Isaiah 59:14
So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
So justice is turned away
The Hebrew word for "justice" here is "מִשְׁפָּט" (mishpat), which encompasses not only legal judgments but also the broader concept of moral and ethical rightness. In the context of ancient Israel, justice was a foundational principle of society, deeply rooted in the covenantal relationship with God. The phrase "turned away" suggests a deliberate deviation from this divine standard. Historically, this reflects periods in Israel's history where leaders and people alike abandoned God's laws, leading to societal decay. For the modern believer, this serves as a cautionary reminder of the consequences when a society strays from God's ordained justice.

and righteousness stands at a distance
"Righteousness" in Hebrew is "צְדָקָה" (tsedaqah), which refers to right relationships and moral integrity. The imagery of righteousness standing "at a distance" paints a picture of alienation and separation from what should be central to communal life. In biblical times, righteousness was not just a personal virtue but a communal expectation. The distance implies a society that has pushed away the standards of God, creating a chasm between divine expectations and human actions. This serves as a call for Christians to draw near to God's righteousness, ensuring it is not marginalized in their lives.

for truth has stumbled in the public square
The word "truth" is "אֱמֶת" (emet) in Hebrew, signifying reliability, faithfulness, and constancy. The "public square" was the heart of civic life in ancient cities, a place for discourse and decision-making. The imagery of truth stumbling suggests a breakdown in societal integrity and the prevalence of deceit. Historically, this reflects times when falsehoods were propagated by leaders and accepted by the populace, leading to national crises. For believers today, this is a powerful reminder of the importance of upholding truth in all areas of life, especially in public and communal settings.

and uprightness cannot enter
"Uprightness" is translated from the Hebrew "נְכֹחָה" (nechochah), which conveys the idea of straightforwardness and honesty. The inability to "enter" suggests barriers erected by corruption and sin, preventing what is good and just from taking root in society. In the biblical context, this reflects a society so entrenched in wrongdoing that it becomes inhospitable to virtue. For the Christian, this is a call to be vigilant against the forces that seek to exclude godly principles from influencing society. It is an encouragement to actively work towards creating environments where uprightness can thrive.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book that bears his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of moral and spiritual decline.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was often the focus of Isaiah's prophecies. During Isaiah's time, Judah faced threats from surrounding nations and internal corruption.

3. Public Square
Represents the societal and communal life of the people. In ancient times, the public square was a place for gathering, discussion, and decision-making.

4. Justice and Righteousness
These are key themes in Isaiah's prophecies, often representing God's standards and expectations for His people.

5. Truth and Honesty
These concepts are central to the moral and ethical life of the community, reflecting God's character and His desire for His people to live in integrity.
Teaching Points
The Consequences of Moral Decline
When justice and righteousness are absent, society suffers. This verse serves as a warning about the dangers of turning away from God's standards.

The Importance of Truth in Society
Truth is foundational for a healthy community. As believers, we are called to uphold truth in all areas of life, reflecting God's character.

The Role of Believers in Upholding Justice
Christians are called to be agents of justice and righteousness, advocating for these values in their communities and personal lives.

The Need for Personal Integrity
Honesty and truthfulness should characterize the life of every believer. We must examine our own lives to ensure we are living in accordance with God's truth.

Restoration through Christ
While Isaiah highlights the problem, the New Testament provides the solution in Christ, who embodies truth and righteousness and empowers us to live accordingly.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the absence of justice and righteousness in Isaiah 59:14 reflect the spiritual state of Judah, and what parallels can we draw to our society today?

2. In what ways can we, as individuals and as a church, work to restore truth and honesty in our communities?

3. How do the themes of justice and righteousness in Isaiah 59:14 connect with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament?

4. Reflect on a time when you witnessed truth "stumbling" in your own life or community. How did you respond, and what might you do differently in light of this study?

5. Considering the connections to other scriptures, how can we practically live out the call to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in our daily lives?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Amos 5:24
Amos also speaks about justice and righteousness, emphasizing their importance in the life of God's people.

Micah 6:8
This verse highlights what God requires of His people: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, echoing the themes of justice and righteousness.

Psalm 85:10-11
These verses poetically describe the meeting of mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, illustrating the harmony God desires.

Proverbs 12:17
This proverb speaks to the importance of truthfulness, aligning with Isaiah's lament over the absence of truth.

