of "culture" the Lord will not sustain, will not tolerate. This is how the whole world will be just before the last days. What nation, today, is NOT like this? The US is speeding away from the principles on which it was founded. We are throwing the baby out with the bathwater, condemning everything because of a few things. And in my opinion, we are the last. When we are gone the last worldwide restraint will be gone. You think it's bad now? We will be like the days of Noah, like this time of which Isaiah is writing, and like Paul tells us in Thessalonians. The great "falling away" will come.
Then one of my favorites:
15 Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. [Isa 59:15 ESV]
This is on the news almost every day. It is not allowed to speak the truth, to use facts to make decisions. Anyone who does is accused of racism, bigotry, sexism, and if none of those apply "You're just a white male". That alone, the way you were born, makes you evil to them. It is their feelings, their beliefs, their "view of how things should be" that guides the culture.
You could go on and on about this. You could find a news story that fit this verse every single day - injustice is the way of this culture. (The above was written in 2019, before covid, before BLM, before ANTIFA. Surely we are on a straight-line descent from 2019 to 2020. Just look at what's happened in a year.)
17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. [Isa 59:17 ESV] Sure seems like Paul was thinking of this verse when he wrote about putting on the full armor of God. Had not noticed before that Paul got his idea of what we are to put on from this passage about what God put on. Would be a good comparison.
God says He will do justice, since none can be found in Judah who will do so. There is no one to stand up and do what's right so God will do it Himself. He promises them He will do it. Summarized in this verse:
20 "And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression," declares the LORD. [Isa 59:20 ESV] This verse seems to be a Messianic prophecy. This Redeemer is Jesus. They have no one in Isaiah's time, and they apparently didn't get a lot better by Jesus' time.
Then God's own covenant with them is stated in so many words:
21 "And as for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring," says the LORD, "from this time forth and forevermore." [Isa 59:21 ESV]
This is about the Millennial, when the Jews come home to Zion, and Jesus is on the throne. When blindness and deafness is removed from Israel. When they recognize their Messiah. This is about the indwelling Holy Spirit. When all nations look to Israel.
2021 - This whole chapter is a description of the state of Israel in Isaiah's time. The parallels with the US are frightening. This chapter ought to be read in church, regularly, to convict prayers to pray, witnesses to witness, and as in vs 16 - interceders to intercede. This is all that can turn it back. There are too many who are comfortable with evil. There are not enough good people left. The only way to turn this tide is to change evil people to good people. Think about it. We don't pray in school, we don't say grace in public, we don't witness in the workplace lest HR descend on us. We've let them push God out everywhere, so that none may be converted, and an evil land that cannot be turned back is the result. In less than 250 years we have ruined a Godly nation.