Tuesday: The Argument of Forgiveness
Read Isaiah 1:18. After going over it numerous times, write what you believe the Lord is saying here (read a few verses beyond it to get the whole context).
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
God has stated powerful evidence that the Judeans, the accused, are guilty of breach of contract (Isa: 1:2-15), and He has appealed to them to reform ( Isaiah 1.16-17). This appeal suggests there is hope. After all, why urge a criminal deserving execution to change his ways? How could a prisoner on death row “rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (NRSV)? But when God says “Come now, let us argue it out” (Isa: 1:18, NRSV), we can see the Lord still seeking to reason with His people, still seeking to get them to repent and turn from their evil ways, no matter how degenerate they had become.
The Lord says to them that Your red sins shall become white. Why are sins red? Because red is the color of the “blood” (blood guilt) that covers the hands of the people (Isa: 1:15). White, by contrast, is the color of purity, the absence of blood guilt. Here, God is offering to change them. This is the kind of language King David used when he cried out to God for forgiveness for his sin of taking Bathsheba and destroying her husband (read Ps: 51:7, Ps 51:14). In Isaiah 1:18, God’s argument is an offer to forgive His people!
How does God’s offer of forgiveness serve as an argument for them to change their ways? Compare Isaiah 1:18 to Isaiah 44:22.
Now we see the purpose of God’s sharp words of warning against His people. They are not to reject His people but to bring them back to Him. His offer of forgiveness is the mighty argument supporting His appeal for the people to purify themselves morally ( Isaiah 1.16-17). His forgiveness makes it possible for them to be transformed by His power. Here we see the seeds of the “new covenant,” prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34, in which forgiveness is the basis of a new-heart relationship with God. We start off “in the red,” owing a debt we can never repay. From the humble position of acknowledging our need for forgiveness, we are ready to accept everything God has to give.
(32)
One of the things that I learned in my days as a research chemist was that blood stains last a long time. I have told the story before of my involvement in extracting chemicals from horses blood for a research project. Most of these chemicals are intense red coloured (scarlet and crimson) dyes. One of the unwanted side effects of this was the stains on the workbench, and yes, even the ceiling of the lab. I visited the lab many years later and the stains were still there.
Criminals have learned to their dismay that bloodstains last a long time. What looks like an ordinary dirt stain on the carpet, can be analysed to reveal that it is blood years later.
Consequently, the words of Isaiah 1:18:
has particular significance to me. To remove red bloodstains so that they no longer exist is something that is very difficult.
Forgiveness runs deep in the Christian story. Sin entered into our lives through our selfishness and is removed through the act of Christ's selflessness. And the stain is removed. Not only does Christ's selflessness save us, but it also provides us with an example of how we ought to act towards others.
Amazing grace; unselfish love; fruitful living.
D.L. Moody: "The only way to keep a broken vessel full is to keep it always under the tap.”
God: Come - now - let us reason together.
Us: Now God? You know everything, what can I say to You?
God: You don't have to say anything. Just submerge yourself in Me;
let Me wash you, refresh you, flow through you. (John 7:37-38)
Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord. Ezek 16:58
The Argument of Forgiveness
What the Lord is saying to us is- he shows us our sins and asked us to forsake them then come to him and he will forgive us and start over again fresh. He says- Get away from me with your Sunday to Friday evilness, gossip of the sister and brother from your congregations, haughtiness, pride in knowing and repeating the 28 fundamentals, lack of visitation to the sick from the congregation or not even give them a phone call, some pressure even the poor in the congregation to return offering 5% when it is not biblical, etc.
Then on the sabbath we become so holy and afraid to sing.
One of the sins mentioned in Ezek 16:48-50 'neither did she strengthened the hands of the poor and the needy'. Have we as a people embraced the poor and needed in our congregations? I have witness for myself many times the needy is not catered for. Sometimes we give to those who already have, we come up with ways how to give to Mr This and Mrs That who already have and neglect the poor. We find ways to give them gifts for appreciation days, Christmas, end of year, etc. but who considers the poor who needs something in their hand to help them pay a bill?
Pride is another sin mentioned. Some in the church have so much pride that food might be offered at the church for lunch but they refused and will go to a restaurant to eat out on the sabbath.
Fullness of Bread- this brings waste. I have seen many sabbaths people will take lots of food to eat, eat a little then throw away the rest because according to them the food does not taste 'good'. Some people cook with lots of salt and serve lots of sweet. If the food is cook with less oil and salt then it does not taste right for some so the food go to waste. The Lord hates this. Now with the lock down many have little or none to throw away.
Abundance of Idleness was in her- with the covid19, do we have lots of time for idleness saying we have no where to go or nothing to do? Do we spend our time in front of the TV for hrs flicking channels?
