The More Things Change

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

Your rulers are rebels and companions of thieves; everyone loves a bribe and chases after gifts.  They do not obtain justice for the orphan, nor does the widow’s case come before them.  Isaiah 1:23  NASB

Rebels – We have a saying: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  It seems that what Isaiah faced on the political/social scene of the ancient world is exactly what we face today.  Perhaps that’s because human nature hasn’t improved much over the centuries.  At any rate, the words Isaiah uses to describe the corruption of his society seem particularly applicable to ours (and probably to the end of every empire in human history).

The first of these terms is sorrim from the verb sārar (be stubborn, rebellious).  It’s related to the Akkadian sarāru “be unstable,” “obstinate,” “be a liar/felon.” [1]  Does that sound familiar?  Apparently these attributes fall together.  Patterson notes, “The root lays stress on attitude, whereas the synonymous mārad emphasizes rebellious actions.”[2]  In other words, rulers can be rebels because of their arrogance toward God’s principles without actually committing public crimes.  But, of course, public crimes often follow from such attitudes.

In typical fashion, Isaiah amplifies his thought in the succeeding phrase.  Not only do these rulers have thieves as companions, they love bribes (šōḥad), that is, anything that acts as an incentive to enlist their favor.  The biblical position is clear: “Only he who desists from such flagrant violation of both moral and criminal law can stand in God’s presence: II Chr 19:7; Ps 15:5; Isa 33:15”[3]  As is so often the case apart from Torah, bribery was so common that it was not considered unethical in pagan cultures.  “Once again we see the uniqueness of the ot in contrast to pagan nations. In his study of Mesopotamian texts Finkelstein can state, ‘There is no known cuneiform law outlawing bribery specifically’ (p. 79); ‘it (i.e. bribery) was not only a common practice, but was recognized as a legal transaction’ (p. 80).”[4]  Apparently our society is not far from the ancient worldview regarding favors for payment.  All of that only means that a society that commonly practices bribery is a society that has abandoned God.

Furthermore, we find the common theme of the disregard for the helpless and those without a public voice.  Rulers under God are responsible and accountable for what happens to the least in the society.  Rulers who placate the rich and powerful are far removed from God’s design of human agency.  Justice is measured by actions toward the poor, not the powerful.  Rulers who are sorrim create societies that fall under God’s judgment.  “. . . the more they stay the same.”

Topical Index: sorrim, sārar, rebel, šōḥad, bribe, Isaiah 1:23

[1] Patterson, R. D. (1999). 1549 סָרַר. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 635). Chicago: Moody Press.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 2359 שָׁחַד. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 914). Chicago: Moody Press.

[4] Ibid.

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Ric Gerig

3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness [belongeth] unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, [that are] near, and [that are] far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8 O Lord, to us [belongeth] confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God [belong] mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that [is] written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As [it is] written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God [is] righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people [are become] a reproach to all [that are] about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. [Dan 9:3-19 KJV]

Richard Bridgan

“Rulers under God are responsible and accountable for what happens to the least in the society. Rulers who placate the rich and powerful are far removed from God’s design of human agency. Justice is measured by actions toward the poor, not the powerful. Rulers who are sorrim create societies that fall under God’s judgment. ‘. . . the more they stay the same.’ ”

Indeed. The only resolution of problem of sorrim in man’s acts and work that constitute mārad, is a change of humanity’s being, for what they are in their acts and works is what they are in themselves. 

What can change one’s being? Only a new birth from above and only a new creation of the human creature through Christ in the Spirit. 

How may one be born “from above”? Search out the testimony of witness borne out by the sons of Israel— particularly that of the Apostolic witness— that is found in the testimony identified as the “New Testament.” It is by the testimony found there that the human being may be given to understand… and by which it may know how… one’s being may be constituted a “new creature”… that is, being that is unquestionably human, yet is no longer enslaved by sorrim.