SALT & LIGHT God versus False Religion: God wants a real relationship with us

Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

offspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

they have despised the Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly estranged. ISA 1:4

Rashi

Ah—Every instance of הוֹי in Scripture is an expression of complaining and lamenting, like a person who sighs from his heart and cries, “Alas!” There are, however, several, which are an expression of a cry, the vocative voice, e.g., “Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north” (Zec 2:10), which the Targum renders, אַכְלוּ, an expression of announcing.

Ah—There is a reason to cry about a holy nation that turned into a sinful nation, and a people referred to by the expression, “for you are a people holy” (Deu 7:6), turned into a people with iniquity.

A people laden with iniquity—The heaviness of iniquity. The word denotes a person who is laden, pesant in French, ponderous. The word כֶבֶד is a substantive of heaviness, pesantoma in French, and is in the construct state, and is connected with the word עָוֹן, iniquity.

Offspring of evildoers—And they were offspring whom the Lord blessed (Isa 61:9). Similarly, they were children of the Holy One, blessed be he, and they became corrupt.

They have despised—Heb. נִאֲצוּ, they angered.

They are utterly estranged—The root נְזִירָה, wherever it appears, is only an expression of separation. Similarly, Scripture states: “And they abstain (וְיִנָּזְרוּ) from the holy things of the people of Israel” (Lev 22:2), “him set apart (נְזִיר) from his brothers” (Gen 49:26). Here too, they drew away from being near the Omnipresent.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. MAT 11:28

John Gill

Come to me—Christ having signified, that the knowledge of God, and the mysteries of grace, are only to be come at through him; and that he has all things relating to the peace, comfort, happiness, and salvation of men in his hands, kindly invites and encourages souls to come to him for the same: by which is meant, not a local coming, or a coming to hear him preach; for so his hearers, to whom he more immediately directed his speech, were come already; and many of them did, as multitudes may, and do, in this sense, come to Christ, who never knew him, nor receive any spiritual benefit by him: nor is it a bare coming under the ordinances of Christ, submission to baptism, or an attendance at the Lord’s supper, the latter of which was not yet instituted; and both may be performed by men, who are not yet come to Christ: but it is to be understood of believing in Christ, the going of the soul to him, in the exercise of grace on him, of desire after him, love to him, faith and hope in him: believing in Christ, and coming to him, are terms synonymous (Joh 6:35). Those who come to Christ aright, come as sinners, to a full, suitable, able, and willing Saviour; venture their souls upon him, and trust in him for righteousness, life, and salvation, which they are encouraged to do, by this kind invitation; which shows his willingness to save, and his readiness to give relief to distressed minds. The persons invited, are not “all” the individuals of mankind, but with a restriction,

All who labor and are heavy laden—Meaning, not these who are labouring in the service of sin and Satan, are laden with iniquity, and insensible of it: these are not weary of sin, nor burdened with it; not do they want or desire any rest for their souls; but such who groan, being burdened with the guilt of sin upon their consciences, and are pressed down with the unsupportable yoke of the law, and the load of human traditions; and have been labouring till they are weary, in order to obtain peace of conscience, and rest for their souls, by the observance of these things, but in vain. These are encouraged to come to him, lay down their burdens at his feet, look to, and lay hold by faith on his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; when they should enjoy that true spiritual consolation, which could never be attained to by the works of the law.

And I will give you rest—Spiritual rest here, peace of conscience, ease of mind, tranquillity of soul, through an application of pardoning grace, a view of free justification by the righteousness of Christ, and full atonement of sin by his sacrifice; and eternal rest hereafter, in Abraham’s bosom, in the arms of Jesus, in perfect and uninterrupted communion with Father, Son, and Spirit. The Jews say, that “the law is rest;” and so explain (Gen 49:15; Psa 23:2; Dan 12:13) of it: but a truly sensible sinner enjoys no rest, but in Christ; it is like Noah’s dove, which could find no rest for the soles of its feet, until it returned to the ark; and they themselves expect perfect rest in the days of the Messiah, and call his world, rest.

