Sermon Tone Analysis

“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.

If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

We have acquired a new evangelical God.

He no longer burns with the fire of judgement or shines with the blinding white light of unapproachable righteousness.

His Son is not stained with the blood of the sacrifice, nor are His followers aware of any blood on their own hands that would put them in need of such a sacrifice.

He is a kinder, gentler God, more in touch with the felt needs of the people.

This God is fashionable; He matches the prevailing colour of newer sanctuaries.

Colour Him mauve.

For most of history, God has not been popular.

He has been more inclined to choose the weak things over the strong.

Most people have thought His message foolish.

He used to say that the fear of Him was the first step in finding Him.

No wonder so few have followed Him.

Of course, all that has changed since God has adopted mauve as His colour.

This is exciting news for ministers.

They can finally put behind them the maligning they used to get from the world and preach a gospel everyone will be eager to hear—God really does like us; He accepts us just as we are and without demanding that we change!

Those scary messages about sin and guilt and judgement and the cross were old-fashioned ways of telling people that God wants them to feel good about themselves.

All that about judging sin and dying on the cross—that was God’s business, theological stuff He had to deal with so He could be nice.

Now that it’s over, people don’t need to hear about all that uncomfortable stuff.

All they need to know is that God likes them and has wonderful plans for their lives.

I trust you recognise the sarcasm.

Though much of the teaching of the Old Covenant is rejected as overly harsh and far too demanding, it is nevertheless the Word of God.

We dare not dismiss what has been written there as though it had no value for us today.

What we do discover when we encounter God in the pages of the Word is a God defined by bold colours.

Contemporary religious ideals are presented in dull, drab greys and muted shades; however, the Bible portrays God in brilliant, bold, scintillating colours that cannot be toned down.

Mankind’s sinful condition and the Lord’s holy perfection stand in distinct contrast to one another—the brilliance of His righteousness cannot be mixed or blended with the darkness of mankind’s sinful condition.

Job asked the question, “Who can produce something pure from what is impure?”

Then, he answered his own question: “No one” [JOB 14:4]!

[2]

Failure to make a distinction between what is holy and what is unholy brought censure on the priests under the Old Covenant.

God, speaking through Ezekiel charged, “[Judah’s] priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things.

They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them” [EZEKIEL 22:26].

You will recall that there was to be a bold distinction between the holy and the common.

Moses had given the instruction in the Law, “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses” [LEVITICUS 10:10, 11].

Even in the matter of food, those responsible to instruct the people were “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten” [LEVITICUS 11:47].

Even down to the Millennial reign of the Lord Jesus, those appointed to holy office are responsible to discriminate, to distinguishing between holy and common.

“[The priests] shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean” [EZEKIEL 44:23].

*THINK!* “Come, now, let us reason together, says the Lord.”

Thus does God call His people to think; He challenges them to engage in vigorously defending their case.

“Reason together” is a rather weak translation of the Hebrew.

This is a judicial term used when one would argue his case in a court of law.

It speaks of arguing or proving the case.

[3] Perhaps it would be more accurate to translate this challenge, “Let us debate the case in court.”

[4] In short, God challenges Israel, and consequently all who read this challenge, to think!

Consider how to frame your disobedience to Him; think carefully in order to see if it is rational or reasonable.

It is vital that we keep in mind that the passage under consideration is not written to the world—God is not asking the lost somehow to justify themselves or even to attempt to do so.

The LORD calls on those who are called by His Name to justify why they are acting as they do, why they are disobedient.

Go back and note the repeated references to the relationship once enjoyed by those He now addresses.

“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the LORD has spoken:

‘Children have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.’

[ISAIAH 1:2, 3]

“Israel does not know!”

“My people do not understand!”

His own people are being addressed!

The LORD God continues castigating the people called by His Name.

“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.”

[ISAIAH 1:4]

What sins had the people committed?

In what ways had the people proven disobedient?

Isaiah charged them with murder [see VERSE 21], robbery, bribery, exploitation of the vulnerable [see VERSE 23] and idolatry [see VERSE 29].

Grasp the reason for God’s anger and you will begin to understand the horror of what He says.

It has rightly been said that God does not discipline the devil’s children; however, if a people claim relationship to Him, they must know that He will not tolerate sin; they will be held responsible to obey Him.

Is this not the stern message of the writer of the Letter to Hebrew Christians? “It is for discipline that you have to endure.

God is treating you as sons.

For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them.

Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness” [HEBREWS 12:7-10].

I bring up this matter early in this study because I would have you see that what was written so many millennia past is relevant to us in this day late in the Age of Grace.

God is warning us through the warning that He issued to Israel.

The warning given is applicable to the faithful in this day.

We who are called by the Name of the Son of God must not imagine that we can live without regard to the will of God—we cannot!

In the immediate context of the passage, God challenges Israel to present their case.

Rebellion and stubbornness will assuredly bring destruction, as they knew so very well.

This is the warning of verse twenty.

“If you refuse [to obey] and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword.”

[ISAIAH 1:20]

Alternatively, if they submitted to His reign and changed their behaviour in order to honour Him, they would receive forgiveness and experience restoration.

“If you are willing and obedient,