Isaiah prophesied in the eighth century B.C., almost 800 years before the birth of Jesus. The situation he faced is spelled out clearly in this introductory chapter. God's own children had rebelled against him, Israel was a people “laden with iniquity,” ripe for judgment. This condition did not consist merely of occasional failings. The nation’s condition was not a mixture of good and bad; rather, the prophet explained, “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil” (1:5,6). To put it another way, things were about as bad as they could be. Rightly did Isaiah warn the people, and us: “those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed” (1:28).
But in the midst of these warnings is this invitation! “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” (1:18). How gracious is our God! How merciful! Oh my, the words of Fanny Crosby as she recalled this passage!
Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow . . .
Hear the voice that entreats you,
O return ye unto God! . . .
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more; . . .
"Look unto Me, ye people,”
Saith the Lord your God!
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more,
And remember them no more.