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Isaiah 59: God Was Appalled
Introduction: Throughout our study, we should have been impressed with the many times God told the people of his desire to save them in spite of the magnitude of their sins. Chapter 59 begins with two well-known verses that are often used as a message of condemnation. However, the context and ultimate message might surprise you. The Holy Spirit’s purpose is not as it first appears.
God’s Indictment of Sin: 1-8
We have often missed the point of the first two verses by placing the emphasis on “your sins have made a separation between you and your God.” If those are the words that stand out, then we miss the beginning of the verse. It isn’t that the Lord cannot save, that his power is somehow lacking or that he cannot hear when man’s appeal to him. God is quite willing and able to save. This is the lie Satan tells us when we sin. “You’re terrible! You might as well give up!”
Obviously, the second part of this verse must also be emphasized. Though God is willing and able, sin makes a permanent separation between us and God. Through verse 8, the Lord makes a detailed list of Israel’s sins. Our typical conclusion would be, “Okay, we get it – we need to stop sinning.” Well yes, but stopping is not the whole answer. Just because we stop sinning, doesn’t mean previous sins just vanished away. Second, there is the problem with our own present sins, flaws, and faults. We don’t just magically stop sinning and then never sin again. Once that is laid before us, we can see the utter hopelessness that God is laying before us.
The indictment of Israel’s sin in this text can also cause us to miss God’s broad purpose. Our tendency is to see the wickedness of Israel in the present context and shake our heads. But when we do, we are missing two critical messages:
In Romans 3:15-18; 3:23, Paul quotes our text, but does not apply the quote merely to the Israel nation. He applies the text to all mankind. No one is excluded. All have sinned. None are righteous, no not one.
This brings up a critical way we need to approach our OT Bible study. God used the Israel nation as a microcosm of every person. Every time we see God highlighting their failure, we should be seeing him as highlighting our failure. We are no better. We are no different. Listen to Paul’s words to us: Romans 11:17-18, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches…For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all” (vs. 32).
God’s insistence of declaring our sin is critically important. Imagine God calling you into his presence. He is blunt, getting in your face to keep us from thinking “we are not that bad.” The moment we think of ourselves as a “not so bad sinner,” is the moment we consider what Jesus did as a “not so great salvation.” This triggers our service to God as a “not so great service” and “not so great love!”
There is no question that we easily diminish the gravity of our sin. But please be aware, because we go to church and believe in Jesus does not change the fact of sin being present in our lives, and there is nothing inconsequential with sin!
Matthew 5:19-48 was primarily an attack on the Pharisees’ insistence that they were not very bad sinners. We need to be struck by Jesus’ words in that text. So you don’t murder, commit adultery, or lie? That was never the true standard. Thinking that way lowers the bar.
Please also notice the words, “your sins have hidden his face from you.” For God to hide his face is to put us in the worst possible condition. Your goal and my goal every day should be to know that there is no barrier between us and God’s face. 1 Peter 3:12, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Notice further, the NIV translates verse 3, “For your hands are stained with blood.” In other words, sin leaves a polluted stain that no human can wash clean. Sin places a lasting mark on us.
Verses 5-8 identify the thoughts and plans of man which are always futile and harmful to others, and in the end, destructive to ourselves. Their works are like weaving a spider’s web for clothing. Verse 8 is a great summary. They do not even know the way of peace and no one who treads on the paths they take knows peace. Only with God is peace found. Peace is a critical word throughout scripture. It is for peace that Jesus came. It is so precious!
Confession and Helplessness: 9-13
9-13 changes the pronouns from “they” and “their” to “us” and “we.” The transition goes from God’s accusations of their sin to the peoples’ recognition and confession of their sin and helpless state. It is important to recognize the text not so much as repentance but hopelessness.
Verse 9 (NIV): “So justice is far from us and righteousness does not reach us.” What you want to see in this verse is not specifically that the nation had not practiced justice or righteousness, but that they have no ability to “make right” the things they have done wrong. The end of the verse makes this clear. There is a desire for light and brightness, but all they find is darkness and gloom.
The rest of the text explains shows their agreement with God’s indictment against them, but also the hopelessness of being able to make any correction.
Verse 10, “we grope like those who have no eyes” – thus, without eyes, there is no possibility of sight. This isn’t sight correction; it is irreversible blindness.
The end of verse 11 gives the specific problem: “we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.” There is no deliverer!
Notice also the result of sin in the words, “growl” [angry and frustrated with their condition] and “moan” [sick and in pain]. Clearly Satan’s promises of happiness and pleasure are lies.
Verses 12-13 is an especially painful picture. Their sins just keep mounting up. It is impossible to shake them or escape them. The weight of sin becomes unbearable as a person can never forget them; “they are always with us.” It reminds me of the Preacher’s words in Ecclesiastes, “striving after the wind.” How exhausting! This is what doing life our way does. There isn’t any greater waste. “Chasing the wind” expresses the utter foolishness of such a life.
God Is Appalled: 14-19
14-15b is a summation of the peoples’ condition as stated in the previous verses: there is no righteousness and there is no truth even in the public square. The result is that uprightness cannot even begin to enter and take hold. Even the one who takes a stand and departs from evil becomes a prey to the wicked.
Therefore, there is only one answer. We must remember this. There is only one answer. It is not found in our wisdom, our wealth, or our strength (Jer. 9:23). Politics or political leaders won’t change it. Throwing money at it won’t change it. God is the only answer.
In verses 14c–20, God’s remedy is twofold: there is judgment and there is mercy. There cannot be one without the other. God will bring salvation, but with it must come judgment.
After seeing the disaster man has made of his life and God’s world, now God’s actions enter the picture. We go back to verse 1: God’s arm is not too short to save. His sins have separated him from God. But now the arm of the Lord will be revealed.