John 14:6
Jesus declares Himself as the way, the truth, and the life, providing a New Testament connection to the concept of truth.
The Separation of the Soul from GodE. Johnson Isaiah 59:1-15
National SinIsaiah 59:14-15
People
Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Jerusalem, Zion
Topics
Able, Afar, Backward, Behaviour, Broad, Can't, Distance, Driven, Enter, Equity, Faith, Fallen, Feeble, Honesty, Judgment, Justice, Places, Public, Removed, Righteousness, Squares, Standeth, Stands, Straightforwardness, Street, Streets, Stumbled, Stumbleth, Town, Truth, Upright, Uprightness
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 59:14

     5186   stumbling
     5348   injustice, nature and source
     5505   roads
     7254   plumb-line

Isaiah 59:12-15

     1461   truth, nature of
     5310   exploitation
     8715   dishonesty, and God

Isaiah 59:12-19

     8370   zeal

Isaiah 59:14-15

     5349   injustice, examples
     8275   honesty

Isaiah 59:14-20

     5931   resistance

Library
Flimsy Garments
'Their webs shall not become garments.'--ISAIAH lix. 6. 'I counsel thee to buy of me ... white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.'--REV. iii. 18. The force of these words of the prophet is very obvious. He has been pouring out swift, indignant denunciation on the evil-doers in Israel; and, says he, 'they hatch cockatrice's eggs and spin spiders' webs,' pointing, as I suppose, to the patient perseverance, worthy of a better cause, which bad men
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Salvation
ISAIAH lix. 15, 16. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him. This text is often held to be a prophecy of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I certainly believe that it is a prophecy of his coming, and of something better still; namely, his continual presence; and a very noble and deep one, and one from
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

'The Breastplate of Righteousness'
'Having put on the breastplate of righteousness.'--Eph. vi. 14. There can be no doubt that in this whole context the Apostle has in mind the great passage in Isaiah lix. where the prophet, in a figure of extreme boldness, describes the Lord as arming Himself to deliver the oppressed faithful, and coming as a Redeemer to Zion. In that passage the Lord puts on righteousness as a breastplate--that is to say, God, in His manifestation of Himself for the deliverance of His people, comes forth as if arrayed
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Universal Chorus
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that stteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. M en have generally agreed to dignify their presumptuous and arrogant ^* disquisitions on the works and ways of God, with the name of wisdom ; though the principles upon which they proceed, and the conclusions which they draw from
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Lack of Prayer
"Ye have not, because ye ask not."--JAS. iv. 2. "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor."--ISA. lix. 16. "There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee."--ISA. lxiv. 7. At our last Wellington Convention for the Deepening of the Spiritual Life, in April, the forenoon meetings were devoted to prayer and intercession. Great blessing was found, both in listening to what the Word teaches of their need and power, and in joining
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

God Seeks Intercessors
"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night. Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."--ISA. lxii. 6, 7. "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor."--ISA. lix. 16. "And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered, and there was none to uphold."--ISA. lxiii. 5. "There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

