As White as Snow

 

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 1:18-20 ESV).

 

Thursday morning of this past week I woke to the sound of sleet hitting the windows as the winter storm continued to push through our area of North Texas. Just as the various weather models and forecasters had predicted it was very cold with freezing rain turning to sleet overnight. My hope was that it would also turn to snow. As you can see from the picture taken from the main house looking to the west down the hill to our house, it did! It began snowing around 8 am and soon thickened, lasting for almost three hours, and covering the ground. It was beautiful to watch the result.

 

To understand the prophet we need to read an earlier verse: “Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting – they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.” (Isaiah 1:13). Like many of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah had the hard job of communicating God’s holy and righteous anger to the people of God. The message was timely and necessary, even if it was hard hitting. Israel was in a time of rebellion. Israel had become a nation who worshipped false pagan gods. Yet, they still hypocritically made time to offer sacrifices to God in His temple, and still made time to observe the holy days, as set out in the law given by Moses. Their actions, according to God, were meaningless, sinful and false. God didn’t want to receive gifts from people just ticking off their religious duty lists. God wanted people who loved Him and desired a relationship with Him above all else. He wanted people who did good, sought after justice, helped the oppressed, defended the cause of orphans, and fought for the rights of widows (v.17).

 

Yet God in His grace, even in the midst of the Israel’s deep rebellion and falsehood, still promised them a way out and still promised that He would make them new again, if they just turned to Him in truth. He promised to turn their scarlet sins as white as snow, and as pure white wool (v. 18). Today’s truth is a reminder that it is never too late to turn back.  It is never too late to return to grace. Our churches should remember this truth.