Here is where we get another beautiful glimpse of God. He saw man’s condition and his hopelessness and was “appalled” (NIV). The word means “devastated, displeased, astonished.” In this context it is not man’s sin of which he is appalled, it is the fact that there is no one to save, no one to intercede on their behalf. Consider:
First, God didn’t have to care. It was man’s problem. Man created his own problem. “You made your bed, lie in it!” But no, that is not the God we serve. His arm is not shortened that he cannot save.
Therefore, when help cannot come from anyone else. The One who is offended by sin, the Holy God, became the intercessor for the people. Unheard of! The offended rescues the offenders. Notice the use of the word “arm” – his arm is not short, therefore his own arm brought him salvation. Cf. 53:1
This encapsulates the “mystery.” How is it possible that God can now fulfill his promises to Abraham? How can God intercede for himself? How can he bring peace with his people and between his people when the condition is so hopeless?
Therefore, God puts on his armor. He is going to battle to save his people. He not only puts on garments of righteousness but also garments of vengeance. And most beautifully, he wraps himself with a cloak of zeal. The Lion of Judah has watched this mess for too long. But what will he do? This is the part where surely the prophets and angels searched diligently to know what God would do. Their anticipation must have been beyond imagination. Who could imagine what God would do so that his own arm brought him salvation?
Please notice something critical that is not said. Who are these enemies? There is no mention of Egypt, Assyria, or any of the typical enemies of Israel. God has vanquished those. The enemy now is the greatest one of all, sin and Satan and his spiritual forces of wickedness. These are the ones he is going to conquer like a mighty warrior and is putting on his armor. Isn’t it wonderful that when we read Ephesians 6:10-18 we find that God has shared his armor with us? He conquers, then puts his armor on us and leads us to the battle as well! “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Rev. 12:11).
Notice further in verses 16-17 the words “salvation” and “righteousness.” These are parallel words which are also descriptive words for the armor. In Romans, Paul also stressed the “righteousness of God,” which is key to our salvation. Now we can see this term in context. God refuses to allow his creation to be destroyed by sin. He will not allow it, and is now keeping his covenantal promises to reverse the curse, destroy the enemies, and bring salvation to his people. This is the meaning of the righteousness of God.
Verses 18-19 show of the Lord’s judgment on his enemies which causes his name to be glorified in all the earth. The cross became the great point of judgment for the world. Who will eagerly accept the salvation and who will continue to rebel? Cf. Rev. 11:17-18 “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and whose who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
The power of God is better pictured by the NIV in 19:e,d: “For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.”
A Redeemer Will Come to Zion: 20-21
God will bring a Redeemer to Zion. The Redeemer will will be a savior to those who turn from “transgression.” Transgression refers to rebelliousness. NET translates, “those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds.” It isn’t that the Redeemer is only satisfying rebellious sins, but that it is only the ones who repent of their rebellion (cease being rebellious) who will be recipients of his redemption. Numbers 15:17-30 notes the difference between sins of weakness and high-handed sins. Sins of weakness/ignorance can be atoned, but rebellion has no atonement. Rebellion must be judged.
In verse 21 you will notice contrasting pronouns being used. First, those for whom the Redeemer comes are given a covenant. This was already mentioned in the “invitation” of 55:3-5 – the covenantal promises of David. The “you” (masculine singular) of the second part refers to the Redeemer, the same Redeemer as the Suffering Servant of chapter 53. Now please, do not let your mind immediately conclude what this covenant is. We typically default to “forgiveness.” Here’s the picture:
First, God has sent a Redeemer to those who turn from transgression. However, as verse 21 implies, there is more than redemption that is involved in the Redeemer’s work. Paul quotes this text (from the LXX) in Romans 11:26-27 to explain how the Messiah’s Israel will be saved: “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
Notice that the Redeemer/Deliverer does not just bring forgiveness, but he “banishes ungodliness from Jacob.” In other words, there is a transformation that takes place. Isaiah 59 has been about separation of man from God because of sin. But worse, man’s helplessness to find a remedy for his sin, not just past sins, but having become by nature (by habitual living) sinful people. Eph. 2:1-3, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” We needed someone to redeem us, yes, but we also needed to be transformed!
Therefore, Isaiah tells us that when the Redeemer comes God’s Spirit and words will never depart out of his mouth. Remember when Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The previous words to these Jews in John 6 were, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (vs. 53). Therefore, the Redeemer comes with God’s Spirit on him with his words of life that “will not depart out of your mouth…from this time forth and forevermore” – thus giving life forevermore.
But that is not all. Isaiah says that the Spirit and the words that will not depart out of the mouth of the Redeemer will also not depart out of the mouth of his offspring and his children’s offspring forevermore. You will remember that the Suffering Servant produced offspring in 53:10. Now we see the nature of that offspring. Being his offspring, they become like him. God’s Spirit and words are within them forevermore. This not only indicates they continually partake of spiritual life, but also the Redeemer’s words are continually going out of their mouth for the salvation of others. And with that, more offspring are produced, and the Redeemer’s words go out of their mouths as well.
Conclusion: Look what God has done! We were helplessly separated because of our sin. Not only could we not remedy our sin, we could not change our nature. If God had forgiven us and then left us to our own, we still would have been the same people, wretched and awful. To this God was “shocked, appalled, astonished, amazed” (various translations), and therefore when he saw that there was no man to intercede, his own arm brought him salvation. He gird on his armor and went out like a mighty warrior, he crushed the enemy, he redeemed those who wanted to escape, and then he transformed them into his image.
In Revelation 5, when John wept because no one was found who could open the scroll, an angel said, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…And I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…” God was appalled, went out like a mighty warrior, and became the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.
Berry Kercheville