Learn to Do Well
Isaiah 1:17
…16 Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! 17 Learn to do right, seek justice, correct oppressor, defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.…
I picked up my Bible this morning to read awhile. I wasn't looking for anything in particular; I just wanted to read. Isaiah was on my mind so I decided to start there. Isaiah is one of the big three: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Anyway, I began reading the first chapter. The first thing that stood out to me was "Learn to do well" in verse seventeen.
"Learn to do well" sounds like a command. But as I thought about it I realized there was something much more that God was saying. I had written on this chapter before, so I was well acquainted with it. The things God was saying through Isaiah to His people were very sobering. In verse two He said they had rebelled against Him. In verse three they didn't even measure up to the ox and ass. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know, My people do not consider. I remember a similar illustration back when I lived in Texas. Across the road from my house was a large pasture. The owner, Jake, lived some miles away, but every day I could hear him coming down our lane in his pickup truck to feed those cattle. The cattle could hear him, too. Before he got there the cattle started lowing and moving to their feeding place. Just like the ox and the ass they knew their owner and the master's crib. But the Lord said, "My people do not know as much as the ox and ass." It is not much different today. Many Christians do not know their owner or the place where they should be fed.
In verse four He calls them a sinful nation that has forsaken the Lord. Then in verse ten He likens them to Sodom and Gomorrah. But in verses 12-15 Israel is still very religious. They are appearing at the court of the Lord, keeping the sabbaths, new moons, and feast days. To the average eye they would probably appear very well indeed. But the Lord sees right through their religiosity to their real heart. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Verse 15.
But with all their sinfulness God is not ready to give up on them. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Verse 16-17. These are not commands as you might suppose. Actually, they are teachings. Have you ever had trouble making the Word work for you? The following will help you.
"Wash you, make you clean." Taking a bath with soap and water won't do this. It is not the outside that must be cleansed, but the inside. What is the real cleansing agent for the inside of a man? It is the Word! That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. Ephesians 5:26. Does that mean that you should read the Scriptures and keep reading them until you become clean? No! That is not the answer. It is not what you do with the Scriptures that makes the difference. Look at Ephesians 5:26 again: That He might sanctify and cleanse. It is what the Lord does, not what we do. That doesn't mean that it is futile to study the Scriptures. Study them! But you will never be able to study them and then say, "Look what I accomplished!" There are theologians that have studied the Scriptures meticulously and have taught them in seminaries and have not accomplished that feat. The Lord is the Word! He is the Cleaner and the cleansing Agent. Only the Lord Jesus can cleanse you on the inside. Let Him wash you; let Him make you clean. If you can learn to do this, you are learning to do well!
Cross References
James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Deuteronomy 14:29
Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
Psalm 34:14
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
Psalm 82:3
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
Proverbs 31:9
Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.
Isaiah 56:1
This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed.
Isaiah 58:6
Is not the fast I have chosen to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and tear off every yoke?
Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, this is what the LORD says: 'Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to extinguish it because of their evil deeds.
Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Jeremiah 35:15
Time and time again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: 'Turn now, each of you from his evil way of life, and correct your actions. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I have given to you and your fathers.' But you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.
Ezekiel 18:31
Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
Zephaniah 2:3
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the Day of the LORD's anger.
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You're taking the verse in Isaiah out of context and corrupting its meaning. Look at the whole passage.
(Isaiah 1:2-20 NIV) Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. {3} The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." {4} Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. {5} Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. {6} From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness-- only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. {7} Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. {8} The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege. {9} Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. {10} Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! {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 evil assemblies. {14} Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. {15} When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; {16} wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, {17} learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. {18} "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 as crimson, they shall be like wool. {19} If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; {20} but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.