Isaiah 59: Righteousness and Justice

As has happened so many times before, I am reading the prophet, Isaiah and am finding it remarkable how much the message of the prophet speaks to our situation today. Listen to what He has to say in chapter 59

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
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. (vv. 1-2)

In other words, it seems, He is taking them to task for their sin. It is their sin, He says, that has placed a barrier between them and Himself, their God.

His issue with them, however is not so much in terms of many of the things that we call commonly call “sin”, but with issues of justice and righteousness, and how they deal with others in their society. Let’s look at some examples:

“No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies. . .. “ (V. 4)

“Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
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.
The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths”     (vv. 6-8)

Therefore, justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;              (V.9a)

I note that the words justice and righteousness keep recurring throughout this chapter; in fact, too many times to mention.

We often think of justice in terms of what happens (or fails to happen) in a court of law. In an old (70’s) movie that I can no longer remember the name of, Paul Newman played the part of an older attorney who, though he had a good reputation, was past his prime. He managed, in the plot of this movie to land a high-profile case. In the course of the story, his character made a statement about justice that I, at that time being a regular participant in the court system, thought was extremely profound. He said that the American court system did not exist to provide justice, but to provide the opportunity for justice. In other words, justice is not a certainty in the flawed human court system.

 In God’s word, justice is something that is supposed to be a way of life for God’s people, and something that goes without saying as a matter of course for us. It should never be necessary for anyone to sue us for the proper and reasonable receipt of justice. With God, justice is a certainty. With God’s people it should be as certain as is humanly possible outside the court system, and before the fact.

Let me close this thought with yet another long quote and a short comment. See if you too do not think it is like a description of the society in which we live:

we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;  (vv. 9-10)

we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
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
Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;          (vv. 12-16)

This chapter goes on to tell us that the Lord proceeded to step in and Himself bring about justice. Folks’ if that ever happens in our world today, watch out!

Please understand that I am not talking about the second coming! If that were the case, we who are believers in Jesus Christ would have nothing to worry about. The problem is that there are numerous instances in human history where it would seem that God simply got fed up with what we were doing and stepped in to set things right before we got completely and dangerously out of hand. When that happens, it has a tendency to fall down on the righteous and the unrighteous at the same time.

The point I am trying to make is that we, as Christ’s representatives, need to step up and stand for Him and His righteousness and His justice in the society that we live in which has largely turned its back on Him. Can we turn our world around? I hope so. With Christ all things are possible. We cannot repent for our society, but we can repent (turn and go the other way) within our society, and we can stand apart, and make a difference.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem