Justice in America Devotional Series Day 1: Isaiah 1- Learn to do right; seek justice.
In Isaiah 1, the Prophet delivers a heavy-handed rebuke to the nation of Israel for their rebellion. They are called a “sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, [and] children given to corruption!” Their guilt is so great in the eyes of the Lord that He has completely spurned their religious rituals:
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. 14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!”
What could Israel have possibly have done to elicit such a terrifying reprimand? The Prophet Isaiah explicitly states that the “faithful city…once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers!” This rampant corruption has permeated the leadership whose “rulers are rebels, partners with thieves, [and who] love bribes and chase after gifts” while failing to “defend the cause of the fatherless” and the “widow’s case”—society’s most vulnerable. The Prophet commands that they repent from their lack of faithfulness and walk in the way of justice:
“16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. 17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
Time and time again, the Biblical witness affirms that the Lord God who called Abraham from the land of Ur and made him into a nation (Genesis 12), who sent Prophets to call the nation back to Justice, and who sent Jesus as God in the flesh (John 1), is a God of justice. In Exodus 34, the Lord passes in front of Moses and reveals Himself as:
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
And at the beginning of His ministry in Luke, Jesus reads from the scrolls of Isaiah and says:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
God is a God of justice and expects His people in a covenant relationship with Him to reflect His justice. Although, according to Biblical Scholarship, the Prophet Isaiah began to address the Kingdom of Judah around 740 BC, The Prophet’s rebuke remains relevant millennia later for the church in the West (this devotional will focus on (in)justice in America) and globally who have not only failed to reflect God’s justice, but who have actively perpetrated injustice.
In the United States, this perpetration of corruption has manifested in a myriad of ways from the Church’s collusion with white supremacy, its willful bowing at the altar of capitalistic greed, a greater allegiance to politics than to the incarnate Christ, its failure to care for the marginalized in society as Jesus called His people to do in Matthew 25: 31-46, and more.
The Prophet Isaiah’s rebuke in this chapter may be read as a call for repentance for the Church to “wash and make [itself] clean…stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. [And] defend the oppressed” (v. 16-17).
Reflect & Pray
Lord God, please give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that pursues you understanding and vision for justice. forgive us for the ways in which we have actively perpetrated injustice and have supported corrupt leaders who are partnered with thieves—and have sometimes even done so in your name. Please forgive us for the ways that we’ve relegated religious devotion to religious rituals like attending church instead of reflecting your goodness by seeking justice and defending the oppressed. Please give us the grace to repent both in word and in deed, to walk in humility, and to learn to actively pursue justice and equity, in Jesus’ name.
