Isaiah 1:16 - Meaning and Application

Though God had rejected their worship because it could not cover their sins while they kept sinning, he did not reject them as hopeless. Instead, he called them to turn away from the sins that blocked their worship from being accepted, and then all would be well. They should not say that God was unfair with them. He was showing them the way back to peace with him.

The first call is to repentance and reform. If they wanted their sacrifices accepted and their prayers answered, they had to begin in the right place. The Chaldee paraphrase starts this appeal with, “Turn to my law.” In other words, they must take seriously their duties toward other people, or they should not expect God to accept their acts of devotion. Justice and kindness will never make up for unbelief and wickedness, and prayers and sacrifices will never make up for cheating and oppression.

They must stop doing evil and do no more wrong, especially no more shedding of innocent blood. This is what washing themselves and making themselves clean means in Isaiah 1:16. It is not only feeling sorry for past sin, but also breaking with it for the future and putting to death the sinful desires that lead to it. Sin stains the soul. We must wash from it by repenting of it and turning back to God. We must put away not only the open sins that everyone can see, but also the hidden roots and habits of sin in the heart. Those must be crushed and mortified, that is, brought under control and killed off.

They must also learn to do good. That is necessary if repentance is to be complete. It is not enough to stop doing evil, we must also learn to do well. We must keep active instead of simply stopping our wrong. We must do the good the Lord our God requires, and we must do it in the right way and for the right purpose. We must learn this, taking pains to understand our duty, asking about it, caring about it, and training ourselves in it until we become skilled in the holy work of doing good.

He especially presses them to the duties where they had failed, the duties they owed to other people. They must seek justice, meaning they should find out what is right so they can do it. They must look for chances to help the oppressed, even those they themselves had oppressed. They should relieve the burdened, as in Isaiah 58:6. Those who have power should use it to protect people whom others abuse, because that is part of their duty. They should defend the fatherless and the widow, who are weak and easy targets for proud men. They should speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and who have nothing to offer in return for kindness.

This is how we truly honor God, by doing good in the world. Acts of justice and charity please him more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. God then shows, by the plain rules of reason, that his dealings with them are fair. “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18), means that if their hands are full of blood, he will have nothing to do with them, even if they bring many sacrifices. But if they wash and make themselves clean, they are welcome to draw near to him. He invites them to talk the matter over.

Only those who break their alliance with sin are welcome into covenant and fellowship with God. He says, “Come now,” to the very people he had kept out of his courts before. Some of them had complained that God treated them badly, as in Isaiah 58:3, asking, “Why have we fasted, and you did not see?” They made God sound like a hard master who could not be pleased. But God says, “Let us discuss this fairly, and I will show that my ways are right, while yours are wrong” (Ezekiel 18:25). Religion has reason on its side. There is every reason in the world for us to do what God commands.

The God of heaven kindly reasons with those who oppose him and question his ways, because he will be proved right when he speaks (Psalm 51:4). The case only needs to be stated honestly, as it is here, and it settles itself. God shows them the terms on which they stand, as he also does in Ezekiel 18:21-24 and Ezekiel 33:18-19, and then leaves them to judge whether those terms are fair. They could not reasonably expect more than this, that if they repented and changed their ways, they would be restored to God’s favor, even after their former sins. That is all God asks, and it is very gracious. Who could ask for forgiveness on any harder terms?

What God requires is very little, only that they be willing and obedient, or, as some read it, willing to obey. They must yield their will to God’s will, accept it, and submit themselves in everything to the rule of one who is infinitely wise and good. There is no extra punishment here for their former stubbornness, and no heavier burden put on them. Since they had been stubborn and unwilling before, now they must become teachable and ready to obey. He does not say they must be perfectly obedient, but willingly obedient, because if there is a willing mind, God accepts it.

And the promise that follows is very great. All their sins would be forgiven and never brought up against them. Though their sins are as red as scarlet or crimson, even the guilt of blood, if they repent, they will be forgiven and stand before God as white as snow. The worst sinners, if they truly repent, will have their sins pardoned. Their consciences will be eased and cleansed. Though their sins have been deep-dyed, as if soaked in scarlet again and again, pardoning mercy can wash the stain away completely. If they make themselves clean by repentance and reform, God will make them white through full forgiveness.

Be willing and obedient, and you will eat the good things of the land, the promised land. You will enjoy all the blessings of the new covenant, the new agreement God makes with his people, and all the good of the heavenly Canaan. Those who keep on sinning may live in a good land, but they cannot truly enjoy its blessings. Guilt makes everything bitter. But when sin is forgiven, even ordinary blessings become real comforts.

They could not reasonably expect anything else if they stayed stubborn in disobedience. Then they would be left to ruin, and the sentence of the law would be carried out against them. What could be more fair? (Isaiah 1:20) If you refuse and rebel, if you keep resisting God's rule and turn down his offer of grace, you will be destroyed by the sword, by the weapons of your enemies, which God will allow to destroy you, and by the sword of God's justice, his anger, and his judgment, which will come against you. This is what the Lord has spoken, and he will keep his word to defend his own honor.

Those who will not live under God's rule will surely and justly be destroyed by his sword. So life and death, good and evil, are set before you. Come, then, and let us reason together. What objection can you have against this fairness, or against accepting God's terms?