Non-Apologetics
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 NASB
Reason – “ . . . the prophet is not a philosopher of logic, but a philosopher of emotion; in other words, not a philosopher of a system, but a philosopher of life.”[1] Klausner’s insight should prevent us from thinking that God’s invitation to “reason together” has anything to do with arguments and conclusions. This statement is not about apologetics. It isn’t even about theology. It is about the emotional trauma of sin. We might feel like scarlet signposts of depravity. We might feel like we are gashed and bleeding all over. We might feel exposed, butchered by life’s choices. But God is willing, more than willing, to change all that. He invites us to be as pure as snow, as white as wool. This is the divinely proffered solution to habitual neurophysical mismanagement of emotion. In other words, God wants us to experience a love that transcends our addictions.
The Hebrew root here is yakah. It is translated by “decide, judge, prove, rebuke, reprove” and “correct.” Gilchrist notes:
the most familiar passage where yākaḥ occurs is in Isa 1:18 which is within a covenant lawsuit. Following a record of rebellion where Yahweh, the plaintiff, condemns Judah for their self-designed religious festivals (1:10–15), Isaiah issues a call to repentance (1:16–20). Within this context then we should understand the expression “let us reason together”[2]
While the context is forensic, the implication is emotional. God is not asking for us to come to court to justify our actions. He is asking us to enter His court so that we might find forgiveness. Our actions are undeniable. It is the consequence that is at issue. This is not a trial. The trial is over. God’s complaint is vindicated. What matters now is our situation. The Judge is ready to address our conviction and He pleads with us to allow Him to rectify this breach. Will we? Will we come before Him as guilty? Or will we continue to excuse our infractions? Will we acknowledge not simply our misdeeds but also our emotional mismanagement? Will we allow ourselves to feel what the Judge feels—our trauma, our pain, our bloodied identity? This Judge is not here to condemn us, although He would be within the Law to do so. He looks upon us and sees the trauma of what we have done—to ourselves and to others—and He desperately desires to heal those wounds. This is not a logical conclusion. This is an emotional response. This is God involving Himself in our lives as they are, battered, beaten and broken. This is mercy. Do you know what it feels like?
Topical Index: reason, yakah, guilty, emotion, healing, Isaiah 1:18
[1] Joseph Klausner, The Messianic Idea In Israel From Its Beginning To The Completion Of The Mishnab, p. 55.
[2] Gilchrist, P. R. (1999). 865 . In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (377). Chicago: Moody Press.
REMINDER: The Tacoma Conference is ready for this Saturday and Sunday. It starts at 1PM at 1110 South Puget Sound Ave, Tacoma. The NE corner of 12th and Union. See you there!
Skip this sounds like Mercy hand of judgement held back and we are given a plea of you are forgiven. This verse always reminds me of newly fallen snow. You can’t see the dark dirt underneath everything just White pure. By the way we just got 12 inches of snow up here are real Nor’easter. How emotional this rollercoaster ride is but with Yeshua my comforter he always leads me to paths Mercy for his righteousness sake. This type of snow it’s like Mercy raining down over everything in sight.
“Do you know what mercy feels like?” Only if we “come before Him as guilty”. Skip, you could not be clearer. From the standpoint of us sinners, Love can ONLY present itself correctly through that forgiveness; but forgiveness, even if it is available (and knocking at the door!) still cannot enter if I am “continu(ing) to excuse (my) infractions”. (Quotations by Skip in above TW, paragraph 3).
If I am not feeling the love right now perhaps it is because I am trying to justify the moment, and anywhere I am either trying to do that or trying to ‘go on my own steam’ (which is where I am trying to run on my own purposes, or, willpower) I am really experiencing a power outage (no functioning Holy Spirit) and so am having to crank up my own generator and eat my own tail in the process. THIS is what exhausts me because these are actions that activate the curses (chances to repent), and so in these places I am dying slowly and feeling like my life is burning out and up in slow motion (which it is). In these places, in fact, I am still on hell-(which, Biblically speaking, should be read as “death” )fire: hellbent on that rush towards death (which feels awful, y’all, as death always should). Its time to stop, drop and roll for me. I need to feel the love (life) again! Great Words Today!
