The judgment and eventual salvation of Jerusalem, indeed the renewal of all of Israel, is the context of these last chapters of Isaiah. In the previous chapter, the people of Jerusalem were accused of fasting for appearances sake and were told to "call the Sabbath a delight" (verse 13.) Here we return to an analysis of the real state of the people.
Isaiah 59:1-3, Separated from God
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
It is sin and disobedience that (says Isaiah) makes us distant from God, unable to hear Him.
Isaiah 59:4-6, Eggs of adders
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.
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.
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.
No one takes a stand for justice and integrity. Instead, rationalizations are given, rationalizations that justify evil. The lack of interest in justice and integrity is seen as the output of vipers, as the eggs of adders.
Isaiah 59:7-8, Swift to shed blood
Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
acts of violence mark their ways.
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.
The people hurry to violence and sin, far from justice and integrity. Their roads are "crooked", not the straight roads of those who seek peace. In the New Testament, Paul quotes this passage in Romans 3:15-17., declaring that all of us are broken in this way.
Isaiah 59:9-13, Blinded by sin
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.
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.
We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
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:
rebellion and treachery against the LORD,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
The text changes from third person to first person, now with the people expressing their own sins and sufferings. The people are blinded, living in darkness, because of their rebellion. They are like growling bears and mournful doves, animals without insight. (See Psalm 73:21-22 for a similar statement by Asaph on the effect of disobedience and stubbornness.)
Isaiah 59:14-15a, Justice and honesty pushed back
So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
Righteousness and justice are portrayed as pushed away, prevented from coming into the home. Truth, personified, staggers in the street and Honesty is blocked from entering the house.
Isaiah 59:15b-17, Only God's righteousness
The LORD looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
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.
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.
YHWH looks for righteousness and sees no one. But He, Himself, has righteousness on His breastplate and helmet, on His clothing and garments. (In the New Testament, Paul takes up this metaphor in Ephesians 6:10-17.)
Isaiah 59:18-20, To the islands, to the east, to the west...
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.
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.
“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the LORD.
The final day will bring justice for all people in all directions. In Romans 11:25-27, Paul cites this passage as evidence of God's plans to draw in the Gentiles to His kingdom.
Note the typical Hebrew parallelism in lines like "From the west, ... and from the rising of the sun..."
Isaiah 59:21, My Spirit remains
“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.
God's Spirit will continue to speak through Isaiah.
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