Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us. We [expectantly] hope for light, but only see darkness; We hope for gleam of light, but we walk in darkness and gloom. We grope for a wall like the blind; We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; Among those who are healthy we are like dead men. We all groan and growl like bears, And coo sadly like doves; We hope for justice, but there is none, For salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O LORD], And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know and recognize our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]: Rebelling against and denying the LORD, Turning away from [following] our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving, and muttering from the heart lying words. – Isaiah 59:9-13 AMP

Warrior;
Nothing is new, there are patterns of human condition and conditioning that play out over and over. The Bible is a mirror and a history book. It shows us how people PLAY, and it shows us how certain people PLAYED in the past. When we read the Bible we should not think, “Look at how bad they were, look at how stupid they were, look at how LOST they were.” Because THEY are US\WE. We are they! Isaiah 59 was written to the people of Judah—God’s covenant community—during a time of deep moral and spiritual crisis- just like today. Many scholars believe this chapter reflects the post-exilic period, after the return from Babylonian captivity, when the people were disillusioned. They had hoped for restoration and blessing, but instead found themselves still struggling with injustice, corruption, and divine silence. We are in the mess we are in, just like the people of Judah because of our HEARTS. It is written; The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Who knows the human heart, only Jesus! It is written; Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:23-25)

Leader, we have BLM, CRT, ANTIFA, Democrats and the WOKE CHURCH, preaching a false woke gospel and misquoting scriptures to make up a WOKE JESUS. We have people marching in the streets with self-righteous bitterness, chanting, “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE”. There is no peace on this side of eternity. There is no PEACE, until we have PEACE WITH GOD. This is where the saying, “NO JESUS, NO PEACE. Know Jesus, know Peace.” We have people who hate the God of the Bible, who want to trash the Paternal nature of God- asking for God’s help. Isaiah tells us why our CRIES are NOT HEARD. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity”. (ibid 1-4) Verse 13 explains the problem. And the Lord said: Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men. This statement from God is given a few times in the entire Bible, both New and Old Testament. See Ezekiel 33:31 and Matthew 15:7-9. Jailhouse religion is where we are in a crisis. We cry out to the God of the universe, but outside of crises- we don’t call out to God- we got this!

Conduit, Isaiah paints a sobering picture of a society unraveling—not because God has turned away, but because the people have turned from Him. ‘Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God… your hands are defiled with blood… your lips have spoken lies… your feet run to evil’ This is not just ancient poetry—it is a mirror held up to our streets today. When mobs cry ‘No justice, no peace’ while torching businesses and shedding innocent blood, they fulfill Isaiah’s lament: The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths’. True justice cannot be born from lawlessness. True peace cannot be built on destruction. Dr. Martin Luther King lamented, “You cannot drive out darkness with darkness, only light can do that. You can’t get rid of hate with hate, only Love can do that.” To follow the logical flow to its inclusion, ‘you can’t have peace through destruction’! Isaiah does not excuse the brokenness—he names it. But he also points to hope: ‘A Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression’ (v.20). The answer is not more rage, but repentance. Not more slogans, but salvation. God says to the mobs: if you truly seek justice, seek the One who is just. If you long for peace, turn to the Prince of Peace. For only when we are reconciled to God, can we be reconciled to one another.” Isaiah 59 is not just a lament about a broken society—it’s a diagnosis of a broken heart. The prophet says, ‘Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God’. If we as Christians take to the streets demanding justice, but do so with bitterness, unforgiveness, and vengeance in our hearts, are we not echoing the very rebellion Isaiah condemns? The gospel calls us to something higher. Jesus did not come to settle scores—He came to settle sin! If God does not keep a record of our wrongs, how can we justify keeping one of others? See 2 Corinthians 5:19. Let us not be known for our outrage, but for our outpouring of grace. Let us forgive as we’ve been forgiven. Let us love as we’ve been loved. And let us remember that the only justice that truly satisfies is the justice that was poured out on the cross. This approach doesn’t deny the reality of injustice, but it FRAMES the Christian response around the cross, not the crowd. It’s a call to be ambassadors of reconciliation, not retribution. Amen!