You are like water my friends. You are in the process of becoming something. As water runs over rocks it tends to become purer. That’s what I’ve been told and I chose to believe it. The best water I have ever tasted is mountain stream water. Ah, but my own personal experience also contradicts this. One time when I was in Honduras on a mission trip, we ran out of purifying tablets. The missionaries I was working with, my friends, told me it would all be okay because, after all, the water came right out of a mountain stream. Pure mountain water. Right? So, I drank it and then I became sick. And man was I sick. I couldn’t even drive home from the airport. That water had some things in it that my body was not at all used to. And no tumbling over rocks could remove it. And even water that is not moving is becoming. And you are water. If you decide to stay still – to not progress in any way – you will become stagnant, brackish, full of impurities. You are becoming.
Isaiah 1:21-31 is bracketed with the idea of becoming. The first becoming is introduced with a “how, in what manner” of surprise. How did this becoming happen? The steadfast, faithful city had become a harlot. Justice and righteousness used to dance here. The word “justice” is used forty-two times in Isaiah. It is used in conjunction with “righteousness” several times in the first eleven chapters. God is very concerned about the rights of people being respected. But where righteousness used to camp out, now murderers or assassins remain. The silver has become dross. Dross is the impurities that are separated away from the silver or other metals during the smelting process; the worthless material nobody wants in their silver. In this context, silver probably represents the pay of the harlot. The wine has been weakened with water. So, what they used to pay and what they used to party with has become completely worthless. Wealth and debauchery are what dance in Jerusalem now.
The rulers are rebels. This is not about good people making mistakes. This is flat out rebelling against God. They are the companions of thieves. They love and chase after bribes. There is no legal protection for orphans here. The widow’s plea or dispute goes unheeded. The very people who are the most vulnerable are the most oppressed. The people who should have stepped up to help them are the thieves and oppressors.
Because of this, the lord Yahweh of armies; the Mighty hero of Israel speaks out. When titles of God are heaped up, something serious is happening. The beginning of his speech is a pained “ah” or “woe.” This is about grief and pain. Yahweh declares that he will console himself of his enemies and he will take vengeance on those who are hostile to him. He will turn his hand upon them. Some suggest that this about mercy. And it is, but it is also judgment. Their dross will be burned away with lye or alkali. That just sounds pleasant doesn’t it? But it will lead to redemption. Judges will be turned back, either the current judges will have changed hearts, or, more likely, God will appoint new judges who will actually do their job. And once again Jerusalem will be known as the city of righteousness; an established or faithful city. Justice and righteousness will dance once again in Zion
Again, this will not be a pleasant process; this becoming. The rebels and sinners will be crushed together. Those who leave Yahweh will come to an end. This is the removing of dross; the purifying of the silver. In verse 29, there is a slight translation issue. The Hebrew text has “they” shall be ashamed of the oaks which they have longed after. Some translations amend this to “you.” But the “they” refers to the pagans who worship their gods in groves of oak trees. Judah has become just like them, and they will be embarrassed by their idolatrous parks. God will turn these places of idolatry into dried up withering desolations. And their strong man, the trees of strong oak, will become tinder. Their very works will be the spark that starts the conflagration that no one can quench.
They had chosen gardens of idolatry over Yahweh. The consequences of that choice are on them. When the purifying comes, it will be their fault. The faithful city had become a harlot. What are you becoming? Are you allowing the Mighty hero to smelt away your dross; becoming pure silver; a faithful servant in whom justice and righteousness dance? Or is your rebelliousness driving you to become worthless; stagnant; brackish? Let God’s redemption burn you clean! Shalom.