Devotional on Isaiah 1:18

by John Young

“Out, Out damned spot I say…”

 This line is from William Shakespeare’s play, “MacBeth.” It is the story of an ambitious man (MacBeth) and his wife, Lady MacBeth. They are hungry for power and have murdered and swindled their way past, around, or over anyone who stood in their way to get what they want.

 This line comes from a point in the play when Lady MacBeth is sleepwalking and she’s lamenting this imaginary blood she has on her hands that she cannot get off no matter what she does.

 I couldn’t help but think of this line as I read Isaiah 1:18:

         “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

It’s hard to understand what’s happening in v18 unless we take a brief look at Isaiah 1 up to this point.

 Israel, as Israel is wont to do in its history, has turned their back on the Lord. The Lord gives Isaiah a vision in which he says of Israel even though he raised them as a father, they have turned their backs on him and don’t even know him, when even oxen and donkeys acknowledge their owners. (v2-3)

 Their spiritual illness is total: The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint. From the sole of their foot even to their heads, there is no soundness in them. (v5-6)

 And as a judgment against them, their country lies desolate and their cities are burned with fire. (v7)

 They are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah (v9-10) and the only difference is that God has mercifully left a few people behind but that doesn’t seem to be based upon those individual’s righteousness as much as it is on God’s mercy.

 And so it seems as though Israel knows a little of their sin and a lot of God’s discipline, so they know that what has happened to them is from God’s hand and they are guilty. So how will they respond?

 They try to sacrifice or “do good” their way out of their guilt. But in v11-15 God says it’s of no use: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?” “I’ve had enough of burnt offerings of rams and well-fed beasts…” “Who has required of you this trampling of my courts?” He can’t endure their feasts, his soul hates their festivals. When they spread their hands in praise he hides his eyes from them and when they clutch their hands in prayer he can’t even look at them for their hands are dripping with blood.

 So the Lord commands them to “…wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds before my eyes…” (v16)

 But what we see here is very frustrating to hear. How can I ever wash myself clean from sin if I can’t sacrifice my way out of it or “offer” my way out of it or praise my way out of it or pray my way out of it?

 But in v16-17 we see how this can be possible: REPENTANCE! Which entails two things: ceasing to do evil (16), and learn to do good (17). So stop sinning and start obeying the Lord. And then later on in 17, he shows us some examples of what doing good looks like: seeking justice, correcting oppression, justice to orphans and widows.

 But it’s not just repentance, specifically it is repentance before the Lord. (V18) “Come now let us reason together. Or, come now to me and let’s settle the matter.  But wait! What motivation does Israel have to come before this God who has brought all of this on them? What hope would Israel have to come before the one who compared them to Sodom and Gomorrah? Why would they come to him who has harsh words for their worship and hates their offerings? What should they expect to receive?

The Lord invites them to come to him, not with their hands full of offerings and sacrifices, nor with a list of good things they’ve done. Rather they should come to him in repentance and faith: leaving behind their sin; and, seeking to learn from him what is good the way a child learns from his father.

 And the reason Israel, or we, have to come to him is because of his promise in v18: “Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.”

 I don’t know about you but I have a horrible habit of spilling things on shirts I love and I frequently seem to ruin shirts. This is the picture here: a white robe or a shirt covered in deep dark red wine stains. No amount of washing will ever get it out, it’s just there and it will be there forever. I talked to a guy I know this week who had a whole can of paint spilled in his truck. I don’t care how much you clean it, that paint is always going to be there!

 But if we come to the Father in repentance and faith, he promises to do for us what we are utterly incapable of doing for ourselves: he will cleanse our bodies covered like scarlet in sin and our robes of crimson will be made white as wool.

 We are able to delight in this promise more than Israel ever understood! Because of Jesus’ perfect life on our behalf, he has secured for us a righteousness we could never imagine. And through his death for our sins and his resurrection from the dead, our sins have not only been atoned for but they have been cast away from us as far as east is from west and we are able to “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” We have been justified by faith. So we can draw near to this powerful, eternal, righteous God as the children of his we are!

My sin, O the bliss, of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!