December 16, 2025 • 35 mins
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A faithful city can forget its name. We open Isaiah 1:22–26 and confront a hard picture: silver turned to dross, strong wine watered down, and leaders who love gifts more than justice. The images are vivid because the stakes are real—when worship is hollow and courts are for sale, the fatherless and widow pay the highest price. Yet the same passage that levels the charge also opens a door: God promises to refine, not erase, and to restore judges “as at the first” so the city can be called righteous again.
Together we unpack how Isaiah uses craftsmanship and courtroom language to expose Judah’s decline, why God introduces himself as the Lord of hosts and the Mighty One of Israel, and what it means for judgment to be a purifying fire. We look back at the role of Israel’s judges, from Deborah to Samuel, and forward to a vision of leadership that carries wisdom, protects the vulnerable, and reflects God’s character in public life. Along the way, we draw clear lines to our moment—where bribes may look like access, where performance can pass for piety, and where the measure of our faith is found in how we treat those with the least leverage.
This is a study for anyone wrestling with civic trust, church integrity, or personal compromise. If you’ve wondered whether divine judgment is only about anger, Isaiah offers a better story: fierce love that cleanses alloy, restores institutions, and gives a city its name back. Listen for practical steps to name the dross in your world, seek refining without shame, and pursue leadership that makes justice ordinary again.
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Episode Transcript
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Daniel Moore (00:06):
So what point did Judah look at corruption,
bribery, and ignoring justiceand say, yep, this seems like a
solid life plan?
And did they all collectivelymiss the memo that God can
actually tell when his people gofrom faithful city to full-on
dumpster fire?
And just checking, were theyplanning to fix this whole
leader's love and bribes morethan justice thing?
(00:28):
Or were they waiting on acelestial push notification from
God?
Well, welcome back toConnecting the Gap where we dive
into scripture one passage at atime and occasionally discover
that the Israelites found brandnew creative ways to miss the
point.
Today we're going to be jumpingback into Isaiah chapter 1,
starting with verse 22, whereGod gives his people a spiritual
(00:49):
performance review.
And let's just say thatnobody's getting a bonus.
In this section, God talksabout how the once faithful
city, Jerusalem, has basicallygone from model citizen to crime
documentary special.
The leaders are corrupt,bribery is trending, and justice
has apparently been put on apermanent coffee break.
If God had Yelp, this would bethe one-star review that he
(01:11):
leaves with no polite wording.
But here's the good news, Goddoesn't just point out the mess,
he promises to clean it up.
He says he'll turn his handagainst the impurities, refine
his people, and restorerighteousness.
It's kind of like God saying,don't worry, I brought the holy
pressure washer.
So grab your Bible, yourcoffee, and maybe a spiritual
seatbelt because we're going tobe taking a look at how faithful
(01:33):
cities fell apart and how Godsteps in not to destroy, but to
redeem and restore.
Let's get to it.
Welcome back to Connecting theGap.
This is a podcast aboutmarriage, Bible, and book study,
and we interview people thathave a story.
I'm Daniel Moore, your host.
(01:54):
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(02:15):
So free to leave a comment onour platforms, give us a thumbs
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Our new book is out, Marriageis a Mission, Living Out God's
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And in addition, we have asix-session study guide that you
(02:36):
can purchase separately,exclusively on Amazon as well
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And we just released our newestbook, 42 Days to a Stronger
Marriage, a Christ-centereddevotional for couples.
That make a very good Christmaspresent between all of those
books.
That one's also available onthree formats on Amazon as well.
So go pick yours up today.
(02:58):
Well, thank you guys forjoining us.
As I said earlier, we're goingto go ahead and get back into
our verse-by-verse study inIsaiah this week.
And this week we're going to bestarting with Isaiah chapter 1,
and we're going to start withverse 22.
As we start off this week withour section of scripture that
(03:27):
we're going to attempt to makeit through this week, I have it
set down here for Isaiah 22 and23, 24, and 25.
We may get to 26.
We'll see how far we get, butwe're going to go ahead and read
these four scriptures, and theyare out of the ESV version of
the Bible.
Isaiah 1, verse 22 says, Yoursilver has become dross, your
(03:49):
best wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebels andcompanions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe and runsafter gifts.
They do not bring justice tothe fatherless, and the widow's
cause does not come to them.
Therefore the Lord declares,the Lord of hosts, the mighty
one of Israel, Ah, I will getrelief from my enemies and
(04:12):
avenge myself on my foes.
I will turn my hand againstyou, and will smelt away your
dross as with lie and remove allyour alloy.
That's Isaiah chapter one,verse twenty two through
twenty-five.
As we start here with versetwenty-two, says your silver has
become dross, and your bestwine mixed with water.
(04:35):
Well, here Isaiah, as he hasbeen doing so here through this
whole first chapter of Isaiah sofar, is continuing with
metaphors to describe moralcorruption.
Silver has become dross, meanswhat once was pure and valuable
has now been corrupted and isnow worthless.
(04:55):
Your best wine mixed with watersignifies dilution, compromise,
and degradation.
Wine and silver were symbols ofprosperity and purity.
Well now they were bothdefiled.
This speaks to the degenerationof values and ethics among the
leaders and the people of Judah.
(05:17):
What once was honest is nowfilled with deceit.
From a historical perspective,Isaiah here was prophesying
during a time when Judah hadoutward religious life, but
inward decay.
As we've been talking abouthere in the last several verses,
we've been talking about howJudah they were putting out all
of these different things toGod, the worship and the
(05:39):
sacrifice and all the thingsthat they normally were supposed
to be doing, but it was all anoutward expression.
Their hearts were not reallyinvolved and really tuned in to
what they were doing.
It was all a big act.
They were putting on a mask andbeing fake in their worship to
God.
And God here was He's beentrying to call them out for
(06:00):
this.
And as we're talking here withthe wine mixed with water and
the silver has become dross, weall know that if we take silver,
if we would melt that down andmix that with a different kind
of a metal where it's not puresilver anymore, and we cast that
into a ring or into some kindof a piece of jewelry, we took
that to the jeweler and wehanded that to him.
(06:21):
And if he was able to look atthat piece of jewelry and
determine that that was not ahundred percent silver, what
happens to the value of that?
It drops.
And why is that?
Because that silver has becometainted, it's not pure anymore.
And the same way with wine.
If you want a good, you know,glass of strong wine and you go
(06:44):
and you mix that with water,what does it do?
It dilutes it down.
You're gonna lose a lot of theflavor, you're gonna lose a lot
of the purity in that wine.
It's just not gonna be the samedrink anymore.
And here, you know, Isaiah istrying to get through to the
people of Judah where where Godis trying to let them know, hey,
you know, you guys, you'reyou're not the same spiritual
(07:07):
people that I've called you tobe.
You're allowing Satan to comein and infiltrate your heart,
your soul, your spirit, yourmind.
And even though you think thatyou are actually worshiping me,
maybe you don't think you areworshiping me, maybe you know
that you are doing wrong.
But regardless of whichever wayit may be, it's a diluted
(07:28):
religion.
It's a diluted belief that theyhave in God.
They're only bringing half ofthe gifts to God that He's
called them to do.
The public commentary here seesthese images as indicating an
overall loss of character in thenation, a decline in both
material and moral quality.
The religious and civic leadersespecially had become impure
(07:51):
and ineffective.