How do these passages match up our lives?
Lyn, a lot of what you are saying is a process of education. Having been involved in some of the health programs of the church I am well aware of the difficulty of changing people's tastes. And one of the issues I have found is that sometimes healthy food is so bland and presented so poorly that it is no wonder folk turn their noses up at it.
I love tacking the dessert issue. I sometimes make icecream on-demand at church functions. The ice cream is made out of frozen bananas and fresh fruit, served on a fresh-cooked waffle made from rolled oats and chickpeas and garnished with a blueberry pulp sauce. And they clean their plates up and want the recipes. And none of it costs an arm and a leg either.
Rather than criticising our fellow Christians, we need to grow them. That is what community is about.
Sin blinds its victim, which is why scripture often reads as it does, defining the sins that are not always seen by those caught up in transgression while having some form of godliness to feel good about. This is what we are too good at. This is why passages such as Isaiah 58 exist. But notice the beautiful balance in this brief chapter of both Law and Gospel.
Satan makes sure we feel great about ourselves while he is busy accusing us before God. God will point out our specific defects, while promising to forgive and heal. As many as God loves, He rebukes and chastens.
Our "growing" must begin with confession/repentance, but only once we know what to repent of.
I noticed the 3 R's in Isaiah 1 -
Rebellion
Rotten Rituals
Reason
In this case it was the process that the LORD used to get them to -
Repent
Return
and be Redeemed
He dealt with how they treated others, their relationship with Himself and the solution that He offered.
I believe He was reminding them of:
Today I wish to share the SDA Bible Commentary about Isaiah 1:18.
"In this passage God invites men to meet him in order to freely and frankly deal with his problems. The Lord is not an inconsiderate judge or an arbitrary tyrant, but a caring father and friend. God cares about the things that affect man, and cares about human welfare. All divine warnings are given for the good of man. This is what he wants man to believe and understand. A more attractive manifestation of God's marvelous love and great goodness could hardly be conceived than that found in this merciful invitation to be "at account" with the Lord of heaven and earth. God is reasonable, and he wants men to understand that for their benefit he wants them to abandon sin and walk in the paths of righteousness. Man was endowed with the ability to reason to use it, and the best way to use this gift is to discover what are the benefits of obedience and the heartaches of transgression.
The worst of sinners can find comfort and hope in this promise. In this passage God assures us that no matter how guilty we may have been in the past or how consummated our sin may have been, he can still restore us to purity and holiness. This promise has to do not only with the results of sin, but with sin itself. This can be eradicated and completely eliminated from life. With God's help the sinner can achieve complete mastery of all his weaknesses".
The lesson above refers to Jeremiah 31 and the "new covenant". Does this mean a different covenant or a fresh start with the original and only covenant? The words are more about forgiveness than something being new/different. God's desire/will for sinners has never changed, and the requirements of restoration remain the same. Only holy beings can dwell with God, and He will make holy all who "repent and believe the Gospel".
I agree Robert, when I read Deut 6:5-6 the words that stick out to me are "love" and "heart", right from the beginning all of the subset covenants of the Everlasting Covenant of love are based on a loving heart from the LORD to us and a loving devoted heart from us to the LORD.
By rights because the kingdom of Judah (2) had broken and rejected the LORD's Covenant He should have rejected them like He did the kingdom of Israel (10).
I believe instead He said, you rejected/divorced me but I still love you let us get remarried and renew our covenant/vows to love one another!
I like it . God appeals to our reason recognizing that as wicked as we are we are able to understand that actions have consequences. HE asks us to use our reasoning power to make decisions. Ultimately all will recognize and accept His decision. The lost will say HE is just and true and the saved will rejoice in His salvation.
The wonder of our Salvation – Forgiveness! Sin and sinning is perpetuated by the separation from our Creator, but forgiveness for sins due to this separation brings us back into oneness with our Creator. This sounds simple, but it took God’s unwavering Love for mankind, a new Adam, the Faith and selfless Love of His Son Christ Jesus to bring it about.
If man does not understand that he is created in the Father's Image and part of His Creation, he does not seek forgiveness; he asks forgiveness for what, what have I done that I need to seek forgiveness?; or even states 'I did not ask to be born'!
If the effects of the old sin-nature causes man to destroy himself and life around him, then the effects of forgiveness manifest themselves in a new nature – a new heart and a new mind which loves God and is benevolent toward himself and his fellow man; a willing, ready heart and mind which can love the Creator Father and looks to Him for his Salvation from the death of this world.
I do not see being lost in our day and time to be any different from being lost at the time of the children of Israel; especially because Christ Jesus came to preach, teach and live the Gospel message of the Father for all to hear. Man still fails to recognize their Creator, but sins due to lostness can still be blotted out.
