The Great Clean Up (Isaiah 1:24-26).
God now speaks. Without His action there would be no hope and no future, but He declares His intention to act in sovereign power and bring about that deliverance. Finally the future is bright for those who will receive it because the future is God's, but only for those who will receive it. We should note that it is not a blanket promise. Not all Israel were the true Israel (Romans 9:6). Those who were unwilling to receive His offer of mercy would be condemned (Isaiah 1:28-31).
‘Therefore thus says the Lord,
Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel.
“Ah, I will ease myself of my adversaries,
And avenge myself on my enemies.
And I will turn my hand on you,
And purge away your dross as with lye,
And will take away all your impurity (literally ‘tin').
And I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counsellors as at the beginning.
Afterwards your city will be called,
The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Zion will be redeemed with judgment, and her converts (those who return) with righteousness.
Following the pattern of ideas of the previous verses, but in reverse order, we begin with the One Who is in complete contrast to the princes. No doubt they made much of themselves and exalted themselves, but the threefold description of the One described here is all prevailing. The contrast is deliberate. Beside Him they are but pygmies. He is the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel. Note the great stress laid on His power. Firstly He is the Sovereign Lord, the Great King. Secondly He is the One Who rules and controls all things, whether above the heavens, in the heavens or on the earth. He is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Thirdly He is the Mighty Saviour and Deliverer (Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16). Just one title would have been sufficient, the combination is overwhelming.
‘Ah, I will ease myself of my adversaries, and avenge myself on my enemies.' Yahweh will take over from the princes and bring about His will. He will ease the sense of righteous burden in His own heart at the behaviour of those who have proved to be His adversaries by ignoring His covenant, by thrusting them from Him. Thus will He satisfy His own righteous requirements against those who are His enemies. Only foolish man would have dared to take up such a position against God.
‘Ah!' This is full of feeling. God's reaction is not mechanical.
‘I will turn my hand on you and purge away your dross as with lye, and will take away all your impurity (literally ‘tin').' Furthermore He will Himself act sternly by the removal of the dross and the impurities in His people by His own hand. He will vigorously scrub them clean, removing all trace of impurity. There is a mixed metaphor here, although to ‘purge with lye' may well have been a recognised figure of speech. Soap (lye) would not usually be used for removing dross, except dross given a wider meaning, but it ties in better with Isaiah 1:16. ‘Turn the hand' usually depicts hostile action (compare Psalms 81:14; Amos 1:8; Jeremiah 6:9). The thought is forceful. It will be the rough treatment of a stern but merciful master on an undeserving servant. Their period of refining will not, however, be pleasant. It is only man, not God, who thinks that sin can be easily dealt with.
‘And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning.' This is His final aim. Justice and proper guidance for His people. A righteous rule. This, speaking in human terms, will be obtained by the raising up and appointing of new Justices and new Counsellors who will measure up to the best of what has gone before. In other words His people will be properly ruled and shepherded.
Looking back from our standpoint we can see how God has been carrying out these works through the ages. He has raised up teachers for His people, through John the Baptiser, through Jesus Himself, through His Apostles, and through those who have faithfully followed them in the ministration of God's word. And through their ministration He has been refining a people for Himself in readiness for them being with Him in the City of Righteousness.
‘Afterwards your city will be called, The City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.' The result of all this will be that their dwellingplace will be called ‘the city of righteousness', the city in which no impurity or dross can be found, the city where all is seen as right before the righteous Judge, a city satisfying even to God Himself. A city completely true to the covenant. (We must therefore add, a heavenly city - Revelation 21-22 - no earthly city could be like this).
(Many literalise such descriptions but as mentioned in the introduction prophecy had to be given in terms of the life-situation, background and understanding of those who heard it. When early missionaries went to the eskimoes they spoke of seals instead of sheep, of the harpoon of God instead of the sword of the Lord and of the great igloo in the sky instead of Heaven, otherwise their message would have been meaningless. In the same way the prophets were prophesying to people who had no conception of Heaven. They thus spoke of it in terms of a glorified Jerusalem. Later John in Revelation 21 would speak of it as a city of gold, with gates of pearl and forming a perfect cube with Apostles as its foundation. None of the descriptions were to be taken literally. So in all our reading we must use discernment. And this applies throughout all the prophets. We must discern what they are trying to say).
‘The faithful city.' This in contrast to the prostitute city of Isaiah 1:21. It will be wholly true to Yahweh. Its dedication and response to God will be total. But it is also ‘faithful' because of its new enduring nature. The word used for ‘faithful' contains within it the sense of enduring. It will be an everlasting city.
‘Zion will be redeemed with judgment, and her converts (those who return) with righteousness.' The result will be that Zion will be redeemed in justice and righteousness. She will have been fully restored to what she should be. Note how ‘Zion' here represents the true Israel, the Israel within Israel, ‘her converts' (‘those who return, who turn again'). The term ‘Israel' has two aspects, outwardly it is the people who declare that they are Yahweh's people, but, in contrast, in Yahweh's eyes it is those who are Yahweh's true people, the spiritual part of Israel. They are the true Israel. For all who are not true are in the end to be ‘cut off' because they are not true Israel. The two ideas are thus constantly held in tension.
This redemption with justice and righteousness will be by the exertion of God's delivering power. Redemption (see also Isaiah 29:22; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11) always indicates a cost (Exodus 13:13; Exodus 34:20; Leviticus 25:29; Leviticus 27:27; Numbers 3:48; Deuteronomy 15:15), and it must necessarily be so for otherwise it would not be in justice. In some way God has taken the cost on Himself (this cost will be stressed in Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12). So will His people be accepted as just and right before Him.
This verse (Isaiah 1:27) is an important seed verse. Zion was very much the city of David, so that it contains embedded within it the idea of the Davidic kingship, the king over Zion, and the idea of the holy remnant, both of which will be prominent later on. But we see here how closely the idea of Zion and the people are seen as one. Zion is her people.