And if you ever heard thatsaying, as the leadership goes,
so goes the people.
That's kind of what's happeninghere because even the
leadership within Judah hasmorally decayed and spiritually
decayed to a point where it'snow filtrating down into the
people, and they've become anation that's totally rejected
(08:12):
God.
And they're more into the self,they're more doing things to
make themselves feel happy andto make themselves feel
fulfilled.
So using this metaphor here,Isaiah is trying to get through
to the people of Judah to helpthem understand how God looks at
their salvation, how God'slooking at their heart at this
point, that they're not ahundred percent all in.
(08:34):
Verse 23 says, Your princes arerebels and companions of
thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe and runsafter gifts.
They do not bring justice tothe fatherless, and the widow's
cause does not come to them.
So here Isaiah is calling outeven more so the corruption,
especially of the leadership.
This verse describes Judah'sleadership as being completely
(08:57):
corrupt.
Where it says princes arerebels, that suggests that not
only are they being unfaithfulto God, but also to their
vocation as just rulers.
So we can probably see herethat even maybe if they were
going to court of law, or if theleadership was having to, you
know, judge cases betweendifferent people, they may have
(09:20):
been even corrupt in the waythat they were judging these
cases and not being fair to thepeople and cheating them out of
what was rightfully theirs.
Being companions of thieves inthis scripture suggests that
they are embracing criminalbehavior and they're sharing an
unjust gain.
Whatever they can do to maketheir prosperity rise, if they
(09:41):
can make money under the tablein a shady way, you know, by
being unfaithful to the peopleand uh by stealing from them
basically with the processesthat they go through, making it
look like that they are good,just people, but there's a a
conniving thing behind it.
They're being shady in the waythat they're dealing, and
(10:02):
they're becoming rich at theexpense of the common person.
And so here Isaiah is trying tocall them out for that and
accusing them of embracingcriminal behavior.
You know, they're not anydifferent than the thieves at
this point.
The scripture continues,everyone loves a bribe and runs
after gifts.
Again, this shows somesystematic corruption.
(10:24):
Justice is bought, and thepowerless, especially the
fatherless and widows, aresymbolic of the society's most
vulnerable, are ignored.
And so here we see some briberygoing on.
If, like I said earlier, maybea court case was coming to court
between two differentindividuals, and whichever one
had the most money and had themost power with their
(10:47):
possessions and the things thatthey had, uh, this is
insinuating that there mighthave been some bribing going on,
that they were bribing thosejudges or the leadership to rule
in their favor, which thenagain patted the pockets of the
leadership.
And so here Isaiah is callingthat out, telling them that you
know you're being very sinful inthe way that you're carrying
(11:09):
yourselves, especially asleadership of the nation of
Judah.
And of course, the widows, wetalked about that last week and
some of the previous verseswe've been through.
Uh, we know that by reading theword that God has a special
place in his heart for thewidows and the fatherless, the
orphans, um, all of those thatare lower in society, he has a
(11:30):
special place in his heart forthem.
But here, that I guess, youknow, this was such an issue in
in Judah, we can tell here uhthat Isaiah keeps calling this
out.
So there's obviously some verymajor problems here with what
Judah's doing when they'rehandling these people that are
on the lower end of the scale.
So this scripture here itreiterates the earlier themes
(11:53):
from Isaiah chapter 1, verse 17.
The Mosaic law repeatedlycommanded justice for orphans
and widows, as we were justdescribing.
Uh, Exodus 22, 22 andDeuteronomy 10.18.
We went through thosescriptures uh here within this
last week or so.
But Isaiah, he condemns theexact opposite practices.
So in Mosaic law, God wastelling uh the Israelites,
(12:15):
basically, the the kingdom ofIsrael, you guys take care of
all these people, but hereIsaiah's having to condemn Judah
because the exact opposite washappening.
What God had instructed them todo with the orphans and the
widows, uh, they were not doingthat.
So Isaiah was condemning thatbecause they were basically
sinning to God by putting themto the wayside and not taking
(12:39):
care of them.
The ESV study Bible for thisscripture describes this as a
judicial and administrativedecay.
Leaders no longer care for themarginalized, which again is you
know the lowercase uh widows,the orphans, and those that fall
in that category.
And they are at the same timeusing their power for personal
enrichment, getting rich off ofthe people.
(13:01):
Alec Mulcher points out thatevery phrase presents a
deliberate inversion of theideal.
The princes who should upholdrighteousness are instead
subverting it for greed.
They become a very greedy,distinct group of people in
their leadership.
So here we're seeing aprophetic lament over
(13:23):
Jerusalem's fall from arighteous, faithful city to one
filled with corruption,injustice, and bloodshed.
Through vivid metaphors anddirect accusations, God is
exposing the more failures ofthe people.
And here it's especially he'spicking on the leadership and
calling them out for their theimpurity in the way that they
(13:45):
are being.
Once pure like silver and finewine, Judah's virtue is now
spoiled.
And as we just discussed here,the city's rulers, they're
living off of bribes, they'reconsorting with criminals, and
they're neglecting thedefenseless.
You know, commentators likeJohn Oswald, Alec Mulcher, and
Killin Delish, they emphasizethat this is not just a moral
(14:06):
sadness, but it's a covenantalcrisis.
Judah has broken faith with Godand abandoned the justice.
So these last few scripturesthat we've gone through here,
they are laying the groundworkfor God's impending judgment and
the anticipating purificationthat God is going to try to
reveal and push through uh thisland of Judah as time goes
(14:30):
along.
So as we move on here to Isaiahchapter 1, verse 24, it says,
Therefore the Lord declares, theLord of hosts, the mighty one
of Israel, Ah, I will get relieffrom my enemies and avenge
myself on my foes.
So this verse here begins withthe word therefore.
(14:54):
And what happens whenever wesee that word, therefore, in a
scripture?
Well, that links it to thepreceding verses, which dealt
with Judah's rebellion andcorruption.
So here in this verse, we seesomething a little interesting
take place.
We see a threefold title forGod.
He calls himself the Lord, hecalls himself the Lord of hosts,
(15:17):
and he calls himself the mightyone of Israel.
When this happens, God isbasically heightening the
authority and the power that'sbehind the coming judgment.
Lord of hosts, when you seethat name in the Bible, that
refers to God's command over thearmies of heaven.
There's a song out about angelarmies.
(15:39):
Well, when you hear that songabout angel armies, Lord of
hosts is the leader of that, andthat's referring to God.
Mighty one of Israel emphasizeshis strength and his covenant
relationship with Israel.
The phrase here in thescripture that says, I will get
relief from my enemies, thatimplies that Israel, although
(16:00):
that they are God's chosenpeople, had become his enemy
through their sins.
Several scholars, includingthose in the Tyndale Old
Testament commentary, theyinterpret this verse as God's
righteous indignation wheredivine justice must be
satisfied.
It's an expression of God'spassionate resolve to purify his
(16:22):
people by removing evil.
So here, God is really justshowing how angry he is with
Judah at this point.
Israel, you know, they wereGod's chosen people.
That was God's chosen land.
And the fact that they havewent against God's ways and the
(16:43):
covenants and the directionsthat God had given them, in
essence, this makes them anenemy of God to a point.
You know, for us, even as wefall away from God and we don't
allow him to stay inside of us,you know, as we become
Christians and we ask him tocome into our heart, then we
become a hosting place of God.
