Chapter 59 of Isaiah struck me. First of all, when I read it, I felt like Isaiah just kept repeating over and over again “You’re not righteous. You’re not righteous.” But it was more than that. As I read it, it changed. It changed from a record of deceit and sin to one of justice, followed by a promise to the repentent. But again, that’s not really what really impacted me. Let me lead you to it. First, here Isiah 59, up to verse 15… well not exactly. I’ve broken it down into the component parts of righteousness and what was true of Israel at this time. Notice that Isaiah is writing of Israel in general. As you can see in verse 13, he includes himself, not to say that he wasn’t righteous, but that corporately, as a people, Israel was not righteous.  You will see later that individuals within an unrighteous nation can still be righteous.
Believing God
v. 3: Your lips have spoken lies
v. 4: They rely on empty arguments and speak lies
v. 13 uttering lies our hearts have conceived
v. 14: truth has stumbled in the streets
v. 15: Truth is nowhere to be found
Obeying God
v. 2: your iniquities have separated you from your God
v. 2: your sins have hidden his face from you
v. 4: they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
v. 6: Their deeds are evil deeds
v. 6: acts of violence are in their hands.
v. 7: Their feet rush into sin
v. 12: our sins testify against us
v. 12: we acknowledge our iniquities
Justice
v. 4: No one calls for justice
v. 8: there is no justice in their paths.
v. 9: So justice is far from us
v. 11: We look for justice, but find none
v. 14: So justice is driven back
Righteousness
v. 9:Â righteousness does not reach us.
v. 14: righteousness stands at a distance
…and then Isaiah goes on to tell what God did.Â
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      The LORD looked and was displeased
      that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no one,
      he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
      so his own arm worked salvation for him,
      and his own righteousness sustained him.
Verse 16 is an awesome verse. It shows both his dependence on us, and his independence. He does not need us for sustenance. But, when we are righteous, it is like God gives us some of His own sustenance (i.e., He credits us with righteousness), and sustains Himself through us. But we see here that it is by choice… His preference. But where people discard Him, He discards them, because in their unrighteousness they have chosen to be discarded. So here is what God does…
 17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
      and the helmet of salvation on his head;
      he put on the garments of vengeance
      and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
This is an awesome description of what Jesus will do in the end times when He comes to pronounce judgement on the world, in defense of His beloved… His beloved being the repentent of Abraham… which includes the Church.
 18 According to what they have done,
      so will he repay
      wrath to his enemies
      and retribution to his foes;
      he will repay the islands their due.
These are violent actions, but just ones. They are actions of righteousness. Jesus requires not belief to be righteous, for He is God. However, He is righteousness and He is zealous for the purity of His name. And so, those who have a status of “His” in the world, but chose not to be His, will be repaid in full for their choice… islands within the sea of God’s chosen… those I imagine that sea may be drying up.
 19 From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD,
      and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
      For he will come like a pent-up flood
      that the breath of the LORD drives along.
So all this violence. All this death. Is that what God is all about? Could He really? Well, from Isaiah’s human perspective it would seem so. But then he writes God’s own perspective on it…
 20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
      to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
      declares the LORD. 21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.
A prophecy of a covenant with the repentent… a prophecy of Christ’s Church? Or a prophecy of Christ’s kingdom? Well, it’s one and the same actually, just a difference in “when”.