Israel’s Futile Idolatry
Isa 57:1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
Isa 57:2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
Isa 57:3 “But you—come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Isa 57:4 Who are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars?
Isa 57:5 You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags.
Isa 57:6 The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; indeed, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In view of all this, should I relent?
Isa 57:7 You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
Isa 57:8 Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.
Isa 57:9 You went to Molek with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the very realm of the dead!
Isa 57:10 You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.
Isa 57:11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?
Isa 57:12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.
Isa 57:13 When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”
Comfort for the Contrite
Isa 57:14 And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”
Isa 57:15 For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isa 57:16 I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created.
Isa 57:17 I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways.
Isa 57:18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,
Isa 57:19 creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”
Isa 57:20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.
Isa 57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
1 The blessed death of the righteous. 3 God reproves the Jews for their whorish idolatry. 13 He gives evangelical promises to the penitent.
Isa 57:1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
This chapter continues, without interruption, the line of thought begun in ch. 56:9. Some have pointed out that this section aptly describes conditions during the opening part of the reign of Manasseh. Whether this message was given at that time, to encourage those who suffered, or at some other, is not known.
The righteous perish. That is, “men of chesed” (see on Job 10:12; Ps. 36:7).
Isaiah takes comfort in the thought that in times such as those described in this chapter the death of the righteous delivers them from greater evils that would befall them were they to live on.
Isa 57:2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
The righteous would find peace and rest in death. The grave would be to them a not unwelcome release from the trials and distresses of a time of trouble (cf. Isa. 26:20; Rev. 14:13; see on Isa. 57:1).
Isa 57:3 “But you—come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Isaiah summons the doers of iniquity to draw near and hear the word of the Lord. In the Bible men are commonly referred to as the “children” of those whose practices they follow (John 8:39, 41, 44).
Isa 57:4 Who are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars?
The wicked were mocking and deriding the righteous.
Isa 57:5 You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags.
Isaiah here gives a vivid description of the orgiastic excitement of the religious rites practiced by the fertility cults of the time. In Rom. 1:24–32 Paul seems to refer to these licentious practices carried on in the name of religion.
Sacrificing children. The apostate Jews whom Isaiah here addresses were also guilty of offering human sacrifices (see on Lev. 18:21; 20:2; cf. 2 Kings 16:3, 4; 2 Chron. 28:3, 4; Jer. 19:5; Eze. 16:20). This horrible practice was, at times, carried on in the Valley of Hinnom, immediately to the south of Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31; 19:5, 6).
Isa 57:6 The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; indeed, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In view of all this, should I relent?
Isaiah here chides apostate Jews for another act of idolatry—the veneration of stone pillars such as the heathen worshiped. These pillars were anointed with oil and treated as gods (see on Gen. 28:18).
These idolatrous practices had provoked the wrath of God; how could He be appeased by them (cf. Jer 5:7, 9)?
Isa 57:7 You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
The image is appropriate because idolatry was regarded as spiritual adultery, and the most debasing forms of immorality constituted an integral part of the supposedly sacred rites of heathen religions (see Eze. 16:15–36.)
Isa 57:8 Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.
Israel had been commanded to write the words of God upon the posts and gates of their houses that they might the more readily remember their obligations to Him (Deut. 6:5–9; 11:13, 18–20, 22). Faithless Israel, however, had removed the Lord’s memorial and set up symbols of idolatry.
In forsaking the Lord and yielding herself to other masters Israel committed spiritual adultery (Isa. 1:21; Jer. 2:20; 3:1–14, 20; Eze. 16:15–35; 23:13–49; Hosea 1:2; 2:2–13).
Isa 57:9 You went to Molek with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the very realm of the dead!
The king of Assyria is here referred to (2 Kings 16:7–13). The description that follows is of a harlot adorning herself in order to entice her prey. Isaiah thus pictures Israel engaging in spiritual adultery (see on vs. 5, 7, 8).
Isa 57:10 You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.
The Jewish leaders persisted in their apostate course, unwilling to admit eventual failure. The king of of Judah found means of sustaining his perverted policy in spite of the difficulties he encountered in carrying it through.
