ISAIAH CHAPTER 59

SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD

 

The Scriptures tell us that sin is going against what God wants us to do (1 John 4:9) and that it is also falling short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It is anything in our nature that is contrary to the holy nature of God. We find additional descriptions of what sin is in Psalm 51 and Ephesians 2. Isaiah emphasizes the fact that sin separates us from God. The New Testament stresses the devastating effect of sin on human nature. Sin curses us with spiritual death, a condition that will carry over into eternity unless we receive new life through faith in Christ.[fn] Sin corrupts human nature; it turns our thoughts to evil acts (Proverbs 24:9), arouses wrong desires, and so weakens our wills that we choose the wrong even when we know what is good (James 4:17). While God is ready to forgive, even a believer who habitually practices sin is cut off from fellowship with the Lord (1 John 1:5-10). For believers, habitual sin also prevents their prayers from being heard and answered.[fn] This reality underlies the grim picture of life in a society of sinners portrayed in Isaiah 59:3-15. Sin brings mankind under the divine wrath of God (Isaiah 59:18). How terrible sin is. But how wonderful that we have a Redeemer.

If you have realized that sin in your life has put a wall between you and God and has interfered with your prayers being answered, now is the time to change that. Now is the time to confess your sin to God and to turn from it. Now is the time to determine to put Christ first in everything and to live as He would have you live. Then you can experience the wonderful promises God makes about answering your prayers.[fn]

There was a great deal of injustice in the land, with the rich exploiting the poor and the rulers using their authority only to make themselves rich.[fn] The people lifted their hands to worship God, but their hands were stained with blood (Isaiah 1:15, 21). God could not answer their prayers because their sins hid His face from them.

Isaiah 59 reveals the Gospel of Christ in the Old Testament. I want to repeat that because it’s something most people aren’t aware of. Isaiah gave a very similar sounding Gospel message that most people believe wasn’t heard until Christ delivered it in the New Testament. Isaiah 59 reveals the Gospel of Christ in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament we‘re told that “All have sinned” in Romans 3:23. We’re told the very same thing in Isaiah 59:2. We‘re told in the New Testament that “The wages of sin is death” in Romans 6:23.  We are told the very same thing in Isaiah 59:10. We‘re told that “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” in Romans 5:8. In Isaiah 59:16 we hear the same message. There is “one Mediator between God and men,” according to 1 Timothy 2:5, and that Mediator is Christ. According to Isaiah 59:20, when Christ returns He will judge the wicked and redeem His people, Israel, that is those in Israel who have turned from their sins.

Isaiah 59:1 NAS:
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.

Isaiah reminded the nation that the Lord could save them in spite of their difficult circumstances. He is powerful enough, His hand is not short. And He is caring enough, He is not dull of hearing. This implies that Israel simply needed to call out to God and He would come to her rescue.

Isaiah 59:2-8 NAS:
2 But your iniquities (sins)[fn] have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
6 Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And an act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
8 They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace.

We see a conflict here between truth and lies, just as we see in our modern world today. Isaiah compared the evil rulers to pregnant women giving birth to sin,[fn] to snakes hatching their eggs, and to spiders weaving their webs. What they give birth to will only destroy them and their beautiful webs of lies can never protect them.[fn]

Though God could save them, the nation’s sins had separated them from God.[fn] Though He could hear them He chose not to. Sin prevents prayer from being answered according to Psalm 66:18. Those sins included murder, lying, injustice and planning evil. Their actions were like those of deadly poisonous snakes (adders), for they were harming each other. Just as people can see through cobwebs, which therefore are inappropriate for clothing, so God could see through the evil deeds of these people and judge them. In a hurry to do evil things, they were bringing ruin to others and were constantly traveling down evil paths. As a result they had no peace (Isaiah 48:22; 57:20-21).[fn]

Isaiah 59:9-15 NAS:
9 Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight, Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men.
11 All of us growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We hope for justice, but there is none, For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities:
13 Transgressing and denying the Lord, And turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.
14 Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.
15 Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.

Here Isaiah, using first-person plural pronouns, identified with the people (Isaiah 6:5). Israel was so corrupt spiritually, without justice and righteousness, that it was as if they were in darkness and were blind and dead. As a result, the oppressed were angry like growling bears and moaned like doves. They wanted justice and help but found none. Isaiah confessed that the people were noted for their many sins and deliberate rebellion (Isaiah 1:5; 58:1) against God, lying, injustice, and dishonesty.

When people live on lies, they stumble along in darkness and don’t know where they’re going.

Isaiah 59:16 NAS:
16 And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.

God is displeased with injustice, and He wonders why none of His people will intercede or intervene.[fn] So the Lord Himself intervened and brought the Babylonians to destroy Judah and Jerusalem and to teach His people that they cannot despise His Law and get away with it. Because of Israel’s depraved condition, no one but God could save the nation. Being displeased with Israel’s injustice, He realized there was no one to intercede on their behalf. Isaiah was not saying that the Lord didn’t want to get involved, but that Israel was totally incapable of helping itself.

Only God could help Israel. This is true of salvation in any era. No one can save himself/herself. Only God can forgive sin and change a person’s heart.[fn] In His power God provided salvation, both spiritual and physical.

Isaiah 59:17-20 NAS:
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
18 According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense.
19 So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

Like a warrior God goes forth to fight for His people. Righteousness is His breastplate and salvation is His helmet.[fn] God’s other garments are vengeance and zeal. This verse means that God supplies righteousness and salvation for His people as He zealously executes vengeance on His enemies. Because of this, people everywhere will acknowledge His glory, overpowering majesty, and strength, like a pent-up flood let loose. When God executes judgment on His enemies at Christ’s second coming, the Messiah will go to Zion (Jerusalem). He will be the Redeemer (Isaiah 41:14) of those Israelites who turn to Him in repentance (59:20). Showing them their future hope, the nation was being encouraged to repent.[fn]

Isaiah 59:21 NAS:
21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

When the Messiah returns in judgment, He will inaugurate His covenant (the New Covenant, Jeremiah 31:31), pouring His Spirit on believing Israelites[fn] and instilling His words within them.[fn]

God’s judgment on His people was a foreshadowing of that final Day of the Lord when all the nations will be judged. When it’s ended, then “the Redeemer shall come to Zion,” and the glorious kingdom will be established. Israel will not only be God’s chosen people but God’s cleansed people, and the glory of the Lord will radiate from Mt. Zion.

The glory of the Lord in the promised kingdom is the theme of the closing chapters of Isaiah.

Verse 21 reflects a command given by God in Joshua 1:8, a command which the Israelites did not keep. But here God is telling us through Isaiah that a day will yet come when this command indeed will be kept by generations of Israelites, during the Millennium.

Even though this command was given specifically to the Jewish people, it has relevance for Christians. If we love the Lord with all our hearts, we will strive to know His Word—His Words—and cherish them and live by them.

So while we are waiting and praying for Christ’s return and looking for His justice to finally prevail, we need to remember that we are the light of the world and live in a way that brings the Light of Christ to those around us. God expects us to make a difference, let’s determine to do so.[fn]

Isaiah

John

Romans

1 Peter


© Ron Teed - Used by permission. All rights Reserved.