Solution Summary (Part 1)

Pastor Bill Farrow

Isaiah 1:16-17

16  “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,

17  Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow. 

Wash you - This is, of course, to be understood in a moral sense; meaning that, spiritually speaking, they should put away their sins. Sin is represented in the Scriptures as defiling or polluting the soul (Ezek. 20:31; 23:30; Hos. 5:8; 9:4); and the removal of it is represented by the act of washing; (Ps. 51:2: ‘Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;’ Jer. 4:14: ‘O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved;’ Job 9:30; 1 Cor. 6:11; Heb. 10:22; 2 Pet. 2:22; Rev. 1:5; 7:14). It is used here in close connection with the previous verse, where the prophet says that their hands were flied with blood. He now admonishes them to wash away that blood, with the implied understanding, that then their prayers would be heard. It is worthy of remark, also, that the prophet directs them to do this themselves. He addresses them as moral agents, and as having responsibility to do it. This is the uniform manner in which God addresses sinners in the Bible, requiring them to put away their sins, and to make themselves a new heart.  (Compare Ezek. 18:31-32).  The problem, of course, is that we are unable to affect the degree of cleansing that is required of sinners.  That cleansing is available and achievable only in the work of Jesus Christ, applied by grace through faith.

The evil of your doings - This is a Hebraism, to denote your evil doings.  It means that they were to recognize and acknowledge the wickedness of their actions.  Remember the context here; Isaiah is speaking of their religious activities, genuinely and fervently offered.  It is those actions that must be acknowledged as evil.  No man can be saved until he is willing to acknowledge that his own righteousness is inadequate, and that his trusting of such is wickedness of the highest order before God!

From before mine eyes - As God is omniscient, to put them away from before his eyes, is to put them away altogether. To pardon or forgive sin, is often expressed by hiding it; (Ps. 51:9): “Hide thy face from my sins.”

Cease to do evil – (Compare 1 Pet. 3:10-11). The prophet is specifying what was necessary in order that their prayers might be heard, and that they might find acceptance with God. What he states here is a universal truth. If sinners wish to find acceptance with God, they must come renouncing all sin; resolving to put away everything that God hates, however dear it may be to the heart. (Compare Mark 9:43-47). Remember that this is not an endorsement of human ability – but rather a statement of what God requires – it is left to say, as Isaiah will surely do, that the only way this standard can be achieved is by means of the sacrifice of Christ.