"For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Hath Made Me Free from the Law of Sin and Death. "
Rom. viii. 2.--"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." That which makes the delivery of men from the tyranny of sin and death most difficult, and utterly impossible unto nature, is, that sinners have given up themselves unto it, as if it were true liberty, that the will and affections of men are conquered, and sin hath its imperial throne seated there. Other conquerors invade men against their will, and so they rule against their will.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Hindrances to Mourning
What shall we do to get our heart into this mourning frame? Do two things. Take heed of those things which will stop these channels of mourning; put yourselves upon the use of all means that will help forward holy mourning. Take heed of those things which will stop the current of tears. There are nine hindrances of mourning. 1 The love of sin. The love of sin is like a stone in the pipe which hinders the current of water. The love of sin makes sin taste sweet and this sweetness in sin bewitches the
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Concerning Perfection.
Concerning Perfection. In whom this pure and holy birth is fully brought forth, the body of death and sin comes to be crucified and removed, and their hearts united and subjected to the truth; so as not to obey any suggestions or temptations of the evil one, but to be free from actual sinning and transgressing of the law of God, and in that respect perfect: yet doth this perfection still admit of a growth; and there remaineth always in some part a possibility of sinning, where the mind doth not most
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Wherefore Christ Undertook a Method of Setting us Free So Painful and Laborious, when a Word from Him, or an Act of his Will, Would Alone
Wherefore Christ undertook a method of setting us free so painful and laborious, when a word from Him, or an act of His will, would alone have sufficed. 19. Then he labours to teach and persuade us that the devil could not and ought not to have claimed for himself any right over man, except by the permission of God, and that, without doing any injustice to the devil, God could have called back His deserter, if He wished to show him mercy, and have rescued him by a word only, as though any one denies
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Beginning of Justification. In what Sense Progressive.
1. Men either idolatrous, profane, hypocritical, or regenerate. 1. Idolaters void of righteousness, full of unrighteousness, and hence in the sight of God altogether wretched and undone. 2. Still a great difference in the characters of men. This difference manifested. 1. In the gifts of God. 2. In the distinction between honorable and base. 3. In the blessings of he present life. 3. All human virtue, how praiseworthy soever it may appear, is corrupted. 1. By impurity of heart. 2. By the absence of
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Some General Uses from this Useful Truth, that Christ is the Truth.
Having thus cleared up this truth, we should come to speak of the way of believers making use of him as the truth, in several cases wherein they will stand in need of him as the truth. But ere we come to the particulars, we shall first propose some general uses of this useful point. First. This point of truth serveth to discover unto us, the woful condition of such as are strangers to Christ the truth; and oh, if it were believed! For, 1. They are not yet delivered from that dreadful plague of
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Christ the Mediator of the Covenant
'Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant,' &c. Heb 12:24. Jesus Christ is the sum and quintessence of the gospel; the wonder of angels; the joy and triumph of saints. The name of Christ is sweet, it is as music in the ear, honey in the mouth, and a cordial at the heart. I shall waive the context, and only speak of that which concerns our present purpose. Having discoursed of the covenant of grace, I shall speak now of the Mediator of the covenant, and the restorer of lapsed sinners, Jesus the Mediator
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Concerning Justification.
Concerning Justification. As many as resist not this light, but receive the same, it becomes in them an holy, pure, and spiritual birth, bringing forth holiness, righteousness, purity, and all those other blessed fruits which are acceptable to God: by which holy birth, to wit, Jesus Christ formed within us, and working his works in us, as we are sanctified, so are we justified in the sight of God, according to the apostle's words; But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification, by Faith in Jesus Christ;
SHEWING, TRUE GOSPEL-HOLINESS FLOWS FROM THENCE; OR, MR. FOWLER'S PRETENDED DESIGN OF CHRISTIANITY, PROVED TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN TO TRAMPLE UNDER FOOT THE BLOOD OF THE SON OF GOD; AND THE IDOLIZING OF MAN'S OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS AS ALSO, HOW WHILE HE PRETENDS TO BE A MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, HE OVERTHROWETH THE WHOLESOME DOCTRINE CONTAINED IN THE 10TH, 11TH, AND 13TH, OF THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES OF THE SAME, AND THAT HE FALLETH IN WITH THE QUAKER AND ROMANIST, AGAINST THEM. BY JOHN BUNYAN
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

"And we all do Fade as a Leaf, and Our Iniquities, Like the Wind, have Taken us Away. "
Isaiah lxiv. 6.--"And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Here they join the punishment with the deserving cause, their uncleanness and their iniquities, and so take it upon them, and subscribe to the righteousness of God's dealing. We would say this much in general--First, Nobody needeth to quarrel God for his dealing. He will always be justified when he is judged. If the Lord deal more sharply with you than with others, you may judge there is a difference
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

An Analysis of Augustin's Writings against the Donatists.
The object of this chapter is to present a rudimentary outline and summary of all that Augustin penned or spoke against those traditional North African Christians whom he was pleased to regard as schismatics. It will be arranged, so far as may be, in chronological order, following the dates suggested by the Benedictine edition. The necessary brevity precludes anything but a very meagre treatment of so considerable a theme. The writer takes no responsibility for the ecclesiological tenets of the
St. Augustine—writings in connection with the donatist controversy.

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Of Justification by Faith. Both the Name and the Reality Defined.
Sections. 1. Connection between the doctrine of Justification and that of Regeneration. The knowledge of this doctrine very necessary for two reasons. 2. For the purpose of facilitating the exposition of it, the terms are explained. 1. What it is to be justified in the sight of God. 2. To be justified by works. 3. To be justified by faith. Definition. 3. Various meanings of the term Justification. 1. To give praise to God and truth. 2. To make a vain display of righteousness. 3. To impute righteousness
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

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