51 You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

John Gill

You stiff-necked—Or “hard necked,” which is a character frequently given of this people (Exo 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9), and elsewhere, and is expressive of their obstinacy, stubbornness and refractoriness; who would not submit their necks to the yoke of God’s law, and be obedient to his commands:

Uncircumcised in heart and ears—For though they had the mark of circumcision in their flesh, of which they boasted; yet they had not the true circumcision of the heart; their hearts were not circumcised to fear and love the Lord, nor their ears to hear the word of the Lord and the gospel of Christ; so that notwithstanding their confidence in carnal privileges, they were uncircumcised persons:

You always resist the Holy Spirit—The resistance made by these persons was not to the Spirit of God in them, of which they were destitute, but to the Spirit of God in his ministers, in his apostles, and particularly in Stephen; nor to any internal operation of his grace, but to the external ministry of the word, and to all that objective light, knowledge, evidence, and conviction that it gave of Jesus’ being the Messiah: and such who resist Christ’s ministers, resist him, and such who resist him, may be said to resist his Holy Spirit; and the word here used signifies a rushing against, and falling upon, in a rude and hostile way, and fitly expresses their ill treatment of Christ and his ministers, by falling upon them and putting them to death: which is the resistance here designed, as appears by the following verse: so that this passage is no proof of the resistance of the Holy Spirit, and the operations of his grace in conversion, when he is in men, and acts with a purpose and will to convert them; since it does not appear that he was in these persons, and was acting in them, with a design to convert them; and if he was, it wilt be difficult to prove that they so resisted, and continued to resist, as that they were not hereafter converted; since it is certain that one of them, Saul, was really and truly converted, and how many more we know not. Though it will be allowed, that the Holy Spirit in the operations of his grace upon the heart in conversion may be resisted, that is, opposed; but not so as to be overcome or be hindered in, or be obliged to cease from, the work of conversion, insomuch that may come to nothing:

As your fathers did, so do you—Or as “your fathers were, so are you;” as they were stiff-necked, self-willed, obstinate, and inflexible, so are you; as they were uncircumcised in heart and ears, so are you; and as they resisted the Spirit of God in his prophets, so do you resist him in the apostles and ministers of the gospel.

52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ACT 7:51-52

God described the people of Israel as those who have forsaken the Lord (Isa 1:4). However, he did not just want them to come back and follow him mindlessly. God wanted a real relationship with them, and invited them to accept his offer to make their sins white as snow—as if they had never sinned. He is extending the same invitation to us today. Instead of a relationship of face-value service and faithfulness, God is seeking out a true, vibrant relationship with each of us so we can be transformed to be more and more like him. What is one time you did something you felt was unforgivable, but experienced God’s grace and forgiveness anyway?

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool. ISA 1:18

Rashi

Come now, let us reason together, I and you, and we will know who offended whom, and if you offended me, I still give you hope to repent.

Says the Lord—The verb is in the future form to denote that he always says this to you, like: (Num 9:20) “By the word of the Lord they would camp (יַחֲנוּ),” also a future form. Another explanation is: Come now, let us reason together. What is written above this? “Cease to do evil, learn to do good.” And after you return to me, come now, and let us reason together, to notify me, “We have done what is incumbent upon us; you do what is incumbent upon you;” and I say, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow . . .”

Though your sins are like scarlet—Stained before me like crimson red, I will make them as white as snow.

Like crimson—Heb. תּוֹלָע, lit. a worm. Dye with which they dye fabrics red. They are kernels, each one of which has a worm inside it. Hence the name תּוֹלָע.

Shabbat 89b:2

We learned in the mishna: From where is it derived that one ties a scarlet strip of wool to the scapegoat? As it says: “If your sins are like scarlet [kashanim], they will become white like snow” (Isa 1:18). The Gemara wonders at this: Why does the verse use the plural form: Kashanim? It should have used the singular form: Kashani. Rabbi Yitzḥak said that the Holy One, blessed be he, said to the Jewish people: Even if your sins are as numerous as those years [kashanim] that have proceeded continuously from the six days of creation until now, they will become white like snow. Rava taught: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Go please, let us reason together, the Lord will say” (Isa 1:18)? Why does the verse say: Go please? It should have said: Come please. And why does the verse say: The Lord will say? The prophet’s message is based on something that God already said. Therefore, the verse should have said: God said. Rather, the explanation of this verse is that in the future that will surely come, the Holy One, blessed be he, will say to the Jewish people: Go please to your patriarchs, and they will rebuke you.

And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ACT 17:2

John Gill

And Paul went in, as was his custom—To the Jews in their synagogue; for though the Jews had put away the gospel from them, and the apostle had turned to the Gentiles; yet he still retained a great affection for his countrymen the Jews, and as often as he had opportunity, attended their synagogues, in order to preach the gospel to them;

And on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures—That is, out of the Old Testament, concerning the Messiah, the characters of him, the work that he was to do, and how he was to suffer and die for the sins of men; and this he did three weeks running, going to their synagogue every Sabbath day, when and where the Jews met for worship; and made use of books, which they allowed of, and of arguments they could not disprove.