COME LET US REASON TOGETHER

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow….If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured …. Isaiah 1:18-20

From the second verse of the Book of Isaiah we are commanded to hear what God has to say. We are to listen and pay attention. God has spoken. God is the judge. There is an indictment and even though this was directed at the nation of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, it was also directed at Jerusalem and it is directed at us. Notwithstanding the indictment, there was accusation and condemnation because the nation of Judah had drifted into paganism and idolatry. The people had rebelled against God in the worst possible fashion and turned their backs on Him. To illustrate just how far the people had defied their Creator, God compares the gratitude of an ox and an ass having a stable to sleep in to be greater than that showed by the people to whom He had given everything, even their very lives.

In v4 He calls them a sinful nation and a people laden with iniquity who had forsaken the Lord and provoked Him to anger.

In v5 the description of the scale of their wrongdoing is intensified to the extent that their entire heads are described as sick and their hearts hardened and despite God’s crushing punishments they have refused to repent and turn back to Him.

In v7 we read of their land being desolate and their cities burned with foreigners invading and devouring the land. God likens the land to that of Sodom and Gomorrah and had He not spared a small remnant of people, the destruction would have been as complete as that of those two cities.

People have often said that they find great difficulty in accepting God as a God of love when He has allowed armies to wipe out entire populations and destroy towns and cities. I have to admit that this is both hard to understand and difficult to explain, until one comes to the place where we realise that God is utterly Holy and cannot even look at sin, let alone gloss over it. So when the very people He has created and loved show their gratitude by turning their backs on Him and indulging in the most diabolical sins and extreme wickedness, we may, by His grace, begin to understand why. There are plenty of warnings throughout Scripture that His Holiness compels Him to pour out His wrath and judgment on those who choose to ignore His pleading and offer of Salvation. Rebellion and boasting brandished in His face can and will find condemnation of the highest order. We must never forget that He lovingly pleads with all men and offers Salvation to everyone.

The Scriptures are for our learning and we are to take note of how God dealt with sin and idolatry in the days of the Old Testament, because if we don’t we will fall into the same traps as the people of old did.

In v10-15 we learn how much God despises ritual without reality, sacrifices without obedience and gifts without gratitude. We learn that as long as we live in sin our efforts are insulting to His Holy Name and carries a grave and very serious warning for us today that He will hide His eyes when we spread our hands before Him and he will pay no attention to our prayers when we plead for help and guidance, because our hands are full of blood!

As W. E. Vine puts it:

Mere external religion is ever a cloak to cover iniquity. The Lord exposed all that in His strong denunciations in Matthew 23 (please read this chapter). The guilty combination in Judaism has largely developed in Christendom. The conscience of a believer may become so seared that a person can practice religion while yet living in sin.

SO WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

V16-17 gives us the answer:

• Wash, make yourselves clean by repentance.
• Put away evil.
• Cease to do evil.
• Learn to do well.
• Practice righteousness and social justice.
• Note they are things we are to do ourselves – they will NOT be done for us!

v18 – One of the most amazing verses in all of Scripture:

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.

If this is not an indication of the depth of love God has towards us then I don’t know what is. In v2 we read that the whole universe and the earth is summoned to stand trial before God because of sin, disobedience and rebellion. God is the Judge. We are the defendants. We are all guilty! And yet God says: Come, let us reason together! How can we even begin to fathom the love He has for all of us?

Note what God expects from us:

• We are to come to Him.
• We are to repent.
• We are to put away evil – in other words we are to STOP it!
• We are to learn to do what is right and we are to practice it.
• We are to be willing and obedient.

Note what God will do for us:

• He will cleanse us from sin.
• He will take our sin, even though it is the colour of the deepest crimson and make it white as snow.
• We will know His Love, His Care and His Comfort.
• We will know His Presence, His Protection, His Pardon and His Peace.
• He will give us the good things that only He can provide.

Finally, to those who have grieved and dishonored the Holy Spirit, there is that wonderful message that God loves to fill His children with His Spirit. He wants us to rise up and place our sins before Him and to call on Him for mercy. Let us bow our heads in shame and confess and let Him lift us up out of the mire. Let Him take our sins and make them as white as snow. Let us determine in our hearts to live for Him and Him alone, until He comes to take us to be with Him.

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Note the type of God we have!

• A Mighty God
• A Saving God
• A Loving God
• A Rejoicing God
• A Resting God
• A Singing God!

What more could we ask for?