Thoughts on Isaiah 59

Today’s reading: Isaiah 59; Revelation 22

I always love finishing the year with Revelation 22; it’s such an exciting and hopeful vision of our future with the Lord that it just gets me amped up and wanting to run harder after Him the next year than I did this previous one!

But, rather than talking about Revelation 22 this morning, I want to talk about our reading in Isaiah.

Isaiah 59 forces us to reckon with the ultimate futility of even our greatest achievements apart from the Lord. No matter how successful or impactful our lives may be, if what we accomplish is not done for the Lord and/or according to His justice and righteousness, it is at best worthless, and at worst venomous and harmful.

As we read through Isaiah 59, it is easy to think that Isaiah is talking about the subset of humanity that revels in those sins we would all collectively consider heinous, like murderers, rapists, thieves, etc., but that’s not actually the case at all. Paul quotes these same indictments in Romans 3 when he is making the case that all of humanity is unrighteousness and needs the righteousness of the Lord that is found only in Christ. So when Isaiah is speaking of the wicked, and calling their works spiders’ webs that cannot serve as clothing, he is not just talking about the businessman who makes his profit by exploiting his workers or embezzling funds, but even the “honest” or “upright,” but who is working for the world’s ends, and by the world’s means, rather than the Lord’s.

While this is far from the only example, one obvious example of this that comes to mind for me is politics. I live in the United States, and I wouldn’t call either of our two major political parties or their policies “good” or “godly.” Both have some policies that align more with biblical ethics and morality, but they also both have policies they fight for that are directly opposed to what the Lord has said. I have friends who really care deeply about other people, and are willing to work hard and sacrifice for the betterment of society. They see the route to that betterment as coming through politics, and so they put their efforts, energy, and sacrifice into advancing political agendas. The problem though is that some of the things they feel most passionately about and push for most avidly, the Lord calls evil. They think they are helping others, but the more successful they are, the more harm they are actually doing. This is the deceitfulness of evil. It is not that my friends are desiring to do evil, exactly the opposite actually, they deeply desire good in a really commendable way. The problem is that they have become convinced that the Lord is wrong, and what He calls evil is actually the good that people need.

This is why Isaiah says they are hatching adders’ eggs and weaving spider’s webs. When their efforts don’t inadvertently produce evil or harm, the best they could be called are spider’s webs, looking beautiful and elegant, but not actually useful for anything toward bettering humanity or society. On the flip side, when their efforts bring about or facilitate what the Lord calls evil, their efforts are adders’ eggs, introducing harm and/or ultimate spiritual death to the very people they are seeking to help.

We, as Christians, have to realize though that it is not just non-Christians who fall into this trap. Much of Satan’s strategies and schemes in regard to the church do not revolve simply around convincing Christians to run out and commit heinous sins, but instead around convincing Christians to pursue the world’s purposes the world’s ways, using their lives to weave spider’s webs, or even unknowingly laying adders’ eggs. This is why it is so important that we know the Word and filter our thinking through God’s truth, so that we are not led astray to calling evil good and doing Satan’s work for him.

If we are not actively and intentionally living our lives for the Lord, at best we are weaving worthless webs, and at worst we are sowing the seeds of death in the world around us.