In the first three verses of the book of Isaiah, God calls forth the universe to stand up as witnesses against his people, Israel. They are children who have rebelled against him, and unlike animals, the ox and the donkey who come home when they’re hungry, they remain alienated from the one who feeds and cares for them out of his great love. God sends Isaiah to ask them to consider what their rebellion brought them. Isaiah lays out the current condition of God’s people in the next three verses. Isaiah 1:4-6 says, “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, and they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? 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.”
Isaiah charges the nation with deep-seated sin. Briley says, “The parallel terms nation, people, brood, and children are comprehensive, and the descriptors sinful, loaded with guilt, evildoers, and given to corruption refer to a deeply rooted problem rather than a superficial one.”[1] Isaiah is describing the symptoms of leprosy. McGee suggests this is exactly what Isaiah thought when he wrote this passage. He says, “Isaiah also had leprosy in his thinking as he described the sins of his people: “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isa. 1:6).”[2] The sin has gone so deep into the very core of the nation that there was no one to treat it. There is no medicine or treatment of any kind that might cure this disease. Like leprosy, it has spread to all aspects of the nation. Ryrie adds, “Principally, leprosy illustrates the defilement of sin, which results in separation. Insidiousness, loathsomeness, uncleanness, separation, defilement, death, are all points of comparison between leprosy and sin.”[3] Even though you saw leprosy on the outside of the body, the real cause of the disease was lying beneath the surface. The sores and other problems were symptoms of the disease, but the cause ran deeper still. Sin is precisely the same. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. The root of sin runs deep. Sin proceeds from a sinful heart. We all have sinful hearts. Jeremiah tells us that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. Who can know it? That answer is no one can know it. Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:19 that evil thoughts, murders, adultery, theft, and lies all proceed from the heart of man. The disease lies at the heart of man. We have it long before the symptoms begin to show. One blogger writes, “sin does its work in us well before others may ever see it. It often starts with secret sins, where only we will feel the tenderness. Then it begins to show itself in public sin, then when we defend and justify our sin, it starts to fester and putrify, but it all starts from within.”
Isaiah introduces his readers to the condition of the people of Israel. He is also introducing us to our own condition, which is not unlike leprosy. But Jesus can heal lepers. Isaiah is going to speak of this truth through his book. The description of Jesus’ cleansing action is seen clearly in chapter 53, where Isaiah writes, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
[1] Briley, Terry R. 2000–. Isaiah. The College Press NIV Commentary. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub.
[2] McGee, J. Vernon. 1991. Thru the Bible Commentary: The Law (Leviticus 1-14). Electronic ed. Vol. 6. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[3] Ryrie, Charles C. 1956. “The Cleansing of the Leper.” Bibliotheca Sacra 113: 264.