He lives in us.
(17:05):
And everywhere that we go,everyone should see Christ
radiing radiating out of us.
But if we fall away and wechoose not to walk that path
anymore and just do the thingsthat we want to do, then that
word called a friend of God, andthere's a song about that as
well.
Uh, for some reason, thesesongs names keep coming to my
(17:25):
mind that as I'm recording thishere, but uh we we are not a
friend of God anymore at thatpoint, in essence, with the way
that we're living, because thenwe're going down that path that
Satan wants us to go down.
So in this scripture here,God's putting this out there
under the title of three verystrong important titles that he
has.
(17:45):
They're high and mighty titles,and he is saying with
affirmation that I will have myday.
So Judah, they have a day ofcoming of judgment that they're
going to have to sit through,and God is going to remove the
enemies from his way to makesure that Judah comes back to
him where they're supposed tobe.
(18:06):
So as we move on here to Isaiahchapter 1, verse 25, it says, I
will turn my hand against youand will smelt away your dross
as with lye and remove all youralloy.
So here the imagery againshifts back to refining metal,
which is a common biblicalpicture of purification.
We see this in the Bible inmany places when we talk about
(18:30):
God refining and purifying us.
Turning my hand against you inHebrew has a disciplinary
connotation rather thandestructive.
God here, he's not saying he'sgoing to annihilate Israel, but
he's going to refine them.
Dross refers to impurities inmetal as we spoke to earlier,
(18:50):
and lie is a strong cleansingagent, emphasizing the extremity
of cleansing.
Anybody that's real familiarwith soaps, lye soap is one of
the strongest soaps that you canactually use when it comes to
cleaning very filthy, dirtythings.
And so here the imagery is inplace that God's going to use uh
(19:11):
something, you know, that's inthe essence of being like lye
soap, and he is going to purifyJudah and get all of these
impurities out that they'veallowed to come inside of them.
So the alloy mixed inrepresents moral corruption or
foreign influence.
Historically, Judah had adoptedmany of the idolatrous
(19:32):
practices of the surroundingnations.
And here in Isaiah, when hecomes into the picture and he
starts having this vision thathe's relaying to Judah, the
outside nations that werehedonistic, that were not godly,
the Israelites had allowed themto infiltrate their people and
(19:52):
to mix with them, and so theywere, in essence, in a lot of
ways, were taking on the ways ofthose sinful nations.
Several consequences.
Commentaries, including theexpositor's Bible commentary,
notes that this was a metaphorfor political, religious, and
social purification.
Such imagery vividlycommunicates both severity and
hope.
(20:13):
Judgment will come, but thejudgment's going to come for the
purpose of the restoration,because God had promised, I will
restore my people.
And because of that, that washis purpose in doing this
cleansing.
And as it said earlier, itwasn't to annihilate or to
destroy them.
He actually was going to try tojust restore them to where they
(20:33):
needed to be.
So as we move on here, we'regoing to go ahead and move on to
another verse.
As we go to Isaiah 1, verse 26,it says, And I will restore
your judges as at the first, andyour counselors as at the
beginning.
Afterward you shall be calledthe city of righteousness or the
faithful city.
So here a message of hopefollows the warning.
(20:56):
God's goal is to restore theleadership of Jerusalem.
Judges, as at the first, refersto the time under Moses and the
early days of settlement inCanaan before the monarchy.
The counselors, those implywise rulers.
The promise here is thatJerusalem will again be a place
marked by justice andfaithfulness, like they were at
(21:19):
the beginning.
Historically, this verse tiesto some of the reforms later
undertaken by kings likeHezekiah and Josiah, who
attempted to bring backrighteous ruling.
So let's take a little bit of adeeper dive here as we get into
verse 26 about those judges.
And a lot of you probably haveheard about a lot of these.
(21:42):
If you look in the Bible,there's actually a book in the
Bible called Judges.
So Isaiah chapter 1, verse 26,it says, And I will restore your
judges as at the first, andyour counselors as at the
beginning.
Afterwards you shall be calledthe city of righteousness, the
faithful city.
So this verse here is a part ofa broader section in Isaiah 1,
(22:04):
where the prophet is rebukingJerusalem or Judah for its moral
and spiritual corruption.
The city, as we know, is onceknown for justice and
faithfulness, and it's becomerebellious, filled with
injustice, idolatry, and socialoppression.
Earlier in verse 21, as youremember, Jerusalem was
described as a harlot, once fullof justice, but now corrupted.
(22:25):
We went into Hosea a little bitand talked about that.
I believe that was last week.
The verse in verse 26 here, theLord promises a future
restoration.
The statement about restoringjudges and counselors refers to
a return to the kind ofleadership that Israel had in
earlier, more faithful times,possibly alluding to the period
(22:46):
of the judges before themonarchy, or even the early days
of David and Solomon whenjustice was more faithfully
administered.
In biblical terms, judges werenot only legal authorities, but
they were also leaders whoupheld God's covenant and guided
the people into righteousness.
The restoration of judges andcounselors signifies a renewal
(23:07):
of righteous leadership, leaderswho fear God, uphold justice,
and guide people according todivine law.
This is not merely a politicalchange, but it's a spiritual and
a moral renewal.
The quality of leadership isdirectly tied to the moral
health of the nation.
As I said earlier, as theleadership is, so goes the
(23:28):
people.
The result of this restorationis that Jerusalem will once
again be called the city ofrighteousness, the faithful
city.
This is a reversal of theearlier indictment in verse 21,
where we just was talking aboutwhere the city had become
unfaithful and unjust.
The transformation fromcorruption to righteousness
reflects the redemptive work ofGod in purifying his people and
(23:51):
their institutions.
If we look at Isaiah 1, verse26 theologically, it points
forward to a messianic hope, atime when God's rule will be
re-established in justice andpeace.
Some interpreters see this asultimately fulfilled in the
reign of the Messiah, whenperfect justice and
righteousness will be restoredamong God's people.
(24:13):
Others see it as a call torepentance and reform in
Isaiah's own time, with the hopethat God would bless the nation
if it returned to its covenantfaithfulness.
Well, here in this verse, thecomment about Judges in Isaiah
1, verse 26 means that God willrenew the leadership of his
people, bringing back just andwise rulers, who actually
(24:34):
reflect his character.
They're not just there forbribery.
This restoration is part of abroader promise to cleanse and
redeem Jerusalem, turning itfrom a city of corruption into a
city of righteousness andfaithfulness once again.
It emphasizes the importance ofgodly leadership in the moral
and spiritual restoration of anation.
And if you remember, we'll do alittle quick review here of
(24:58):
those judges.
Some of the notable ones thatwere there at one point in time
with Israel.
He delivered Israel from theking of Mesopotamia, and that
was in Judges three verses seventhrough eleven.
Ehud, he was a left-handedjudge from the tribe of Benjamin
(25:18):
who delivered Israel fromMoabite oppression in Judges
three, twelve through thirty.
Deborah was a prophetess and ajudge who led Israel alongside
Barak and brought victory overthe Canaanites in Judges four
and five.
Gideon from the tribe ofManasseh, he defeated the
Midianites with a small army andbecame a significant leader in
(25:39):
Judges six through eight.
Jephthal was a warrior judgewho led Israel in battle against
the Ammonites, though his storyis marked by a tragic vow, and
that's in Judges chapter elevenand twelve.
