This chapter sounds so very much like the reign of Manasseh, it's hard to imagine it arising from any other context. Though the king did repent at the end of his long reign of evil, it was too late, and the Law had been so utterly forgotten the priests under his successors had never seen a copy of Moses. Thus, Isaiah describes the unspeakable moral filth of that day.
Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. It was everything turned on its head -- righteousness was outlawed, and the righteous executed for being holy. Isaiah speaks of them falling asleep in the same sense as used in the New Testament, noting the righteous so murdered are better off than those who will survive to see such horrendous evil. They will instead be walking in the presence of the Lord in Heaven.
The reason for such depth of perversion in Judah was the eager idolatries of her people. Isaiah refers to the leaders as sons of depraved women. They made satire of God, bearing in their hearts a sheer lust for any imaginable deity except Jehovah. The vile religious rituals included every known sexual perversion, and the unspeakable murder of infants as offerings to the oven-god Molech. They are derided as the sort of people who would grab a smooth rock from the stream beds and make it their god.
More than just adulterous infidelity against God, it would seem Judah sought new ways to prostitute herself. Isaiah paints a picture of a woman who builds a huge bed so she can have many lovers lined up. So she had pursued the despicable Molech, and even sent numerous love letters to Hell, addressed "To Whom it may concern." Judah never seemed to wear out in seeking perversion, driven like a demon.
That God was in no hurry to punish is not from lack of caring. The greatest weakness of our fallen state is our inability to even think, must less operate, on God's time scale. It's a fatal spiritual disability to think in terms of minutes and seconds, when the most important things in the universe take centuries. But eventually, Judah's time will run out, and God will refuse to listen to their most sincere cries of distress. Let them cry to their idols, which can't resist so much as a derisive snort from God's nostrils. Contrast that with those who remain loyal to the Lord, for nothing is too good for them.
We rightly see God as the highest and holiest, in Heaven itself, yet He also resides in hearts which cling to Him. The only difference between sinner and saint is contrition. The evil simply won't turn from their sins. But the moment there is a flicker of remorse, God hurries faster than thought to redeem. Indeed, the apparent righteousness of any people is merely the result of His grace acting in fallen lives which belong to Him. The fruit of sin compares favorably to a mucky sea shore, waves dragging filth onto to all who approach the waters. Such will never know His promised shalom.
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By Ed Hurst
07 August 2009
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: People of honor need no copyright laws; they are only too happy to give credit where credit is due. Others will ignore copyright laws whenever they please. If you are of the latter, please note what Moses said about dishonorable behavior -- "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23)