Isaiah is given a message to deliver to the children of Judah. Imagine having to approach your own family, to deliver this message. (Remember the kind of respect given to Jesus in Nazareth?) These were Isaiah’s kin. They had seen him from his very infancy. Isaiah knew well the pride and uniqueness of the family of king David; his own family. The message was not one of sweetness and praise. The message was truth, simple truth, cutting truth.
The chosen children had wandered far away. Their special purpose was corrupted. Covenant terms were flaunted and forgotten. The holy name, Jerusalem, was equal to the shame of Sodom. Mount Zion was as low as Gomorrah. In fact The prophet is instructed to call them Sodom and Gomorrah. Would I have the guts to call my own family “Sodom” or “Gomorrah”, straight to their faces?
Even now, can you see the look of disappointment in our LORD’s face? Can you see Jesus on the brow of the last hill before Zion? Even the colt He was riding on could feel the heavy burden bearing down on our Messiah! See Jesus wracked with grief, as He sobbed uncontrollably. Hear His painful lament; “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I (longed) wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!” Luke 13:37 CJB.
We see this same God in the first 17 verses of Isaiah. The same unvarnished truth is revealed. Then the prescription for the sickness is given in verses 16 and 17. He then offers us the always available, protective wings of ‘The Hen’.
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD…” Let us take a close look at the Hebrew words translated, ‘Come now’. The Hebrew transliteration is , Lachoo Na. Lachoo is pronounced la-who. This word is related to, and is derived from the verb ‘Halah’. Ha-lah means ‘to walk’. It is fascinating to see that the word for Jewish law is ‘Ha-la-ha’.
Let us step back and see what a Jewish person sees in ‘Lachoo Na’. It is a gentle invitation to ‘walk the Law’. Does YHWH ever change? He is always the great “I AM”. So, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3 NKJV) If our God does not change; it is I who changes from walking away, as opposed to walking with our Lord.
Now God and I can reason together. I am no longer in an adversarial relationship with our God. It is only then that I can look in His face. My back is no longer turned in His direction. The word translated ‘reason’ is ‘yahah’ (ya-hah). ‘Yahah’ is a multifaceted word. ‘Yahah’ has these meanings wrapped up together; to reprove, to rebuke, to correct. Thus shaping us to be one with God. (Remember our God is Chesed, which is incomparable, unique, unchanging, long suffering, kind, eternal LOVE. This IS our YHWH!)
Now let us put these six words together. (Come now, let us reason together,) “Come let us walk in the Law (love) hand-in-hand, as I reprove, rebuke, and correct you.” Thus, and only then, does the rest of the verse make sense. In other words, if this were not so, how can we take this giant leap from the indelible dye, scarlet, and attain unstained ‘white as snow’ status?
There is no way I can reason or argue my way back to God. The Highest, Holy Court of this universe has a Holy Judge. Our Attorney, right now, is Our Holy Breath of God. Our Advocate, at the judgement seat, is our Holy Jesus. My Jesus has never lost a case. A class action lawsuit was won at Calvary! Join up! Join up!! He paid the high cost that sacred day. But how can Jesus argue my case if I turn my back to Him?
Dwell on this, but please don’t take too long thinking. Act now. Today is the day of salvation. I resolve to be in God’s presence. I want to see you there also. Let us encourage and pray for each other so this will be so. Amen!
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