“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 like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 ESV)

It was before the Babylonian Captivity, where the people of the Southern Kingdom had continued to rebel against God, turning to their own ways and following false gods. Isaiah begins his prophecy pointing the people to God’s coming Judgment. “Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, 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. . .. But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.” (Isaiah 1:4, 28)

As Isaiah points out the sin and rebellion of the people, He also offers hope. There is the possibility of forgiveness. However, to truly understand what is happening, the people and God must come together with an understanding. The various translations of what God has said is as follows: “Come now, let us reason together” (ESV), “Come, let us discuss this” (CSB), “Come now, let’s settle this” (NLT), “Now, let’s settle the matter.” (GNT) and “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.” (Msg) The destructive nature of sin is the beginning of the discussion. Hope is to be the results of the discussion. Hope is provided in the purity and cleansing of forgiveness and the restoration of the relationship God can provide.

This is the message delivered through the ministry of Isaiah, and it is the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Sin is the starting point. “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:22-23) Everyone is a sinner. The next point is that they are not just sinners, but no one will not seek God. “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

Since no one seeks God, God must seek man, if there is to be any hope. After the sin in the garden, God came seeking. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8-9) This is the reason the Son of God became a man. Now God comes seeking. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

How does the transition happen which takes sins which are scarlet and crimson and make them white as snow and wool? Sin must be dealt with. The debt of sin must be paid. The debt is death. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a) Jesus took the wages and paid the debt through His death on the cross. Now a change must happen in order to turn scarlet and crimson to white.

The transformation happens as death is overcome by life, and thus red made white. “’For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)

This is God’s reasons. God has come to settle the matter. He has come to offer forgiveness. He has come to purify. And He has come with life abundant, and life to come eternal.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block