God invites Judah to Repentance and Restoration - Isaiah 1:18-20

Isaiah 1:18–20 KJV 1900

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, Ye shall be devoured with the sword: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Introduction

In our first message on the book of Isaiah, we saw God’s condemnation of Judah’s rebellion against Him.

Last week, we saw how God disqualified their attempts to hide behind the formality of their religion.

Tonight, we are going to look at God’s call to the people for repentance and restoration.

God invites His people to dialogue with Him regarding His accusations against them.

The verse starts with the inviting call to “come now.”

God is showing His tender love for the people despite their rebellion.

He is also taking the initiative in seeking reconciliation with those that He loves.

Judah is in a rebellious state.

They are not seeking reconciliation.

They don’t even realize how distant from God they really are.

Yet, this is a quality of God that benefits Old and New Testament believers equally.

Remember what Paul told us about God in Romans 5:8 “8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

There are two things we learn from this invitation.

First, we learn something about the tone of God’s invite.

If He would have bluntly commanded them to come, this would have been cold and “harsh.”

But, when God says to the people “come now” He is graciously extending them a friendly invite.

It’s kind of like the difference between “get over here!” and “come join me.”

“Come now” is disarming the rebels.

Second, we learn about the intention of God’s invite.

When a lawyer or business man would invite someone to “come now” this usually meant a pleasing offer was about to be offered.

In their language, this is a business/legal term used to introduce a proposition that is intended to benefit the ones that are addressed.

How incredible is it to think that the High King of Heaven would stoop to hold a dialogue with humans?

Don’t think that God is going to surrender His expectations ofJudah in the name of love.

God’s love does not cancel out God’s holy justice.

This dialogue is not a negotiation.

Judah is not being given an opportunity to try and get God to agree with them.

Judah is being given an opportunity to agree with God.

What do they need to agree with God about?

Their sin!

The Hebrew word for “Reason” is another legal term which has to do with deciding a case in court.

Or, we could say it this way, “reason” means to determine what is right.

What is right has already been laid out.

God loved and nurtured Israel.

Israel rebelled against God.

That is the right and reasonable conclusion.

We have to understand, as humans, that God determines what is right or reasonable.

That which is reasonable is reasonable because God has declared it to be so.

Reason is derived from God.

It is not an independent standard to which God is subject.

If God determines that our actions are unreasonable or they do not agree with what’s right, that is the final word on the matter.

This discussion between God and His people is meant to remove any doubt with Israel that they are as sinful as God has accused them of being.

That they are guilty and deserving of punishment, is the only reasonable conclusion that they can come to.

However, that conclusion opens the door for God’s character to shine through.

This is still the case when we agree with God about our sin.

Agreeing with God about our sin is what we call repentance.

What is God offering Judah in response to their repentance?

The latter half of verse 18 tells us that God’s invitation to repentance naturally leads to an offer of forgiveness.

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

There is no more blessed proclamation of full amnesty to be found in all the Bible than the one that is found in this verse.

It is the offer of full judicial cleansing no matter grievous the offender’s record may have been.

A couple of quick points about these phrases.

Scarlett is plural.

It refers to the dye as well as the cloth.

Our sins are the dye that stains us.

But just as the clothes make the man; our sins are the defining mark of our appearance.

In Hebrew these twin phrases are written as follows.

If your sins are as scarlet, as snow they shall be white.

If they are red as crimson, as wool they shall be.

Though this is slightly more awkward for us to read in English, in Hebrew it forms beautiful and sophisticated parallelism.

White as snow is actually a way of saying translucent.

In other words, your sins were as noticeable as scarlet.

But God will make them non-existent.

This is not an offer to cover the sins of the nation.

This is an offer to annihilate their sin.

If Judah will agree with God regarding their sins, He will make their sins go away.

Repentance of sin will result in dissolution of all sin and stain.

Here, the meaning of justification becomes clear.

God declares the ungodly, the guilty, to be innocent, clean, holy, and righteous in His sight.

And in the OT of all things.

What would that mean for the people?

What would happen next if Judah repented?

It’s very simple, actually.

If they were willing and obedient, they would eat the good of the land.

This is not so much a litmus test to see if they will perform.

This is more a statement connecting back to the invitation to engage in reason.

If they will meet with God, and if they will agree with His view of sin, then they will be justified and blessed.

If they refused and continued to rebel, they would be devoured by the sword.

Again, this is pointing back to God’s invite.

If they refuse, and if they rebel against God’s view of their sin, then He will proceed with His judgment upon them.

God leaves the decision up to them.

When God made us in his image He included the freedom of choice and the risk of rebellion.

Either they listen and stop, repent and obey, reason and return, or they put themselves under the stroke of the devouring sword.

This is the choice that is presented before them.

Verse 20 ends in the same manner in which this whole message began back in verse 2.

The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Isaiah delivers God’s message inviting Judah to repent of their sin and receive His gift of restoration.

Application

God offers a very similar deal to the rebels in this age, today.

Our sins are just as filthy and contaminating as the sins of Judah.

We are guilty of idolatry, just as they were.

We are guilty of ignoring the weak and oppressed, just as they were.

We are guilty of formalized, unspiritual religious activity, just as they were.

And yet, for those that have repented of their sins, we have confidence that Jesus’ blood has washed us clean.

My sins were as scarlet.

They were as crimson.

Jesus washed me white as snow.

If you’ve been saved, your sins are non-existent.

As great as this news is for us, just think about what this means for those around us.

We get to go to the lost in our community and mimic the ministry of Isaiah today.

We cannot escape the responsibility that we have to preach against sin.

In our words.

With our actions.

We live in an exceedingly wicked world.

Every Christian that has ever lived can say the same thing.

There has never been a righteous world in which to be a Christian.

Just like Isaiah’s ministry, we don’t just carry the message of judgment.

We carry a message of repentance and restoration.

Our God is, after all, rich in mercy.

So many, though, have never heard the gospel.

They don’t realize they have rebelled against God.

Maybe like the Jews, they assume their works or even religion make them ok.

They need to know where they stand with God.

They need to know about His offer to them.