Isaiah 1:16

 Isaiah 1:16 says, Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;  This called for action on the part of the people, even though washing physically could not make them clean, and they could not cleanse themselves spiritually.  Still, if they put their faith in God and the coming Messiah and stopped doing evil, they could be made clean by God’s forgiveness.  If we want to be made clean in God’s sight, we must be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.   

Verse seventeen adds, Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  Once we have been washed clean and turned from our sinful ways, we then need to put our faith into action, seeking justice for everyone, especially for the orphans and the widows.  I don’t believe that we can accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and then live in luxury while others are starving or being oppressed and still be living by God’s guidance.    

Verse eighteen continues, 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.  I think we need to listen to this verse every day.  We need to reason together with God, accepting His leadership in all that we do.  The first step is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, and once you do, your sins will be washed as white as snow, no matter how sin stained you might be.   

Verse nineteen concludes, If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:  If we willingly obey God after we accept His gift of salvation, we like the people of Israel will have our needs met.  He did not promise them personal riches but only said they would eat the good of the land.   

Verse twenty states, But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.  The people of Judah and Jerusalem were called on to obey God and be washed clean, and now they were told what would happen if they didn’t.  If they rebelled against God, they would be devoured by the sword.  This was a certainty since God had spoken it.  If we refuse to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we can be certain that we will one day face everlasting suffering, because God has already pronounced His judgment on those who don't. 

Verse twenty-one adds, How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.  Just as God asked the people of Jerusalem then how a faithful city could have become such a harlot, when it had been full of righteousness, He may be asking the same thing of people in America today.  We have been called a Christian nation, but we have become a nation of murderers who have very little concern for the widows and orphans, or poor people in general.   

Verse twenty-two continues, Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:  Isaiah said that God would remind them that the riches they had when they were obedient to Him had become corrupted or watered down.  I don’t believe that this means that if we put our faith in God that we are going to be materially wealthy, but even if we are, it will one day be proven to be a counterfeit wealth if we don’t obey God.   

Verse twenty-three concludes, Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. This could be a very good description of America today.  We seem to value the rich and famous while having little concern for the poor and downcast.