“Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”Isaiah 1:16-17 NLT
Isaiah next comes up with a feature-rich remedy for the Israelites’ apostasy and idolatry. It’s all very well pointing out to a person what they are doing wrong, but without offering a way out, the negative perception just becomes unhelpful criticism. Thankfully, the God we worship always has an answer to our sins, and to fulfil His remedy, He sent His Son, Jesus. God was the same in Isaiah’s day, expressing His love and care for His guilt-ridden people.
“Wash yourselves and be clean!” He said. This didn’t mean go and have a bath, because no amount of water will wash away our guilt and sins. It is only by repentance and ceasing to be involved in evil that a person will become clean and holy before God. The Israelites’ problem was sinfulness with a capital “S”, so great that God pointed out how burdensome and wearisome their religious acts had become to Him. It is the same today because will God listen to the prayers of a sinful person, someone who is living a life of evil? Which is why God’s next instruction was “Get your sins out of my sight”. Nothing can be hidden from God, of course. Psalm 139:1-2, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away”. So, on the basis that nothing we think or do remains hidden from God, there is only one solution – stop doing things that offend Him. Stop sinning, as Jesus said to the healed man by the Pool, “But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you”” (John 5:14). Jesus also compassionately said the same to the woman caught in adultery. John 8:10-11, “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more””.
Next, the Lord said to the Israelites, “Learn to do good”, and He proceeded to point out four things that we pilgrims would do well to follow. “Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows”. Injustices have always been prevalent in human societies. There are always people who are unable to help themselves, whatever the age. The pattern of injustice is wearyingly familiar, and it usually starts with the rich oppressing the poor, or the powerful lording it over the powerless. Even in so-called enlightened societies, injustice still occurs. There will always be people who need help and who are unable to help themselves. Specifically, in the days of the Israelites, the problem was the injustice suffered by orphans and widows. There was no social security safety net, and such people would suffer greatly, unless someone came to their rescue. The Jewish Law put in place safeguards, as seen in the Book of Ruth. “One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead”” (Ruth 2:2). The custom that encouraged the harvesters to leave some crops behind was recorded in Leviticus 19:9-10, “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God”. The problem was still around in the first century, and James wrote, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (James 1:27).
We pilgrims today will encounter injustices in our societies, perhaps from evil men and women who find ways to line their own pockets at others’ expense. Perhaps also due to discrimination because of a lack of technological skills (for example, I read the other day that many GP surgeries are forcing older people without the technology or IT skills to fill in an online triage form). Perhaps the discrimination exists because of race, beliefs or sexuality. There will always be injustices in our societies, but we pilgrims are encouraged to look out for them and do good by providing a remedy.
Heavenly Father. Please help us look out for people in distress, people who are needy and unable to help themselves. We want to do Your will, and we know that You always see the unfortunate people around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 