I am aware that you are writing about our spiritual health in this Today’s Word, but I think that a great many people today suffer from nutritional deficiencies that affect their cognitive experience with life. I could write a book on human nutrition, but without a healthy mind it is impossible to have a normal (whatever normal is) reaction to outside stimuli be it religious or secular. We are a people addicted to sugar and junk food that are physically and mentally unhealthy. To cut all the fluff in between, if you don’t limit sugar and eat foods to assure adequate B vitamins (all the B vitamins 1-6 + B12) or supplement with B vitamins you are on a first name basis with several medical professionals and take enough pharmaceuticals to destroy what little good experiences you have with day to day life. ( I don’t sell any type of nutrition program or vitamins) I am just relating what has happened to my health in the last 20 years, and know that if I had kept on the sugar and junk food diet and taken all the pharmaceuticals proscribed for me I doubt I would be here to write this.
Sorry to get off on this tangent, but again you can’t be mentally healthy if you aren’t striving to be physically healthy. If I stepped on some toes here maybe it’s time to be honest with yourself.
John, you just wrote the story of my life, too. What you are describing is the nephesh. If we do not understand that our lives can only be free to exhibit the “glory of God” when we are also doing it with what “we eat, or drink, or whatever we do” (1Cor. 10:31) then we do not understand the fullness of the gospel. We cannot “have life, and that more abundantly” (John 10:10) if we are going to spiritualize it all, Greek style. Nope. What I put in my mouth and mind counts too. Thanks for your encouraging testimony. I am trying to ‘level up’ currently on my health practices and was getting a little discouraged. You helped. Thanks.
P.S. I think it’s spring, here. Thinking about plowing for early corn next week. We enjoyed another round of delicious cornbread yesterday and I thought of you growing and grinding that meal for me while I did. And smiled. May your thumb be green and your planting days be long, my friend!
Thank you for being a witness to these truths, John. We have been “junk food” free since 2008 thanks to a program our chiropractor offered. I have been gluten-free since late 2013, after two witnesses caused me to review my “best health” history, and sugar-free since early 2014 as a THANKFUL result of a challenge at the gym. “The Zero-Sugar Diet” by David Zinczenko is a new book. Older books are “Potatoes Not Prozac” and its sequel, and “Wheat Belly” and “Grain Brain” by Perlmutter. Sugar and heroin (and its “evil cousins”) are the same color, and are additive substances , “RUN AWAYYYY!!!” The improved health and emotional benefits are phenomenal and a true testimony to Yah’s wisdom about eating whole foods.
Take a challenge!! http://commit30.com/blog/
John thank you for your comment. I think it is an important part of the equation. I know I have been quick to reach for comfort foods instead of Yahovah when life didn’t go the way a planned. Your comment reinforces the choice to change that behavior.
The. Mussar Institute is growing very rapidly throughout the Messianic fellowships even to be introduced to the main organization. It goes back to the early Jewish people you can read about it if you look it up its purpose is to lineup our emotions biblically.
Question for you. Skip unplugged has a good response is it costing you anything.? I closed with this comment yesterday. Maybe you missed it or closed for the day.
Skip Unplugged just cost a bit for the camera and a lot of annoyance trying to get it to work properly. Mark and I will meet tomorrow to try to resolve the continuing issues.
The conference in Tacoma starts at 3:00pm Saturday and on 1:00pm on Sunday, February 11th & 12th.
Looking forward to seeing you all there….
Isn’t it wonderful that there is no sin so bad, so dark, so vial, that is beyond the reach of the Lord’s grace and mercy…
We won’t get to see you there. This storm system caused us to decide not to venture the eight-hour drive. We are disappointed, but know this was a wise choice.
I work for an insurance company, Leslee, and i promise you, if more people would think things through as you have, there would be less grief this coming Monday. Wisdom.
My wife and I have been thinking lately about…thinking! In our modern Western societies we are constantly thinking about the bills that need paying, properties in need of repair, ideas we read about, ideas we talk about, politics, health concerns, etc. etc. What did people in times long past think about? Could it be that the energy we devote to ruminating, comparing, and analyzing instead fueled a greater emotional involvement with life? Was there more passion? Have we become too sophisticated? Perhaps we need to fear more, revel more, wonder more.
Makes me think of Heschel’s comment that life begins with wonder and awe.