"How is the faithful city become a harlot! She that was full of judgment, righteousness dwelt in her; But now murderers! Your silver is become dross; your wine is mixed with water. Your princes are rebellious, associates of robbers; Everyone of them loves a gift, and seeks rewards; To the fatherless they administer not justice; And the cause of the widow comes not before them. Wherefore says the Lord Jehovah, God of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel; Aha! I will be eased of my adversaries; I will be avenged of my enemies. And I will bring again my hand over you, And I will purge in the furnace your dross; And I will remove all your alloy. And I will restore your judges, as at the first; And your counselors, as at the beginning; And after this your name shall be called The city of righteousness, the faithful metropolis. Sion shall be redeemed in judgment And her captives in righteousness; But destruction shall fall at once on the revolters and sinners; And they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed. For you shall be ashamed of the ilexes, (Oak trees) which you have desired, And you shall blush for the gardens which you have chosen: When you shall be as an ilex, whose leaves are blasted; And as a garden, wherein is no water. And the strong shall become tow, and his work a spark of fire; And they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them." (Isaiah 1:21-31)
Study the two sections of the 1st chapter, which we have already studied, in connection with this one, and see how the whole chapter overflows with rich, Gospel truth. There is no halfway dealing; the condition of the people addressed is the worst possible, and the salvation offered is full and complete.
One caution should be given here, which it will be well to observe in all Bible study. It is this: Don't waste time over what you do not understand. You will never learn anything by arguing and questioning and speculating over obscure or difficult texts. Some may think that this is strange; but it is true. No man can by searching find out God. He must reveal himself, and He will do it as fast as we are able to see Him. The Bible must make itself clear.
So we must always arrive at the meaning of that which is hidden, through that which at once reveals itself to our gaze. Never guess; never speculate. We believe, not argue nor theorize, our way to an understanding of God's Word. Meditate upon, but do not talk about, what you do not understand.
So in the study of this chapter, and this book, do not take precious time from the consideration of clearly revealed Gospel truths, for empty wondering and guesses as to the meaning of something that is obscure. It is all good, but you can profit only by what you understand.
There are truths enough that lie near the surface of the prophecy of Isaiah to keep us employed for many months. When we have gathered up these, we shall find that many of the things that were before concealed were simply second layer, and are brought to light by taking up the first.
The Blessing of Conviction
Verses 4-7 should always be read in connection with verses 16-18. Perhaps no portion of Scripture is quoted oftener than: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
Yet emphatic and comprehensive as it is, much of the force of it is lost because the fact is not considered that these words are addressed to the very same people that are described in verses 4-7 as so full of the sores of sin that there is not room for any more: "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should you be stricken any more? you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers." (Isaiah 1:4-7)
What a blessed thing it is that the Lord so strongly sets forth the heinousness of our sins! If He did not set our case before us in its very worst phase, we might think that the offer of salvation did not reach us; but when He expressly makes it known that His salvation is for people who are as bad as they possibly can be, there is no room for doubt or discouragement.
The Cause of Destruction
AFrom the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." (Isaiah 1:6-9)
Think how accurately these verses describe the condition of men and of the earth after probation has closed, and the plagues of God's wrath are poured out. Compare them with Revelation 16:1-2; Zephaniah 1:2-18; Joel 1:15-20. Mind, the statement is not made that Isaiah 1:6-9 is a description of that time of trouble, but that the condition described is very similar.
Now the closing of probation does not make any change in the characters of men. The character of the wicked will not be different after that time from what it has been before. He that is unjust and filthy remains so, that is all. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." (Revelation 22:11)
The only difference is that at the close of probation their choice of evil is irrevocably fixed. That is what makes their probation end--they will no longer listen to the Gospel. They could be saved if they were willing to be saved. "If you be willing." (Isaiah 1:19)
So we see that men who are as bad as the wickedest men who will be destroyed when the Lord comes, may be saved. The reason, and the only reason, why any will be lost, is not that they are too wicked to be forgiven and saved, but that they do not wish to be saved. It is not the guilt of sin, but the love of sin, that shuts men out of the Kingdom; for if men will cease to love sin, the guilt of it, however deep, will be taken away.
A Question of Eating
"If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword." (Isaiah 1:19)
The force of this is weakened in our version by the rendering "devour" in the second instance, although the word is the same in both verses. Eat or be eaten. Eat what? "Eat that which is good. And what is good?" (Isaiah 55:2) "O taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8) "Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of Life; he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst. ... For my flesh is true meat, and my blood is true drink. ... Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:35,55,53)
If one eats only the body of Christ, he eats to live; but whoever eats that which is not the body of Christ (and it can be eaten only by faith), that which he eats consumes him, instead of building him up. He is devoured by that which he feeds upon.