I thank my Heavenly Father for His loving Forgiveness, Mercy and Grace which called me out of the darkness of this world into His marvelous Light.
For me personally, I change the wording of the last sentence to read: ‘From the humble position of acknowledging my need for forgiveness, I am ready to accept everything God requires of me!
There were two worshipers that day of Christ object lessons, I gather you are the one who said Lord be merciful unto me a sinner. Luke 18:9-14. Keep on the good path. "Keep under the water tap."
John – thank you for your encouraging remarks, God bless you! Yes, ‘keeping under the water tap’ at all times gives me the refreshing cleansing to help me resist temptations and self-doubt, especially when generated by other Christians' responses to my love to search God’s Word for wisdom and my desire to share what I find. ‘Push-back’ I learn(ed) to navigate, but ‘shut-down’ I steadfastly resist. Luke:18:9,14KJV.
The blessings of participating in this bible study have been numerous, though to recognize better the darkness and to appreciate more the new life in the brightness of His Light are my greatest blessings.
Nothing now is more important in my life than to honor God the Father in all I say, think and do!
Wishing you and yours God’s manifold blessings throughout the new year!
This civil court metaphor is moving. As I read Isaiah chapter 1 again, aided by a Bible commentary, I see God the parent with a broken heart who comes to the court of the universe to bring a complaint against His own family, His own children (Is 1:2). God is at His wit's end in human terms. He has been wiping the nose of Israel/Judah, warming their bottle, changing their dirty diapers, teaching them how to walk (Hosea 11:3), instructing them, guarding them, swooping down to catch them on His pinions like a mother eagle teaching her babies to fly (Deuteronomy 32:10-11), day after day after day. But they are rebelling. They've dropped below the level of animals (Is 1:3), not only biting the hand that feeds them but trying to cut the hand off ....cutting God off when they cut off and shut out the helpless, the sick, the handicapped. Prosperity and worldly "success" has become their God. They've stopped caring what God cares about ...people....hearts...lives.
The defense has an answer. "God you're so upset. You shouldn't be so upset. There are more synagogues than there have ever been, more people bringing sacrifices, more people praying than ever, Sabbath services are packed every week and on feast days all Jewish men over the age of 13 show up like they're supposed to. Everyone is bringing offerings. We're doing everything you've told us to do."
God answers and calls them Sodom and Gomorrah (Is 1:9-10), a slap across the face equivalent to God today calling our churches a Satanist cult. In Is. 1:11-17, God says "I throw up when you come to me with your sacrifices like this: you make Me sick! I initiated the bloody gory sacrifice ritual so the horror of sin and price of salvation would remain real for you - 100s of 1,000s of little animals having their throats slit, pulling guts out, pouring 100s of gallons of hot animal blood everywhere, this place is a butcher house, the stench is unbearable, the flies are horrendous! In the midst of your religiosity you're missing me! You have shut me out of your life and priorities. You have zero relationship with Me.
"I don't want you one day a week, I want you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I don't care how much you pray. You come to Me with your hands full of selfishness and excess - 10% of the world's population spending 40% of the world's resources (like us now, it was a time of great prosperity for both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel) - and You ask Me to bless you some more. You go to bed and take out your seltzer because you've overeaten when the majority of the world goes to bed never having a good meal in its life! You live in homes that are absolutely staggering in luxury compared to the world. You spend billions on defense (Israel had a very strong and expanding military at the time), but you spend nickels on what I care about - the people you don't have time for. I don't want your offerings and 10% tithes, I want ALL your resources, ALL your potential, ALL your everything!" (Matt 19:21)
Finally, we come to the court scene in today's lesson; it's time for a decision (Is 1:18). What will we do about this thing? The jury's in, come close, let's make a choice. God says He's giving a chance to repent (Is. 1:16-17). He reminds us that just the absence of some things without the presence of love and compassion is legalism, not Christianity. Self-righteous piety is an abomination to Him. He doesn't want any more blood, innocent blood, blood of refugee children, blood of those caught in war, blood of gunshot victims in our schools and malls and battlefields, deaths from diseases we could have prevented like neonatal conditions and diarrheal diseases, deaths of those we murder in our hearts (1 John 3:15). All we like sheep have gone astray and eaten at the animal trough of selfishness and comfort living. God says, "What about the rest of those I love so much? Will you care about those whom I care about? Will you bring your faith into every area of your life?"
Who ever heard of "a debt that can never be repaid?" To me, if something of value is given to anyone and then this "gift" becomes something that can never be repaid, then this is not a debt at all but just "a priceless gift."
Pete, allow the latitude of figures of speech. Biblical language uses them, and we use them too. Both "priceless gift" and "debt that can never be repaid" are metaphoric phrases for something we cannot fully understand but can accept and respond to.