Samson, known for his greatstrength, he fought against the
Philistines, but also hadpersonal moral failings.
(25:59):
And that's in Judges chapterthirteen through sixteen.
And then Samuel, he wasconsidered the last judge of
Israel, and he was also aprophet.
He anointed the first two kingsof Israel, which was Saul and
David, and played a key role intransitioning Israel from the
period of the judges to themonarchy.
And that's in 1 Samuel.
So here when Isaiah says inIsaiah 126, I'll restore your
(26:23):
judges as at the first, he'slikely pointing back to the time
of these judges that we justspoke of here, leaders who at
their best upheld God's justiceand guided the people in
righteousness.
This phrase is also meant toevoke a longing for godly
leadership and a return to thecovenant faithful.
In Isaiah's own time, thejudges and officials were
(26:46):
corrupt, as we just saw inIsaiah 1, verse 23.
So this promise of restorationis both a rebuke and it's also a
message of hope.
God is saying that He willpurify the leadership and bring
back justice through righteousleaders, ultimately fulfilling
in the messianic age.
So here as we wrap up verse 26,according to John Oswald's
(27:09):
commentary, this verse should beseen as both a short-term
promise with partial fulfillmentin the post-elisic return, and
a long-term prophetic vision ofthe messianic age.
The transformation fromcorruption to faithfulness, in
essence, underscores God'sredemptive plan.
So this week we made it toIsaiah chapter 1, verses 23
(27:50):
through 26.
And as we summarize this weekas we close, this is a powerful
passage that reflects God's deepdisappointment with the moral
and spiritual decay ofJerusalem.
In these scriptures, it beginsby describing how the city's
purity and righteousness havebeen corrupted.
Distilvers become dross, thewine is diluted, both of these
(28:12):
metaphors for moral compromiseand the loss of value.
Leaders are described as rebelsand companions of thieves
showing a breakdown in justiceand integrity.
They are corrupt, acceptingbribes and neglecting the needs
of the vulnerable, especiallyorphans and widows.
In the final verses there oftwenty four through twenty six,
(28:34):
God responds to this corruptionwith the declaration of judgment
and purification.
He identifies himself as theLord of hosts, the mighty one of
Israel, which is emphasizinghis authority and power.
God says he will take vengeanceon his enemies and purify the
city by removing its impurities,like dross is removed from
metal through refining.
(28:55):
He promises to restorerighteous leaders and judges as
in the beginning, so that thecity might once again be called
the city of righteousness, afaithful city.
It's amazing how when you havebad leadership, how it can
actually destroy a completenation.
But here's what God is tryingto tell them that this is what's
(29:16):
happened, and He's going to doa reforming work in Judah, but
he's going to start with theleadership.
That's where he's going to comein and reform first and purify,
and then that would move intothe people so that they would
all come back to him.
So how can we apply this today?
Well, first of all, we canapply it in our moral and
(29:37):
spiritual integrity.
You know, just like Jerusalem,individuals and societies today
can lose their moral compass.
When justice is neglected andcorruption is tolerated, it
leads to spiritual decay.
This passage challenges us toexamine our own lives and
communities for areas where wehave compromised truth and
(29:57):
righteousness.
And this part here is so true.
If you look at our country, thecondition that we're in right
now, and you look at some of themajor liberal cities that's in
the United States, and even someof the cities that are not
liberal, they still are notreally following God like they
should be.
But you will see how thatwhenever the liberalism comes in
(30:19):
and the moral and the spiritualintegrity starts to fall, then
all of those cities will losetheir moral compass.
And that's when you startseeing things like the
transgenderism, the the gay uhpeople that come in, uh the all
the unbiblical things thatangers God because it goes
against his creation and thereason that he created us and
(30:42):
the way that he created us, allof that stuff starts coming in
and it becomes the norm.
And what happens when we startseeing that all of time all of
the time, a lot of people startaccepting that stuff because
they see it so much and so oftenthat they pretty much get
immune to it and it just becomesa new normal.
But God's calling us out ofthat.
(31:04):
That is not supposed to be thenew normal.
This country was built on Godfrom the very beginning, and it
needs to stay that way so thatwe can keep our spiritual
integrity in place so that ourmoral values are protected.
Secondly, we have leadershipand justice.
The condemnation of corruptleaders is a timeless warning.
(31:25):
Leaders in all sapheres,government, business, church,
and family are called to actwith integrity and care for the
vulnerable.
The failure to do so invitesjudgment and loss of trust.
And we saw that with our lastadministration and some of the
others that we've had in place,where when leadership came into
our country, our country reallystarted going down the tubes
(31:47):
fast.
A lot of the satanic practicesthat Satan wants to uh put into
place into all the differentplaces in our country to try to
wipe out the Christian side ofthings and the way that our
country relies on God, theystarted allowing all that to
happen.
They were pushing it to happen.
And it was getting to be in avery bad state by the time that
(32:10):
finally we got to vote that outand get rid of it and get a
little bit more of a reprieve.
It's still not perfect by anymeans, but it's much better than
where we were at a year ago atthis time.
The third thing we can applyhere is God's desire to purify
and restore.
You know, even in judgment,God's goal is not destruction,
(32:30):
but restoration.
He desires to cleanse andrefine his people so they can
fulfill their original purpose.
This offers hope that no matterhow far we or our communities
have strayed, God is willing andable to restore us if we turn
back to him.
And we see this in our livesall the time, where if we get
away from God and we startstraying away, we might start
seeing things happen in our lifethat all of a sudden seems to
(32:53):
be out of our control.
And it might make cause badthings to happen to us or cause
bad things to happen to ourfamilies.
And sometimes, you know, peopleask, well, why would a good God
allow some of that stuff?
You know, if it's really bad,you'll hear that question asked.
And you know, it's not that Godallows it, it's the fact that
we allow it to come into ourlives, and then God allows that
(33:16):
to take place because it becomesa lesson to us.
If we take God out of theequation and we no longer follow
Him and we decide to go our ownway in our own path, then we
are setting our own path at thatpoint and determining that
we're going to move on withoutGod and do it on our own, and
then that's when those badthings start happening.
So God will allow those thingsto happen sometimes just to
(33:38):
create a type of judgment in ourlives, hoping that that will
restore us back to Him.
And then the fourth thing herethat we can apply is social
responsibility.
The neglect of the fatherlessand the widow that we've talked
about in these scriptures todayhighlights the importance of
social justice.
God cares deeply about how wetreat the marginalized.
(33:59):
This calls us to advocate forand support those who are
vulnerable in our society.
And today we probably have morethan ever of people that do
need this kind of help from allof us that are capable of doing
it.
And we need to make sure thatwe keep those on our radar.
Wherever these people are at,we need to ask God to reveal to
(34:22):
us the path that he set beforeus to help these people and be
there for them and be Jesus'hands and feet.
You know, Jesus came and hegave us a model when he washed
the feet of his disciples.
He came and said, I came not tobe served, I came to be a
servant.
That's exactly why I'm here andI call you now to go out and to
(34:44):
serve people.
So as Christians, that's thebest thing that we can do to
follow God's plan when we takecare of those that are
vulnerable in our society.
So these verses that we readtoday and went through are both
a sobering warning and a hopefulpromise.
