No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. No one calls for justiceThis phrase highlights a societal condition where there is a lack of advocacy for righteousness and fairness. The Hebrew word for "justice" here is "מִשְׁפָּט" (mishpat), which encompasses not only legal justice but also a broader sense of moral and ethical rightness. In the historical context of Isaiah, this reflects a time when leaders and the people were failing to uphold God's standards, leading to societal decay. The absence of a call for justice indicates a community that has turned away from God's commandments, emphasizing the need for divine intervention and a return to covenant faithfulness. No one pleads his case with integrity
The word "integrity" in Hebrew is "אֱמוּנָה" (emunah), which can also be translated as faithfulness or truth. This phrase suggests that even when disputes arise, they are not handled with honesty or sincerity. In the ancient Near Eastern context, legal proceedings were expected to reflect divine justice, but here, the lack of integrity points to a deeper spiritual malaise. It serves as a call for believers to examine their own lives and ensure that their actions align with God's truth, promoting a culture of honesty and trustworthiness. They rely on empty pleas
The term "empty" in Hebrew is "תֹּהוּ" (tohu), which conveys a sense of chaos or nothingness. This phrase indicates that the arguments or defenses people are making are baseless and devoid of substance. Historically, this reflects a society that has abandoned the truth of God's word, choosing instead to depend on futile and deceptive practices. For the modern believer, it is a reminder to ground one's life and decisions in the solid foundation of Scripture, rather than the shifting sands of worldly wisdom. They tell lies
The Hebrew word for "lies" is "שֶׁקֶר" (sheker), which denotes falsehood and deceit. This phrase underscores the prevalence of dishonesty in the society Isaiah is addressing. In the biblical narrative, lying is consistently condemned as it breaks trust and disrupts community harmony. This serves as a warning against the destructive power of falsehoods and the importance of truthfulness as a reflection of God's character. They conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity
The imagery of conceiving and giving birth is powerful, suggesting that sin is not just a momentary lapse but a process that begins in the heart and manifests in actions. "Mischief" and "iniquity" in Hebrew are "עָמָל" (amal) and "אָוֶן" (aven), respectively, both of which imply trouble and moral evil. This phrase paints a picture of a society that is actively engaged in creating and perpetuating sin. For the believer, it is a call to vigilance against the seeds of sin in one's own life, encouraging a proactive pursuit of holiness and righteousness. Persons / Places / Events 1. IsaiahA major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is traditionally credited with writing the Book of Isaiah. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of moral and spiritual decline. 2. JudahThe southern kingdom of Israel, which Isaiah addressed in his prophecies. During Isaiah's time, Judah was facing both internal corruption and external threats. 3. God's JudgmentThe context of Isaiah 59 is a pronouncement of God's judgment against the sins of the people, highlighting their moral failures and the resulting separation from God. Teaching Points The Nature of InjusticeIsaiah 59:4 states, "No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity." This highlights the pervasive nature of injustice and deceit in society. As Christians, we are called to stand for truth and justice, reflecting God's character in our actions. The Consequences of SinThe verse illustrates how sin leads to societal decay. When truth and integrity are absent, chaos and injustice prevail. Believers must be vigilant in maintaining personal and communal righteousness. The Call to RepentanceRecognizing our own tendencies towards sin and deceit is crucial. Isaiah's message calls us to repentance and a return to God's ways, seeking His forgiveness and guidance. The Role of the BelieverIn a world where deceit and injustice are prevalent, Christians are called to be beacons of truth and integrity, advocating for justice and righteousness in all areas of life. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Isaiah 59:4 reflect the moral and spiritual state of Judah during Isaiah's time, and how can we see similar patterns in today's society? 2. In what ways can we, as individuals and as a church, actively call for justice and plead cases with integrity in our communities? 3. How do the themes of deceit and injustice in Isaiah 59:4 connect with Paul's description of humanity's sinfulness in Romans 3:10-18? 4. Reflect on Micah 6:8. How can we practically live out the call to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in light of the issues raised in Isaiah 59:4? 5. Considering James 3:14-16, what steps can we take to ensure that our actions and words align with God's truth and righteousness, avoiding the pitfalls of envy and selfish ambition? Connections to Other Scriptures Romans 3:10-18Paul echoes the themes of Isaiah 59, emphasizing the universal sinfulness of humanity and the need for divine intervention. Micah 6:8This verse contrasts the injustice described in Isaiah 59:4 by summarizing what God requires: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. James 3:14-16James discusses the destructive nature of envy and selfish ambition, which aligns with the deceit and injustice mentioned in Isaiah 59:4. People Isaiah, JacobPlaces Jerusalem, ZionTopics Arguments, TRUE, Birth, Bring, Calleth, Calling, Case, Cause, Child, Conceive, Conceiving, Confusion, Deceit, Decision, Emptiness, Empty, Enters, Evil, Faithfulness, Falsehood, Forth, Forward, Gives, Goes, Honestly, Hope, Iniquity, Integrity, Justice, Justly, Law, Lies, Mischief, None, Perverseness, Pleadeth, Pleading, Pleads, Pleas, Puts, Rely, Righteously, Righteousness, Sin, Speak, Speaking, Sues, Sueth, Suit, Trouble, Trust, Trusting, Truth, Truthfulness, Upright, VanityDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 59:4 5845 emptiness
5973 unreliability
8224 dependence Isaiah 59:1-4 5550 speech, negative
8715 dishonesty, and God Isaiah 59:1-8 5975 violence Isaiah 59:4-6 5346 injury 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 ScriptureSalvation
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 Links Isaiah 59:4 NIVIsaiah 59:4 NLTIsaiah 59:4 ESVIsaiah 59:4 NASBIsaiah 59:4 KJV
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