”Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die. “But you—come here, you witches’ children, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! Whom do you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars! You worship your idols with great passion beneath the oaks and under every green tree. You sacrifice your children down in the valleys, among the jagged rocks in the cliffs. Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them with liquid offerings and grain offerings. They, not I, are your inheritance. Do you think all this makes me happy? You have committed adultery on every high mountain. There you have worshiped idols and have been unfaithful to me. You have put pagan symbols on your doorposts and behind your doors. You have left me and climbed into bed with these detestable gods. You have committed yourselves to them. You love to look at their naked bodies. You have gone to Molech with olive oil and many perfumes, sending your agents far and wide, even to the world of the dead. You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. Desire gave you renewed strength, and you did not grow weary. “Are you afraid of these idols? Do they terrify you? Is that why you have lied to me and forgotten me and my words? Is it because of my long silence that you no longer fear me? Now I will expose your so-called good deeds. None of them will help you. Let’s see if your idols can save you when you cry to them for help. Why, a puff of wind can knock them down! If you just breathe on them, they fall over! But whoever trusts in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.” God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.” The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away— all the souls I have made. I was angry, so I punished these greedy people. I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way. I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn, bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far,” says the Lord, who heals them. “But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God.“
Isaiah 57:1-21 NLT
It is clear that the subject of God’s disdain is that of the wicked and the demonic rather than the gentile and the physical creatures. In as much as the Jews were, and are, God’s chosen people, clearly God has chosen them to be the first outpost for a war. They are not where the battle ends but rather where it begins. Passages like these demonstrate that God is using the Jews to call out, from among all nations, a people of a certain caliber of heart. He is calling those who value humility and reconciliation to rebel against the ideas of pride and survival of the fittest. He is giving them promise of a new home and a new protector if they will come to him and pledge a new allegiance. If they will learn to think his thoughts and to love doing so, he will carry them to a meaningful victory. More than this, he promises a relationship that goes beyond utilitarian fealty. He promises love. He promises to to pine for them, to value their concerns. He promises to be offended on their behalf and to defend their honor. He promises that his sense of duty to them will not be a social contract but a covenant that builds societies. This was always what was to be. This relationship was robbed from Adam’s offspring. If we only return to him, all this and more will be ours. It is indeed gospel, in light of what we are owed.
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