It reminds us that while Goddoes take sin seriously, he is
(35:04):
also committed to refining andrestoring his people.
This passage encourages us topursue justice, integrity, and
compassion in our lives today.
Well, that's going to do it forthis week.
We'll be back next week and wewill continue this
verse-by-verse study here inIsaiah.
But as we go, we always sharethis with you guys.
(35:27):
We believe that God's wordnever fails us.
God's word has stood the testof time, and through Jesus'
death on the cross, he hasconnected the gap.
This is an extension ofConnecting the Gap Ministries,
and we pray that you have ablessed week.
So what point did Judah look at corruption,
bribery, and ignoring justiceand say, yep, this seems like a
solid life plan?
And did they all collectivelymiss the memo that God can
actually tell when his people gofrom faithful city to full-on
dumpster fire?
And just checking, were theyplanning to fix this whole
leader's love and bribes morethan justice thing?
(00:28):
Or were they waiting on acelestial push notification from
God?
Well, welcome back toConnecting the Gap where we dive
into scripture one passage at atime and occasionally discover
that the Israelites found brandnew creative ways to miss the
point.
Today we're going to be jumpingback into Isaiah chapter 1,
starting with verse 22, whereGod gives his people a spiritual
(00:49):
performance review.
And let's just say thatnobody's getting a bonus.
In this section, God talksabout how the once faithful
city, Jerusalem, has basicallygone from model citizen to crime
documentary special.
The leaders are corrupt,bribery is trending, and justice
has apparently been put on apermanent coffee break.
If God had Yelp, this would bethe one-star review that he
(01:11):
leaves with no polite wording.
But here's the good news, Goddoesn't just point out the mess,
he promises to clean it up.
He says he'll turn his handagainst the impurities, refine
his people, and restorerighteousness.
It's kind of like God saying,don't worry, I brought the holy
pressure washer.
So grab your Bible, yourcoffee, and maybe a spiritual
seatbelt because we're going tobe taking a look at how faithful
(01:33):
cities fell apart and how Godsteps in not to destroy, but to
redeem and restore.
Let's get to it.
Welcome back to Connecting theGap.
This is a podcast aboutmarriage, Bible, and book study,
and we interview people thathave a story.
I'm Daniel Moore, your host.
(01:54):
Thank you guys for joining usthis week.
If you're not familiar with ourshow, check out our website at
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Our platforms are there.
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(02:15):
So free to leave a comment onour platforms, give us a thumbs
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these episodes, and we'd begrateful to you for doing that.
Our new book is out, Marriageis a Mission, Living Out God's
Design for Marriage.
You can pick up your copy ofthe paperback, hardback, or
ebook at Amazon.com.
And in addition, we have asix-session study guide that you
(02:36):
can purchase separately,exclusively on Amazon as well
for that book.
And we just released our newestbook, 42 Days to a Stronger
Marriage, a Christ-centereddevotional for couples.
That make a very good Christmaspresent between all of those
books.
That one's also available onthree formats on Amazon as well.
So go pick yours up today.
(02:58):
Well, thank you guys forjoining us.
As I said earlier, we're goingto go ahead and get back into
our verse-by-verse study inIsaiah this week.
And this week we're going to bestarting with Isaiah chapter 1,
and we're going to start withverse 22.
As we start off this week withour section of scripture that
(03:27):
we're going to attempt to makeit through this week, I have it
set down here for Isaiah 22 and23, 24, and 25.
We may get to 26.
We'll see how far we get, butwe're going to go ahead and read
these four scriptures, and theyare out of the ESV version of
the Bible.
Isaiah 1, verse 22 says, Yoursilver has become dross, your
(03:49):
best wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebels andcompanions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe and runsafter gifts.
They do not bring justice tothe fatherless, and the widow's
cause does not come to them.
Therefore the Lord declares,the Lord of hosts, the mighty
one of Israel, Ah, I will getrelief from my enemies and
(04:12):
avenge myself on my foes.
I will turn my hand againstyou, and will smelt away your
dross as with lie and remove allyour alloy.
That's Isaiah chapter one,verse twenty two through
twenty-five.
As we start here with versetwenty-two, says your silver has
become dross, and your bestwine mixed with water.
(04:35):
Well, here Isaiah, as he hasbeen doing so here through this
whole first chapter of Isaiah sofar, is continuing with
metaphors to describe moralcorruption.
Silver has become dross, meanswhat once was pure and valuable
has now been corrupted and isnow worthless.
(04:55):
Your best wine mixed with watersignifies dilution, compromise,
and degradation.
Wine and silver were symbols ofprosperity and purity.
Well now they were bothdefiled.
This speaks to the degenerationof values and ethics among the
leaders and the people of Judah.
(05:17):
What once was honest is nowfilled with deceit.
From a historical perspective,Isaiah here was prophesying
during a time when Judah hadoutward religious life, but
inward decay.
As we've been talking abouthere in the last several verses,
we've been talking about howJudah they were putting out all
of these different things toGod, the worship and the
(05:39):
sacrifice and all the thingsthat they normally were supposed
to be doing, but it was all anoutward expression.
Their hearts were not reallyinvolved and really tuned in to
what they were doing.
It was all a big act.
They were putting on a mask andbeing fake in their worship to
God.
And God here was He's beentrying to call them out for
(06:00):
this.
And as we're talking here withthe wine mixed with water and
the silver has become dross, weall know that if we take silver,
if we would melt that down andmix that with a different kind
of a metal where it's not puresilver anymore, and we cast that
into a ring or into some kindof a piece of jewelry, we took
that to the jeweler and wehanded that to him.
(06:21):
And if he was able to look atthat piece of jewelry and
determine that that was not ahundred percent silver, what
happens to the value of that?
It drops.
And why is that?
Because that silver has becometainted, it's not pure anymore.
And the same way with wine.
If you want a good, you know,glass of strong wine and you go
(06:44):
and you mix that with water,what does it do?
It dilutes it down.
You're gonna lose a lot of theflavor, you're gonna lose a lot
of the purity in that wine.
It's just not gonna be the samedrink anymore.
And here, you know, Isaiah istrying to get through to the
people of Judah where where Godis trying to let them know, hey,
you know, you guys, you'reyou're not the same spiritual
(07:07):
people that I've called you tobe.
You're allowing Satan to comein and infiltrate your heart,
your soul, your spirit, yourmind.
And even though you think thatyou are actually worshiping me,
maybe you don't think you areworshiping me, maybe you know
that you are doing wrong.
But regardless of whichever wayit may be, it's a diluted
(07:28):
religion.
It's a diluted belief that theyhave in God.
They're only bringing half ofthe gifts to God that He's
called them to do.
The public commentary here seesthese images as indicating an
overall loss of character in thenation, a decline in both
material and moral quality.
The religious and civic leadersespecially had become impure
(07:51):
and ineffective.
And if you ever heard thatsaying, as the leadership goes,
so goes the people.
That's kind of what's happeninghere because even the
leadership within Judah hasmorally decayed and spiritually
decayed to a point where it'snow filtrating down into the
people, and they've become anation that's totally rejected
(08:12):
God.
And they're more into the self,they're more doing things to
make themselves feel happy andto make themselves feel
fulfilled.
So using this metaphor here,Isaiah is trying to get through
to the people of Judah to helpthem understand how God looks at
their salvation, how God'slooking at their heart at this
point, that they're not ahundred percent all in.
