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.
- God’s people wondered why God did not seem to rescue them from their trials. They wondered if perhaps God had diminished in strength – if His hand had become shortened. Isaiah the prophet assures them that this is not the case.
- Isaiah addresses those who wondered if God wasn’t all powerful, and that is why their suffering continues.
- Perhaps the problem isn’t that God lacks power. Perhaps He lacks knowledge of our problem, or interest in our problem. But this isn’t the situation at all, as Isaiah reminds us. God’s ear is not heavy. He can hear us just fine.
- The problem isn’t with God’s power, His knowledge, or His interest. The problem is with our iniquities. Sin has separated you from your God.
- Sin separates us from fellowship with God, because at least at the point of our sin, we no longer think alike with God.
- Sin separates us from the blessing of God, because at least at the point of our sin, we are not trusting God and relying on Him.
But we are never so far that we are out of God's sight or beyond His reach.
Today's passage opens in the midst of conflict and tension between God and His people. The Israelites' perverted practice of rituals replaced their pursuit of righteousness. (Isaiah 1:15; 59:3) Because they failed to nourish their souls with truth from God, they developed appetites for evil.
In this lifestyle void of God, Israel found only darkness, gloom, pain, despair, death, injustice, lies and destruction. They chased after evil only to stumble into misery. (Isaiah 59:7-10) With no one to intercede on their behalf, they seemingly reached the point of no return. The nation was so far down the road of disgrace that they could no longer make amends through repentance as past generations did. Thankfully, Israel's story doesn't end there.
Isaiah 59 emphasizes the sinfulness of Israel, of all humankind. And yet, the prophet bookends the admonishments with words of hope. (Isaiah 59:1, 16-21) He reminds the people that God has been ready and fully capable of providing help all along. And in fact, He is the only One who can defeat sin and reconcile His people to Himself.
Isaiah 59:15b-17a
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.
Being both just and loving, God resolved the dilemmas of sin and separation with the sacrificial gift of His Son. (Isaiah 59:16, 20) He kept His Word in repaying wrath and retribution, but our Savior bore that horrific penalty so we could be spared.
Isaiah 59:20-21
20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.
21 “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.
As much as we may try on our own, we can't live happily ever after without giving Jesus Christ the lead role of "Lord and Savior" in our personal stories. He is the only reason we have hope in this fallen world.
This chapter concludes with the Lord's covenant promise of a Redeemer to His people and to generations thereafter. Friends, we too are heirs of this prophecy! If we profess faith in our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and a glorious inheritance. (Isaiah 59:21; 1 Peter 1:3-5) I can't think of any other story with a more beautiful ending or one I'd rather pass down to my children.