Isa 57:11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?
Fear of men had led Israel to disobey God. Such a course of action implied that it was more important to avoid the disfavour of man than the disfavour and judgments of God. This fear had led to alliances with Assyria (2 Kings 16:7, 8) and Egypt (Isa. 36:6), and friendly relations with a certain Babylonian faction (ch. 39:1–3).
Isa 57:12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.
God will expose to the world the hollow and empty self-righteousness of Judah.
Isa 57:13 When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land
In its time of need let Judah call upon their idols for deliverance.
Comfort for the Contrite
Isa 57:14 And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”
A road was to be prepared to facilitate travel to the “holy mountain” of the Lord (ch. 57:13; see on chs. 35:8; 40:3, 4). Isaiah thus figuratively calls upon the leaders of Israel to remove obstructions that hindered the fulfillment of His purpose for Israel
Isa 57:15 For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
These sublime words characterize God as the Eternal One. The word Shekinah, the term designating the glorious light of the divine presence that hovered over the ark of the covenant (COL 288; see on Gen. 3:24), is from shakan, here translated “lives.”
Comforting thought, that One so great as God cares about us and condescends to dwell in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3:17; cf. Gal. 2:20; DA 23). However insignificant we may be in our own sight; it is our privilege to be recipients of Heaven’s greatest gifts. Whatever our needs God is ever ready to supply them.
Contrition and humility—the spirit of sincere repentance for sin, coupled with a sense of one’s inability, of oneself, to earn salvation (see Rom. 7:18)—are the two essential qualifications for acceptance with God (see Micah 6:8; see on Ps. 51:10; Matt. 11:29).
Contrition prepares the way for justification, as humility does for sanctification. God can do little for the man who does not feel a keen sense of his own need and who does not reach out for power from above (see on Luke 15:2).
Isa 57:16 I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created.
There are times when God, in His infinite wisdom and goodness, permits trials and chastisements to befall us. For instance, He permitted the Jews to become subject to Babylon, but after 70 years He provided for their return to Judea.
Faint away. If God were to take an attitude of hostility toward men because of their evil ways, and to “contend” with them “for ever,” the life He had given would become extinct and the souls He had created (see on Gen. 2:7) would cease to be. That, however, would be contrary to His purpose in creating them.
Isa 57:17 I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways.
Hid my face. It is not in the nature of God to smite and to destroy. For a time, and to accomplish some specific objective, He may “hide” His face (Ps. 30:7; 89:46; Eze. 39:29; see on Isa. 54:8) and seem to abandon those whom He loves (see on Heb. 12:6–11).
The judgments God permitted to fall upon the Hebrews failed to reform them. They persisted in their obdurate course. Like so many today, they chose to do what they pleased rather than to live by principle.
Isa 57:18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,
Those of Israel who mourn for the evil of their ways and for the evil that has befallen them as a nation have the promise of mercy and deliverance (Isa. 61:2; 66:10; Jer. 13:17; Eze. 9:4; see on Matt. 5:4). They will praise God for His mercy and grace (Hosea 14:2; Heb. 13:15).
Isa 57:19 creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”
God’s message of peace is the good news of salvation (see on ch. 52:7). The gospel is for all, near and far, Jew and Gentile. It is for all who are willing to hear (Acts 2:39; Eph. 2:12–17). God will “heal” of the malady of sin all who desire to forsake sin and follow Him.
Isa 57:20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.
Peace and healing (v. 19) come only to those who heed the message of salvation. The wicked find no peace because they reject the only means by which it may be achieved.
Isa 57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Peace is the fruit of righteousness (see on ch. 32:17). Among the works of the flesh are “hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies” (Gal. 5:19, 20), whereas love, joy, and peace are among the fruits of the Spirit (vs. 22, 23).
The wicked cannot hope to enjoy either peace of mind within or tranquillity without. Where there is a departure from divine principles, dissension, variance, and strife inevitably arise. If the world would put away strife, it must first put away sin, the cause of strife. Only righteousness within can produce peace without.