Who will protect us from the injustices of a corrupt world? Let’s look at Isaiah 59.
Does God lack power or is He deaf? What would cause Him to ignore our prayers?
Look! The Lord does not lack the power to save, nor are his ears too dull to hear, but your misdeeds have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you so that you aren’t heard. (Isa 59:1-2 CEB)
What kinds of sins did God specifically state that Israel was guilty of?
Your talk is filled with lies and plans for violence; every finger on your hands is covered with blood. You falsely accuse others and tell lies in court; sin and trouble are the names of your children. You eat the deadly eggs of poisonous snakes, and more snakes crawl out from the eggs left to hatch. You weave spider webs, but you can't make clothes with those webs or hide behind them. You're sinful and brutal. (Isaiah 59:3-6 CEV)
How quickly did Israel commit sins? Was there any justice to be found among them?
Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. (Isa 59:7-8 ESV)
What happens to those who choose corruption over doing what’s right?
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night. We grope along a wall like the blind; we grope like those without eyes. We stumble at noon as though it were twilight; we are like the dead among those who are healthy. We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. (Isa 59:9-11 HCSB)
Can honesty enter a corrupt government? What often happens in a corrupt society to those who choose to turn away from evil?
“For our transgressions before you are many, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we acknowledge them: they’ve rebelled in treachery against the Lord, and are turning away from following our God; and they’ve spoken oppression and revolt, and are conceiving lying words from the heart. I’ll [We] drive back justice, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth has fallen in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. Truth is missing, and whoever turns away from evil becomes a prey. Then the Lord looked, and it displeased him that there was no justice.” (Isa 59:12-15 ISV)
What will God do to those who cause a nation to suffer under corruption?
And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. (Isa 59:16-20 KJV)
Is there a future hope for Israel, even after all their sins?
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says Yahweh: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed,” says Yahweh, “from now and forever.” (Isa 59:21 LSB)
Was putting on the armor of God also alluded to in the New Testament?
Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph 6:14-17 NASB)
Who will protect us from the injustices of a corrupt world? You decide!
