Alas, misinformation is one of the great themes of our time. Hardly a day goes by without hearing some accusation of “fake news” or “disinformation.” It sure must be tough to be a relativist! The truth is squarely back in fashion. Most everyone now acknowledges the importance of discerning truth from lies. People have learned that false narratives can have severe consequences. If we don’t keep a firm grip on the truth, we’re at high risk of making poor decisions which will lead to suffering and misery rather than flourishing.
Down through the years, the Bible has suffered more than its fair share of mistreatment. The Bible is a marvelous, sprawling collection of stories, poems, prophecies, genealogies & letters spanning over a thousand years. In the Bible, we encounter times and cultures very different from our own. Even the original languages of the scriptures – Hebrew and Greek – are foreign to most modern folks. The more you study the Bible, the more you recognize that the Bible must be handled with care. Small bits and pieces of the Bible can be misused to support all kinds of misguided conclusions.
There is one verse in the Bible that, for my money, has been misunderstood more than any other. Isaiah 64:6: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”
I’m continually surprised at how often this verse is quoted in naked isolation without the slightest attempt to place it in context. Isaiah 64:6 is quite popular with certain “gospel” presentations which put a vigorous emphasis on the inability of human beings to make themselves acceptable to God. Purveyors of this gospel stress that salvation comes only through faith in Jesus – faith being defined as simple belief in Jesus’ work upon the cross. Such faith is strictly opposed to works – works being defined as any form of human conduct.
Those who have followed this blog series know that I have repeatedly argued that both of these key terms are mistaken. I certainly hope you’ve found these arguments persuasive and helpful for your overall understanding of what God has done in Christ.
Let’s take a deep breath and try to clear things up.
Isaiah 64:6 is quite a dramatic verse. The Hebrew words translated as “filthy rags” literally refer to a soiled menstrual cloth. The prophet uses this vivid and repulsive metaphor to describe the “righteous acts” of the people of Judah.
So, does this verse then imply that all human effort to behave righteously is simply loathsome in the eyes of God?
Let’s sharpen this up a bit. Say you’re driving down the road and come along some unfortunate family whose car has broken down. Despite having a busy schedule, you cheerfully pull over and offer to help. Perhaps you have some mechanical knowledge and are able to diagnose the problem.
Or perhaps you’ve got a heart for the poor in the third world. You decide to sponsor a child from some far away country so that they can have proper nutrition, clothes & education.
Or maybe you’re struggling with your temper. You recognize that your anger gets the best of you, causing you to say and do things that you later regret. Endeavoring to change, you commit your emotions to God in prayer and perhaps even enlist a friend to help keep you accountable.
How does God look upon such actions? Are these efforts to do and say the right thing detestable to him?
Everyone who studies the Bible knows that context is crucial. The book of Isaiah deals with the final years of the southern kingdom of Judah and the early years of the Jewish exile. Because of Israel’s rebellion and wickedness, God brought his judgment down upon her. Led by King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians invaded Judah, destroyed the city of Jerusalem & burned down the temple. Those Jews who managed to survive were carried into exile.
All this is well documented in 2 Chronicles 36. A man named Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. Zedekiah “did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God…He became stiff necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the LORD… The LORD… sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.”
In Isaiah 64:10-11 the prophet laments the destruction of the city of Jerusalem (also known as Zion) and the temple: “Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins.”
In the latter part of Isaiah, the prophet reflects upon all that had befallen Israel. They did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they were completely unfaithful to the covenant. In fact, their behavior was just as despicable as the pagan nations the Lord had driven out before them!
Notably, the Chronicler adds that they “defiled the temple of the LORD.” Defiled means to desecrate or profane something sacred. The temple in Jerusalem was meant to be the holy place where the presence of the living God dwelt among his people. There Israel could worship the LORD and seek his blessing. But because of her wickedness, Israel had instead dishonored the temple. As long as she engaged in open rebellion, her worship was an insult to God.
Knowing this context, we can now comprehend Isaiah 64:6. When the prophet says “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags”, he is not referring to genuinely righteous conduct. Rather, he’s saying that Israel’s behavior had become so corrupt that even her best actions were still shameful and repugnant in God’s sight.
We should even detect a note of sarcasm here. It’s as if the prophet were saying, “Oh yes, God sees your ‘righteous’ conduct…like bloodshed, lies, and injustice!” In fact, that is precisely what Isaiah stated several chapters earlier: “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.” (Isaiah 59:2-4)
More specifically, Israel’s conduct is even more appalling considering that she has the effrontery to embrace evil yet still come into the temple of God, call upon his name and claim his blessing.
The discordance between Israel’s behavior and her worship was often the subject of Isaiah’s scorn: “‘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. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates…Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight!” (Isaiah 1:11-14,16-17)
For the people of Israel to embrace wickedness and then come to worship in the temple of the LORD was an act of spectacular hypocrisy. Therefore, Israel’s “righteous acts” – her meaningless sacrifice and hollow worship – were revolting to God. That is the proper meaning of Isaiah 64:6.
On the other hand, there are numerous passages within the book of Isaiah which promise that if Israel would in fact genuinely return to the LORD and offer him proper covenant obedience, then God would rescue and restore them.
We can start with Isaiah 64 itself: “No eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.” (Isaiah 64:4-5) The prophet here celebrates the fact that God will indeed deliver those who do what is right! He does not despise their genuine righteousness.
Isaiah immediately proceeds to lament that such rescue cannot come as long as Israel continues to embrace her sins: “But when we continued to sin against [your ways], you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.” (Isaiah 64:5-7)
The entire context here indicates that Israel’s “righteous acts” are not genuinely righteous behavior. Rather, the emphasis throughout is that Israel has utterly turned away from God.
One final passage to illustrate how God promises to bless to those who act righteously. In chapter 58, Isaiah castigates Israel for her empty worship and specifically for her fasting. God rejects Israel’s fasting because they continue to practice injustice by exploiting their workers; on the day of fasting they quarrel, argue and attack each other violently. (v3-4)
God then lays down the terms for proper fasting: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice…and to set the oppressed free? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” (Isaiah 58:6-9)
Once again, we find the same theme: God promises healing and rescue for those who truly pursue righteousness.
One last word: how should we bring our understanding of Isaiah forward into the New Testament? I certainly hope that our ongoing “faith and works” blog series has put us in a position to tie all this together. The apostle Paul recognized the plight of Israel at the time of Isaiah; he saw that even though Israel had been given God’s holy law (the Torah), they could not keep it because they were corrupted by their sinful inclination – their “flesh.”
But Christians can now celebrate, because those who have given their loyalty to Jesus and received his Spirit have the power to behave righteously and therefore receive salvation. For Paul, this is not a matter of “do it yourself” religion or pulling yourself up by your moral bootstraps. No: it’s all a gift of God which comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. The righteousness that the Spirit produces is certainly not “filthy rags”! Rather, it’s the mark of genuine humanity, now remade in God’s image and pleasing to him in every way.
Thanks for sharing this perspective and bringing clarity here, Joel. Although these days, when it comes to misunderstood – or misused – verses, Matthew 7:1 is certainly at or near the top of the list.