Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
Isaiah 31:6-7
Explanation:
In this text God is calling for His people to repent. Repentance is a turning from a direction away from God back towards Him. The “children of Israel have deeply revolted.” It was time to come back.
How did they demonstrate their repentance? They would demonstrate it in two ways.
First, there was the prediction that they would turn back to God. This is often the image of what repentance looks like. Israel has revolted against God. They had turned away from Him towards idolatry and all the immorality that accompanied it. It was time to turn back to God.
The second way they demonstrated their repentance was quite visible. They would “cast away” their idols. It is impossible to walk toward God and idolatry at the same time. Turning to God meant turning away from their idols. Notice that the idols were costly. They were made of silver and gold. They were hand crafted. Getting rid of the idols was costly, but necessary for repentance.
Application:
Repentance is always the right answer to our sin. Turning back to God almost always includes getting rid of some kind of an idol. Our idols may not always be hand-crafted implements of silver and gold. Nonetheless our idols can be just a costly, not only in what we pay for them, but in the time and energy we put into them, and how they keep us off track spiritually.
Response:
What idols do you have? What are they costing you? What would repentance look like if you repented today?
