God's Continual Design

By: Tim Hall

You might at first dismiss the observation as "technical" and "irrelevant." I would urge you to bear with me for a moment. You'll see that this "technicalityy" is totally relevant -- to you.

Here's the technicality: J. Alec Motyer in his commentary on Isaiah (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) notes of the word "says" in Isaiah 1:11, that the word is in "a continuous sense." In other words, God "keeps saying" what is recorded in that verse. The verb form is a relatively rare one in the New Testament, occurring only once in the Psalms and seven times in Isaiah.

One of those other occurrences is Isaiah 1:18, a passage many of us love, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Note again the word "saith" in that verse, and remember the technical observation Motyer made.

To be offered a chance to be cleansed of sins was amazing for the people to whom Isaiah preached. A quick reading just of chapter one tells us that these were people who had veered far off of God's path. They were guilty of many sins and crimes. Isaiah even charged that "your hands are full of blood" (1:15), and the implication was that they were guilty of murder.

Yet God was willing to forgive them, to make their sin-stained garments as white as snow. It is, in fact God's nature to be willing to forgive. That's the idea of this unusual form of "says"' God keeps on saying it.

David rested upon this eternal aspect of God's nature. After confessing his sin with Bathsheba, David cried out to the Lord: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions" (Psalm 51:1). David had done awful things; what gave him any reason to believe God might forgive him? It's that technicality thing again; God keeps on telling us that He wants to cleanse us!

Paul another whose sins were especially heinous, pointed to the eternal desire of God to forgive those who will turn back to Him: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). That's how much God wants to forgive!

"God says" -- In Isaiah 1:18 that verb is in a continuing sense. There is no reason to believe God no longer says it. As long as the world stands and the Bible is His word, God keeps saying -- "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; thought they be red like crimson, they shall become like wool"