(08:34):
Verse 23 says, Your princes arerebels and companions of
thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe and runsafter gifts.
They do not bring justice tothe fatherless, and the widow's
cause does not come to them.
So here Isaiah is calling outeven more so the corruption,
especially of the leadership.
This verse describes Judah'sleadership as being completely
(08:57):
corrupt.
Where it says princes arerebels, that suggests that not
only are they being unfaithfulto God, but also to their
vocation as just rulers.
So we can probably see herethat even maybe if they were
going to court of law, or if theleadership was having to, you
know, judge cases betweendifferent people, they may have
(09:20):
been even corrupt in the waythat they were judging these
cases and not being fair to thepeople and cheating them out of
what was rightfully theirs.
Being companions of thieves inthis scripture suggests that
they are embracing criminalbehavior and they're sharing an
unjust gain.
Whatever they can do to maketheir prosperity rise, if they
(09:41):
can make money under the tablein a shady way, you know, by
being unfaithful to the peopleand uh by stealing from them
basically with the processesthat they go through, making it
look like that they are good,just people, but there's a a
conniving thing behind it.
They're being shady in the waythat they're dealing, and
(10:02):
they're becoming rich at theexpense of the common person.
And so here Isaiah is trying tocall them out for that and
accusing them of embracingcriminal behavior.
You know, they're not anydifferent than the thieves at
this point.
The scripture continues,everyone loves a bribe and runs
after gifts.
Again, this shows somesystematic corruption.
(10:24):
Justice is bought, and thepowerless, especially the
fatherless and widows, aresymbolic of the society's most
vulnerable, are ignored.
And so here we see some briberygoing on.
If, like I said earlier, maybea court case was coming to court
between two differentindividuals, and whichever one
had the most money and had themost power with their
(10:47):
possessions and the things thatthey had, uh, this is
insinuating that there mighthave been some bribing going on,
that they were bribing thosejudges or the leadership to rule
in their favor, which thenagain patted the pockets of the
leadership.
And so here Isaiah is callingthat out, telling them that you
know you're being very sinful inthe way that you're carrying
(11:09):
yourselves, especially asleadership of the nation of
Judah.
And of course, the widows, wetalked about that last week and
some of the previous verseswe've been through.
Uh, we know that by reading theword that God has a special
place in his heart for thewidows and the fatherless, the
orphans, um, all of those thatare lower in society, he has a
(11:30):
special place in his heart forthem.
But here, that I guess, youknow, this was such an issue in
in Judah, we can tell here uhthat Isaiah keeps calling this
out.
So there's obviously some verymajor problems here with what
Judah's doing when they'rehandling these people that are
on the lower end of the scale.
So this scripture here itreiterates the earlier themes
(11:53):
from Isaiah chapter 1, verse 17.
The Mosaic law repeatedlycommanded justice for orphans
and widows, as we were justdescribing.
Uh, Exodus 22, 22 andDeuteronomy 10.18.
We went through thosescriptures uh here within this
last week or so.
But Isaiah, he condemns theexact opposite practices.
So in Mosaic law, God wastelling uh the Israelites,
(12:15):
basically, the the kingdom ofIsrael, you guys take care of
all these people, but hereIsaiah's having to condemn Judah
because the exact opposite washappening.
What God had instructed them todo with the orphans and the
widows, uh, they were not doingthat.
So Isaiah was condemning thatbecause they were basically
sinning to God by putting themto the wayside and not taking
(12:39):
care of them.
The ESV study Bible for thisscripture describes this as a
judicial and administrativedecay.
Leaders no longer care for themarginalized, which again is you
know the lowercase uh widows,the orphans, and those that fall
in that category.
And they are at the same timeusing their power for personal
enrichment, getting rich off ofthe people.
(13:01):
Alec Mulcher points out thatevery phrase presents a
deliberate inversion of theideal.
The princes who should upholdrighteousness are instead
subverting it for greed.
They become a very greedy,distinct group of people in
their leadership.
So here we're seeing aprophetic lament over
(13:23):
Jerusalem's fall from arighteous, faithful city to one
filled with corruption,injustice, and bloodshed.
Through vivid metaphors anddirect accusations, God is
exposing the more failures ofthe people.
And here it's especially he'spicking on the leadership and
calling them out for their theimpurity in the way that they
(13:45):
are being.
Once pure like silver and finewine, Judah's virtue is now
spoiled.
And as we just discussed here,the city's rulers, they're
living off of bribes, they'reconsorting with criminals, and
they're neglecting thedefenseless.
You know, commentators likeJohn Oswald, Alec Mulcher, and
Killin Delish, they emphasizethat this is not just a moral
(14:06):
sadness, but it's a covenantalcrisis.
Judah has broken faith with Godand abandoned the justice.
So these last few scripturesthat we've gone through here,
they are laying the groundworkfor God's impending judgment and
the anticipating purificationthat God is going to try to
reveal and push through uh thisland of Judah as time goes
(14:30):
along.
So as we move on here to Isaiahchapter 1, verse 24, it says,
Therefore the Lord declares, theLord of hosts, the mighty one
of Israel, Ah, I will get relieffrom my enemies and avenge
myself on my foes.
So this verse here begins withthe word therefore.
(14:54):
And what happens whenever wesee that word, therefore, in a
scripture?
Well, that links it to thepreceding verses, which dealt
with Judah's rebellion andcorruption.
So here in this verse, we seesomething a little interesting
take place.
We see a threefold title forGod.
He calls himself the Lord, hecalls himself the Lord of hosts,
(15:17):
and he calls himself the mightyone of Israel.
When this happens, God isbasically heightening the
authority and the power that'sbehind the coming judgment.
Lord of hosts, when you seethat name in the Bible, that
refers to God's command over thearmies of heaven.
There's a song out about angelarmies.
(15:39):
Well, when you hear that songabout angel armies, Lord of
hosts is the leader of that, andthat's referring to God.
Mighty one of Israel emphasizeshis strength and his covenant
relationship with Israel.
The phrase here in thescripture that says, I will get
relief from my enemies, thatimplies that Israel, although
(16:00):
that they are God's chosenpeople, had become his enemy
through their sins.
Several scholars, includingthose in the Tyndale Old
Testament commentary, theyinterpret this verse as God's
righteous indignation wheredivine justice must be
satisfied.
It's an expression of God'spassionate resolve to purify his
(16:22):
people by removing evil.
So here, God is really justshowing how angry he is with
Judah at this point.
Israel, you know, they wereGod's chosen people.
That was God's chosen land.
And the fact that they havewent against God's ways and the
(16:43):
covenants and the directionsthat God had given them, in
essence, this makes them anenemy of God to a point.
You know, for us, even as wefall away from God and we don't
allow him to stay inside of us,you know, as we become
Christians and we ask him tocome into our heart, then we
become a hosting place of God.
He lives in us.
(17:05):
And everywhere that we go,everyone should see Christ
radiing radiating out of us.
But if we fall away and wechoose not to walk that path
anymore and just do the thingsthat we want to do, then that
word called a friend of God, andthere's a song about that as
well.
Uh, for some reason, thesesongs names keep coming to my
(17:25):
mind that as I'm recording thishere, but uh we we are not a
friend of God anymore at thatpoint, in essence, with the way
that we're living, because thenwe're going down that path that
Satan wants us to go down.