"He that doubts is damned if he eat because he eats not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)
Here is the choice:
1. Eat the flesh of Christ, and abide forever; or,
2. Eat that which is not bread, and be consumed by it.
Degeneration and Regeneration
"How is the faithful city become a harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Your silver is become dross, your wine mixed with water: Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: everyone loves gifts, and follows after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them." (Isaiah 1:21-23)
These verses present a picture of degeneration. Adultery is the one word that covers the whole. Everything has become adulterated. Faithfulness and purity have been crowded out. The one sin that God's people commit is adultery. The Lord is the husband of His people: "Turn, O backsliding children, says the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion." (Jeremiah 3:14) "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:32) "Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7:4) "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. " (2 Corinthians 11:2) "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:31-32)
His people are one flesh in Him. Departure from Him to any degree is adultery; so that whatever sin anyone commits, it is adultery--the allowing of another to take the place that should be filled with Christ. This adulteration--the substitution of the false for the true may go on until the faithful city becomes a harlot, and that which once was pure metal, only dross.
But there is a remedy for all this. "God has not cast off His people which He foreknew." (Romans 11:2)
Nay, "For the Lord will not cast off forever." (Lamentations 3:31)
Never will He turn away. "If we believe not, yet He abides faithful." (2 Timothy 2:13)
So He says: "Return backsliding Israel, says the Lord; and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 3:12-13)
Only confess the sin, and it is forgiven, purged, for: "Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness." (Isaiah 1:27) "My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory." (Philippians 4:19)
The Lord regenerates us by supplying that which we lack. His own righteousness and faithfulness are given to redeem us from sin.
Practical Piety
Notice that one of the gravest charges against the wicked is that: "They judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them." (Isaiah 1:23)
Also in the exhortation to put away evil, the only things specified under the head of well-doing are: "Relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1:17)
Christianity is not a mere sentiment or emotion; it consists in deeds. Not that by any amount of deeds we can earn the favor of God, but that these good deeds are the manifestation of the life of Christ within. "[He] went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38)
Kindness is the characteristic of God, for: "God is love. ... Everyone that loves, is born of God, and knows God." (1 John 4:8,7)
And remember that it is not sermons about doing good, but the actual doing, that constitutes Christianity.
Complete Restoration
When God made man in the beginning, he, as well as everything else, was "very good." Christ is the Beginning, and all who are in Him find restoration. The adulteration will be removed, and the fine gold will be restored. We are "made full" in Him. "Your hands have made me and fashioned me." (Psalm 119:73)
We have greatly degenerated from the original model; but God has promised to bring His hand upon us again, so that we may be new creatures, bearing again the impress of God.
Utter Destruction
Just as surely as there will be complete restoration, will there be utter destruction. Indeed, the promise of the restoration of the original perfection necessarily includes the destruction of those who cling to the evil. Mercy rejected means wrath. It cannot be otherwise.
So none should presume upon the mercy of God, to continue in sin, that grace may abound. (Romans 6:1,2; Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid) The greater the mercy offered, the greater the disaster that follows its rejection. Thus it is that men will suffer the wrath of God, whose "mercy endures for ever." (Psalm 136:1)
The destruction of the wicked is simply the natural fruit of their own ways. There is nothing forced or arbitrary about it. "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)
When the plagues begin to appear at the close of probation, in the form of grievous sores in the bodies of men, it is only the breaking out of the corruption within. When men eat and drink death,--and they do this when they do not feed on Christ, the life,--it is but natural that the poison should permeate them, until they become bodies of death. And the fact that the first plague for sin is disease, emphasizes the fact that righteousness is health. The keeping of God's law means physical health as well as moral purity.
See how strongly the destruction of the wicked is put: "You shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water." (Isaiah 1:30)
Such a condition is but a preparation for fire. But that is not all. "The strong shall become tow, (Tow: the coarse and broken part of flax or hemp prepared for spinning; a bundle of untwisted natural or man-made fibers) and his work a spark of fire." (Isaiah 1:31)
Everyone knows how inflammable a substance tow is; let fire come near it, and it is gone in a flash. Now think of tow which generates fire? What hope of salvation is there for it? Absolutely none.
The wicked prepare their own destruction; their own works consume them. The destruction is certain, and God is clear; for bear in mind that this is only the fate of those that forsake the Lord. They only will be consumed. Whoever hearkens to the Lord "shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." (Proverbs 1:33)--Present Truth, January 12, 1899--Isaiah 1:21-31.