seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
acts of violence mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks along them will know peace.
nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
acts of violence mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks along them will know peace.
9 So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the Lord drives along.[a]
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the Lord drives along.[a]
20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.
a. Isaiah 59:19 Or When enemies come in like a flood, / the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight
I found the easy English commentary first this morning.
Isaiah’s list of wicked deeds is a great shock to the people. They suddenly recognise that they are guilty of all those actions. Now they can understand why the Lord is not helping them. But merely to understand was without value, if it did not bring about a change of behaviour!
The Lord’s people were those that God had chosen to carry out his great purpose. The people had not realised why God had chosen them. It was not simply for their own benefit.
· God’s purpose was for his people to be his witness to all the nations of the world. His people were to show by their lives how the holy God wants all people to live. And to show what wonderful benefits would follow when people obey him.
· The people’s evil behaviour meant that their lives had no value whatever as God’s witness.
These references to a soldier’s equipment are word pictures to describe the Lord’s actions. The Old Testament often uses word pictures that describe the Lord as a soldier. (See Exodus 15:3-4; Numbers 21:14; Isaiah 42:13 and 51:9.) The words usually refer to the Lord’s attacks against Israel’s enemies.
· Similar word pictures in the New Testament describe the way for Christians to fight battles against evil powers (see Ephesians 6:13-17).
· Of course, God himself does not need protection as a human soldier needs protection. The picture language is a way to express God’s absolute power to win every battle.
And this is from bible-studys.org.Chapter 59 continues the judgments enumerated (in chapter 58), regarding Israel’s hypocrisy. God’s hand is not yet beyond the reach of salvation. But their “sins” separated them from His presence, and they are described in detail throughout the chapter.
“Their feet … they know not … peace”: From Isaiah’s pen, the words focused on the national depravity of Israel that stood in the way of God’s deliverance. Paul showed that what was true of sinful Israel is indicative of the depravity of all mankind (Rom. 3:15-17).
“Group … stumble”: Here is a picture of men seeking unsuccessfully to escape their depraved condition through their own strength. They wind up growling and lamenting their inability to gain salvation (Deut. 28:29).
“transgressions … iniquities”: The prophet supplies the answer to the nation’s frustrations: their sins and transgressions remain as an obstacle to God’s deliverance. Though their external rituals may be proper, the hindrance of impure motives remains between God and His people (Matt. 12:34; Mark 7:21-22). The presence of iniquity eliminates righteousness.
“The Lord saw … no intercessor”: The Lord was aware of Israel’s tragic condition and of the absence of anyone to intervene on His behalf.
“Garments of vengeance … recompense to His enemies”: In the process of delivering the faithful remnant of Israel, the Lord executes decisive judgment against all rebellious nations (“coastlands”), as well as the wicked Israelites.
“The Redeemer shall come … for ever”: The Messiah, the Suffering Servant, will redeem Zion and all faithful Israelites.
This unalterable promise to the nation was the basis for Paul’s reassurance of the future salvation of Israel (Rom. 11:26-27).
Humans like me.... are quick to sin.... and once I've done the same sin over and over.... it becomes normal to me... not a sin at all..... I might even get so use to it that I would utter "what's so wrong with" ........ It's a really good thing that I have a way out....One of the many jobs I've had over my 50+ years of working outside the home..... was bartender. That's how I know.... bars are not bright and shiny places. They are dimly lit..... the darker the better.... that way no one can see what the hands are doing..... At the end of the night.... when the bar closes because the law requires it.... and the lights come on.... bars are quite ugly places. With the lights on... the damage done by drunken brawls is easy to see. With the lights on that drooling "love song" is just a bar room ditty and the "couples" hide their faces so no one will recognize them and see their shame.
Those places are easy to avoid..... but what about the dark churches? Preachers who have infiltrated the church to preach stuff that sounds right but isn't quite true to line their own pockets. Preachers who "borrow" from the church funds...... preachers who "wing it" on Sunday morning because they had been too busy getting that new wing developed... the one with their name on it..... those are the preachers who prefer to have a beautiful warm glow rather than a bright light that would show their shame. Humans respect other humans who have been given a title..... but humans never look to make sure the title is deserved. There were a lot of bad preachers and priests in the Bible. God even used quicksand to get rid of some bad ones in Numbers 16:32.
Bible Gateway [the online Bible site I use] titled this chapter sin, confession, redemption. I think this threesome gives people a problem. Humans get use to things.... the line between right and wrong is blurry for humans..... and what was wrong becomes right.... take abortion for one huge example. Back in the day of Isaiah.... they had to do a dark horrid religious ritual.... heating up the statue... until it glowed white hot.... I bet they even held the baby up to show it off first before frying it in the lap of the burning statue while they sang over it's demise. Now humans just suck it out and toss it in the trash.
Humans sin.... then sins get normal.... but when humans figure out what they are doing is wrong....not normal.... they can confess it and the One Living God.... is willing to forgive them.... and on top of that ..... the One Living God will redeem that sinner back to the spot where they messed up before.... sinless so they can do it again.... only this time.... in the light of redemption..... humans are more likely to take a different path.....