So in this scripture here,God's putting this out there
under the title of three verystrong important titles that he
has.
(17:45):
They're high and mighty titles,and he is saying with
affirmation that I will have myday.
So Judah, they have a day ofcoming of judgment that they're
going to have to sit through,and God is going to remove the
enemies from his way to makesure that Judah comes back to
him where they're supposed tobe.
(18:06):
So as we move on here to Isaiahchapter 1, verse 25, it says, I
will turn my hand against youand will smelt away your dross
as with lye and remove all youralloy.
So here the imagery againshifts back to refining metal,
which is a common biblicalpicture of purification.
We see this in the Bible inmany places when we talk about
(18:30):
God refining and purifying us.
Turning my hand against you inHebrew has a disciplinary
connotation rather thandestructive.
God here, he's not saying he'sgoing to annihilate Israel, but
he's going to refine them.
Dross refers to impurities inmetal as we spoke to earlier,
(18:50):
and lie is a strong cleansingagent, emphasizing the extremity
of cleansing.
Anybody that's real familiarwith soaps, lye soap is one of
the strongest soaps that you canactually use when it comes to
cleaning very filthy, dirtythings.
And so here the imagery is inplace that God's going to use uh
(19:11):
something, you know, that's inthe essence of being like lye
soap, and he is going to purifyJudah and get all of these
impurities out that they'veallowed to come inside of them.
So the alloy mixed inrepresents moral corruption or
foreign influence.
Historically, Judah had adoptedmany of the idolatrous
(19:32):
practices of the surroundingnations.
And here in Isaiah, when hecomes into the picture and he
starts having this vision thathe's relaying to Judah, the
outside nations that werehedonistic, that were not godly,
the Israelites had allowed themto infiltrate their people and
(19:52):
to mix with them, and so theywere, in essence, in a lot of
ways, were taking on the ways ofthose sinful nations.
Several consequences.
Commentaries, including theexpositor's Bible commentary,
notes that this was a metaphorfor political, religious, and
social purification.
Such imagery vividlycommunicates both severity and
hope.
(20:13):
Judgment will come, but thejudgment's going to come for the
purpose of the restoration,because God had promised, I will
restore my people.
And because of that, that washis purpose in doing this
cleansing.
And as it said earlier, itwasn't to annihilate or to
destroy them.
He actually was going to try tojust restore them to where they
(20:33):
needed to be.
So as we move on here, we'regoing to go ahead and move on to
another verse.
As we go to Isaiah 1, verse 26,it says, And I will restore
your judges as at the first, andyour counselors as at the
beginning.
Afterward you shall be calledthe city of righteousness or the
faithful city.
So here a message of hopefollows the warning.
(20:56):
God's goal is to restore theleadership of Jerusalem.
Judges, as at the first, refersto the time under Moses and the
early days of settlement inCanaan before the monarchy.
The counselors, those implywise rulers.
The promise here is thatJerusalem will again be a place
marked by justice andfaithfulness, like they were at
(21:19):
the beginning.
Historically, this verse tiesto some of the reforms later
undertaken by kings likeHezekiah and Josiah, who
attempted to bring backrighteous ruling.
So let's take a little bit of adeeper dive here as we get into
verse 26 about those judges.
And a lot of you probably haveheard about a lot of these.
(21:42):
If you look in the Bible,there's actually a book in the
Bible called Judges.
So Isaiah chapter 1, verse 26,it says, And I will restore your
judges as at the first, andyour counselors as at the
beginning.
Afterwards you shall be calledthe city of righteousness, the
faithful city.
So this verse here is a part ofa broader section in Isaiah 1,
(22:04):
where the prophet is rebukingJerusalem or Judah for its moral
and spiritual corruption.
The city, as we know, is onceknown for justice and
faithfulness, and it's becomerebellious, filled with
injustice, idolatry, and socialoppression.
Earlier in verse 21, as youremember, Jerusalem was
described as a harlot, once fullof justice, but now corrupted.
(22:25):
We went into Hosea a little bitand talked about that.
I believe that was last week.
The verse in verse 26 here, theLord promises a future
restoration.
The statement about restoringjudges and counselors refers to
a return to the kind ofleadership that Israel had in
earlier, more faithful times,possibly alluding to the period
(22:46):
of the judges before themonarchy, or even the early days
of David and Solomon whenjustice was more faithfully
administered.
In biblical terms, judges werenot only legal authorities, but
they were also leaders whoupheld God's covenant and guided
the people into righteousness.
The restoration of judges andcounselors signifies a renewal
(23:07):
of righteous leadership, leaderswho fear God, uphold justice,
and guide people according todivine law.
This is not merely a politicalchange, but it's a spiritual and
a moral renewal.
The quality of leadership isdirectly tied to the moral
health of the nation.
As I said earlier, as theleadership is, so goes the
(23:28):
people.
The result of this restorationis that Jerusalem will once
again be called the city ofrighteousness, the faithful
city.
This is a reversal of theearlier indictment in verse 21,
where we just was talking aboutwhere the city had become
unfaithful and unjust.
The transformation fromcorruption to righteousness
reflects the redemptive work ofGod in purifying his people and
(23:51):
their institutions.
If we look at Isaiah 1, verse26 theologically, it points
forward to a messianic hope, atime when God's rule will be
re-established in justice andpeace.
Some interpreters see this asultimately fulfilled in the
reign of the Messiah, whenperfect justice and
righteousness will be restoredamong God's people.
(24:13):
Others see it as a call torepentance and reform in
Isaiah's own time, with the hopethat God would bless the nation
if it returned to its covenantfaithfulness.
Well, here in this verse, thecomment about Judges in Isaiah
1, verse 26 means that God willrenew the leadership of his
people, bringing back just andwise rulers, who actually
(24:34):
reflect his character.
They're not just there forbribery.
This restoration is part of abroader promise to cleanse and
redeem Jerusalem, turning itfrom a city of corruption into a
city of righteousness andfaithfulness once again.
It emphasizes the importance ofgodly leadership in the moral
and spiritual restoration of anation.
And if you remember, we'll do alittle quick review here of
(24:58):
those judges.
Some of the notable ones thatwere there at one point in time
with Israel.
He delivered Israel from theking of Mesopotamia, and that
was in Judges three verses seventhrough eleven.
Ehud, he was a left-handedjudge from the tribe of Benjamin
(25:18):
who delivered Israel fromMoabite oppression in Judges
three, twelve through thirty.
Deborah was a prophetess and ajudge who led Israel alongside
Barak and brought victory overthe Canaanites in Judges four
and five.
Gideon from the tribe ofManasseh, he defeated the
Midianites with a small army andbecame a significant leader in
(25:39):
Judges six through eight.
Jephthal was a warrior judgewho led Israel in battle against
the Ammonites, though his storyis marked by a tragic vow, and
that's in Judges chapter elevenand twelve.
Samson, known for his greatstrength, he fought against the
Philistines, but also hadpersonal moral failings.
(25:59):
And that's in Judges chapterthirteen through sixteen.
And then Samuel, he wasconsidered the last judge of
Israel, and he was also aprophet.
He anointed the first two kingsof Israel, which was Saul and
David, and played a key role intransitioning Israel from the
period of the judges to themonarchy.
And that's in 1 Samuel.
