Isaiah 59 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 59

Evil and Oppression

59:1   Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
    or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2   but your iniquities have made a separation
    between you and your God,
  and your sins have hidden his face from you
    so that he does not hear.
3   For your hands are defiled with blood
    and your fingers with iniquity;
  your lips have spoken lies;
    your tongue mutters wickedness.
4   No one enters suit justly;
    no one goes to law honestly;
  they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
    they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5   They hatch adders’ eggs;
    they weave the spider’s web;
  he who eats their eggs dies,
    and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6   Their webs will not serve as clothing;
    men will not cover themselves with what they make.
  Their works are works of iniquity,
    and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7   Their feet run to evil,
    and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
  their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
    desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8   The way of peace they do not know,
    and there is no justice in their paths;
  they have made their roads crooked;
    no one who treads on them knows peace.
9   Therefore justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not overtake us;
  we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
    and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10   We grope for the wall like the blind;
    we grope like those who have no eyes;
  we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
    among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11   We all growl like bears;
    we moan and moan like doves;
  we hope for justice, but there is none;
    for salvation, but it is far from us.
12   For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
    and our sins testify against us;
  for our transgressions are with us,
    and we know our iniquities:
13   transgressing, and denying the LORD,
    and turning back from following our God,
  speaking oppression and revolt,
    conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Judgment and Redemption

14   Justice is turned back,
    and righteousness stands far away;
  for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
    and uprightness cannot enter.
15   Truth is lacking,
    and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

  The LORD saw it, and it displeased him¹
    that there was no justice.
16   He saw that there was no man,
    and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
  then his own arm brought him salvation,
    and his righteousness upheld him.
17   He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
    and a helmet of salvation on his head;
  he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
    and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
18   According to their deeds, so will he repay,
    wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
    to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19   So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west,
    and his glory from the rising of the sun;
  for he will come like a rushing stream,²
    which the wind of the LORD drives.
20   “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.

21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Footnotes

[1] 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes
[2] 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river

Commentary

v1: The Lord is willing to bless, but the people robbed themselves of blessing by continuing in their sins. His patience is, however, almost never ending. The command to repent remained throughout.

v2: Reference to specific acts of disobedience, for sins separate man from God. No wonder their prayers were unanswered.

v3-8: The prophet described their sins; their works and words.

v3: They had blood-stained hands, guilty fingers; lies and wicked speech.

v4: Sins of omission; they had failed to speak for justice and integrity. Instead, they pursued evil.

v5: Dramatic illustrations;

they hatch the eggs of vipers, bringing death;
they spin a spider's web, useless to cover them.

v6: The reality was that their deeds were evil.

v7-8: Their plans and thoughts were always of evil. They shed innocent blood, and brought destruction. They missed out on peace and justice, see 57.21.

See Rom 3.10-18, where every aspect of human life is corrupted by sin (as in 1.5-6). These words are addressed to a religious people, who followed ritual and form.

The lesson is clear, that we must deal quickly and ruthlessly with personal sins, and that we deliberately pursue obedience.

v9-11: The consequences of sins; we suffer and struggle. Israel suffered as a nation, and if we continue in sins, we shall doubtless suffer also. The use of "we" and "us" indicates that the suffering was corporate. See also Rom 7.19.

v12: The realisation of the reasons for our problems; offences, sins, iniquities. We cannot hide our sins, nor can we hide from the consequences of them; we must confess and forsake sins.

v13: Sin is an offence against God; see Gen 39.9; 2 Sam 11.27; Ps 51.4; Luke 15.18.

v14-16: The link is clear; justice, righteousness, truth, honesty; all were hard to find because of the people's sins.

The people looked, and the Lord looked. The Lord was displeased at His people, but His power to work cannot be diminished, and His willingness to bring salvation cannot be frustrated, so "His own arm" bought salvation. The people could never save themselves, but the Lord could and did!

The prophet describes his own day and concludes there is no solution outside of God. And he looks forward to the coming of Christ, who brings salvation. For 'there was no man' either to save or to intercede. He alone will bring justice.

This image of the Lord the Warrior seems to have been in Paul's mind when we described the spiritual armour (Eph 6).

v17: The character of the Lord is displayed; righteousness and salvation, vengeance and zeal. Yes, He does care! His compassions fail not!

v18-19: The Lord acts in righteousness and judgment against His enemies.

v20: The Redeemer in Zion, for those Jews who would repent.

v21: Future salvation, in God's new covenant with Israel;

My Spirit is on you;
My words in your mouth;
His words will never leave you.

The emphasis is clear; your mouth, your children's, their descendants, and for ever; what God will give can never be taken away. In the NT, the words that the Lord Jesus spoke were spirit and life.