So here when Isaiah says inIsaiah 126, I'll restore your
(26:23):
judges as at the first, he'slikely pointing back to the time
of these judges that we justspoke of here, leaders who at
their best upheld God's justiceand guided the people in
righteousness.
This phrase is also meant toevoke a longing for godly
leadership and a return to thecovenant faithful.
In Isaiah's own time, thejudges and officials were
(26:46):
corrupt, as we just saw inIsaiah 1, verse 23.
So this promise of restorationis both a rebuke and it's also a
message of hope.
God is saying that He willpurify the leadership and bring
back justice through righteousleaders, ultimately fulfilling
in the messianic age.
So here as we wrap up verse 26,according to John Oswald's
(27:09):
commentary, this verse should beseen as both a short-term
promise with partial fulfillmentin the post-elisic return, and
a long-term prophetic vision ofthe messianic age.
The transformation fromcorruption to faithfulness, in
essence, underscores God'sredemptive plan.
So this week we made it toIsaiah chapter 1, verses 23
(27:50):
through 26.
And as we summarize this weekas we close, this is a powerful
passage that reflects God's deepdisappointment with the moral
and spiritual decay ofJerusalem.
In these scriptures, it beginsby describing how the city's
purity and righteousness havebeen corrupted.
Distilvers become dross, thewine is diluted, both of these
(28:12):
metaphors for moral compromiseand the loss of value.
Leaders are described as rebelsand companions of thieves
showing a breakdown in justiceand integrity.
They are corrupt, acceptingbribes and neglecting the needs
of the vulnerable, especiallyorphans and widows.
In the final verses there oftwenty four through twenty six,
(28:34):
God responds to this corruptionwith the declaration of judgment
and purification.
He identifies himself as theLord of hosts, the mighty one of
Israel, which is emphasizinghis authority and power.
God says he will take vengeanceon his enemies and purify the
city by removing its impurities,like dross is removed from
metal through refining.
(28:55):
He promises to restorerighteous leaders and judges as
in the beginning, so that thecity might once again be called
the city of righteousness, afaithful city.
It's amazing how when you havebad leadership, how it can
actually destroy a completenation.
But here's what God is tryingto tell them that this is what's
(29:16):
happened, and He's going to doa reforming work in Judah, but
he's going to start with theleadership.
That's where he's going to comein and reform first and purify,
and then that would move intothe people so that they would
all come back to him.
So how can we apply this today?
Well, first of all, we canapply it in our moral and
(29:37):
spiritual integrity.
You know, just like Jerusalem,individuals and societies today
can lose their moral compass.
When justice is neglected andcorruption is tolerated, it
leads to spiritual decay.
This passage challenges us toexamine our own lives and
communities for areas where wehave compromised truth and
(29:57):
righteousness.
And this part here is so true.
If you look at our country, thecondition that we're in right
now, and you look at some of themajor liberal cities that's in
the United States, and even someof the cities that are not
liberal, they still are notreally following God like they
should be.
But you will see how thatwhenever the liberalism comes in
(30:19):
and the moral and the spiritualintegrity starts to fall, then
all of those cities will losetheir moral compass.
And that's when you startseeing things like the
transgenderism, the the gay uhpeople that come in, uh the all
the unbiblical things thatangers God because it goes
against his creation and thereason that he created us and
(30:42):
the way that he created us, allof that stuff starts coming in
and it becomes the norm.
And what happens when we startseeing that all of time all of
the time, a lot of people startaccepting that stuff because
they see it so much and so oftenthat they pretty much get
immune to it and it just becomesa new normal.
But God's calling us out ofthat.
(31:04):
That is not supposed to be thenew normal.
This country was built on Godfrom the very beginning, and it
needs to stay that way so thatwe can keep our spiritual
integrity in place so that ourmoral values are protected.
Secondly, we have leadershipand justice.
The condemnation of corruptleaders is a timeless warning.
(31:25):
Leaders in all sapheres,government, business, church,
and family are called to actwith integrity and care for the
vulnerable.
The failure to do so invitesjudgment and loss of trust.
And we saw that with our lastadministration and some of the
others that we've had in place,where when leadership came into
our country, our country reallystarted going down the tubes
(31:47):
fast.
A lot of the satanic practicesthat Satan wants to uh put into
place into all the differentplaces in our country to try to
wipe out the Christian side ofthings and the way that our
country relies on God, theystarted allowing all that to
happen.
They were pushing it to happen.
And it was getting to be in avery bad state by the time that
(32:10):
finally we got to vote that outand get rid of it and get a
little bit more of a reprieve.
It's still not perfect by anymeans, but it's much better than
where we were at a year ago atthis time.
The third thing we can applyhere is God's desire to purify
and restore.
You know, even in judgment,God's goal is not destruction,
(32:30):
but restoration.
He desires to cleanse andrefine his people so they can
fulfill their original purpose.
This offers hope that no matterhow far we or our communities
have strayed, God is willing andable to restore us if we turn
back to him.
And we see this in our livesall the time, where if we get
away from God and we startstraying away, we might start
seeing things happen in our lifethat all of a sudden seems to
(32:53):
be out of our control.
And it might make cause badthings to happen to us or cause
bad things to happen to ourfamilies.
And sometimes, you know, peopleask, well, why would a good God
allow some of that stuff?
You know, if it's really bad,you'll hear that question asked.
And you know, it's not that Godallows it, it's the fact that
we allow it to come into ourlives, and then God allows that
(33:16):
to take place because it becomesa lesson to us.
If we take God out of theequation and we no longer follow
Him and we decide to go our ownway in our own path, then we
are setting our own path at thatpoint and determining that
we're going to move on withoutGod and do it on our own, and
then that's when those badthings start happening.
So God will allow those thingsto happen sometimes just to
(33:38):
create a type of judgment in ourlives, hoping that that will
restore us back to Him.
And then the fourth thing herethat we can apply is social
responsibility.
The neglect of the fatherlessand the widow that we've talked
about in these scriptures todayhighlights the importance of
social justice.
God cares deeply about how wetreat the marginalized.
(33:59):
This calls us to advocate forand support those who are
vulnerable in our society.
And today we probably have morethan ever of people that do
need this kind of help from allof us that are capable of doing
it.
And we need to make sure thatwe keep those on our radar.
Wherever these people are at,we need to ask God to reveal to
(34:22):
us the path that he set beforeus to help these people and be
there for them and be Jesus'hands and feet.
You know, Jesus came and hegave us a model when he washed
the feet of his disciples.
He came and said, I came not tobe served, I came to be a
servant.
That's exactly why I'm here andI call you now to go out and to
(34:44):
serve people.
So as Christians, that's thebest thing that we can do to
follow God's plan when we takecare of those that are
vulnerable in our society.
So these verses that we readtoday and went through are both
a sobering warning and a hopefulpromise.
It reminds us that while Goddoes take sin seriously, he is
(35:04):
also committed to refining andrestoring his people.
This passage encourages us topursue justice, integrity, and
compassion in our lives today.
Well, that's going to do it forthis week.
We'll be back next week and wewill continue this
verse-by-verse study here inIsaiah.
But as we go, we always sharethis with you guys.
(35:27):
We believe that God's wordnever fails us.
God's word has stood the testof time, and through Jesus'
death on the cross, he hasconnected the gap.
This is an extension ofConnecting the Gap Ministries,
and we pray that you have ablessed week.
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