The Separation Caused by Sin
A closer look at Isaiah 59:10.
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. - Isaiah 59:2 (ESV)
Introduction
Isaiah 59:2 makes a clear and important, but before taking a look at this verse, let’s first gain some perspective on the verse and the context in which it is delivered.
Isaiah is considered one of the major prophets because he delivers a big message. Literally, his message is big, filling 66 chapters. But the messages he delivers are big as well. He speaks the word of God to God’s people in a time when they are under the threat of the Assyrians. Isaiah’s prophecies also relate to the Babylonian exile and a variety of other topics. (The ESV Study Bible provides a very good overview of this book and Isaiah’s messages.)
Isaiah 59 is near the end of the book and by this time, Isaiah is speaking of things to come. God’s is going to do something incredible and this is detailed in the last verse of the chapter:
21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.” - Isaiah 59:21 (ESV)
God is promising a new covenant and as a part of this new covenant, He is promising that the Holy Spirit and His word will be in and upon His people “from this time forth and forevermore.” This passage is closely related to Jeremiah 31:31-34 which conveys a similar message:
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” - Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV)
Note, however, the last sentence of this passage, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Something new - a new covenant - was promised and this covenant became effective when the work of Christ was finished. However, though there is something new in place, something else remained - sin and its close companion iniquity.
Even though there is a new way, there is still the problem of sin. And today’s verse reminds us of the problems that sin creates. Let’s take a look at the verse together.
“But your iniquities…and your sins”
There are two very big problems noted in this passage, “your iniquities…and your sins.” These two things are closely related and these terms are frequently used interchangeably, but they mean different things and describe different situations.
Romans 3:23 helps us to define what sin is:
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23 (ESV)
From this verse we are able to determine that sin is falling “short of the glory of God.” As GotQuestions.org also notes:
“Sin means “to miss the mark.” It can refer to doing something against God or against a person (Exodus 10:16), doing the opposite of what is right (Galatians 5:17), doing something that will have negative results (Proverbs 24:33–34), and failing to do something you know is right (James 4:17). In the Old Testament, God even instituted sacrifices for unintentional sins (Numbers 15:27). Sin is the general term for anything that “falls short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We can summarize this by saying that we can sin in word, deed, or thought and we can sin by doing something we should not do or sin by not doing something we should do.
However, iniquity is something a bit different. Iniquity is sin on a higher level or with a different intensity. GotQuestions.org also helps us to understand this concept:
Iniquity is more deeply rooted. Iniquity refers to a premeditated choice; to commit iniquity is to continue without repentance. David’s sin with Bathsheba that led to the killing of her husband, Uriah, was iniquity (2 Samuel 11:3–4; 2 Samuel 12:9). Micah 2:1 says, “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.” In David’s psalm of repentance, he cries out to God, saying, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2).
With these two definitions in mind, we can say that iniquity is indeed sin and that both involve “falling short of the glory of God.” We can also say that iniquity is sin on a different and “worse” level.
“Have made a separation between you and your God…have hidden his face from you”
This verse also tells us that the “iniquities” and “sin” referred to in the passage have caused two things. First, we are told that the “iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” and then we are told that “your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
The iniquities have caused a separation from God and the sins have caused God to hide his face, which is another way to describe a separation or strained relationship.
But before we go deeper with this, let us once again remind ourselves of the context of this passage. In Isaiah 59, Isaiah is delivering a prophetic message. The first audience of the message would have been God’s people at the time the message was written on a scroll. These people were likely still in the Promised Land under the threat of the Assyrians (or dealing with the aftermath of that threat). A later audience may have read the message after being exiled by the Babylonians or after they had returned to help the city walls be rebuilt. As time passed, the audience would have included those waiting on the promised Messiah to come. And now we read and hear this message 2,000 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The original audiences would have heard this message under great duress. Enemy invaders were either on the way or in the process of wreaking havoc. Either death and destruction were imminent, or they were living in the aftermath. For these people, there was clearly “a separation between you and your God.” God’s promises were still alive and active, but they were being faithfully carried out via promised consequences for disobedience. In this situation, it would have been evident that God had “hidden his face from” His people.
“So that he does not hear”
The sin and iniquity of the Hebrew people had an effect on their relationship with God. Because of their wrongdoing against the Most High God, their relationship with Him was put into a bad place. It was strained. Isaiah describes the situation as getting to the point “so that he does not hear.”
Now, we know that God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all of the time. And we also know that He is omniscient. He is all-knowing. He knows everything. When we put these two things together then we logically know that God sees everything and hears everything. No matter what is said, no matter where it is said, and no matter the volume, God hears everything.
With this in mind, we know that every word uttered by God’s people was heard by Him. So then how is it possible that Isaiah could say that God does not hear?
Well, Isaiah is describing the state of a relationship and is not somehow placing a limit on the attributes of God. Of course, God knows all and hears all. However, the sins and iniquities of His people have added stress to their relationship. Isaiah is not saying that sin causes God’s auditory-type function to cease. If that was the case then God would not allow Himself to hear a sinner’s prayer for salvation or hear a prayer of repentance.
In this case, perhaps it would help us to better understand this passage if we note that Isaiah seems to be referring to God’s obligation to hear. God wants His people to repent. He wants them to return to Him. Until there is repentance and a return to Him, prayers for blessings in other areas may not be heard and answered.
Application
We discussed the context of this passage related to its earliest audiences, but how does this apply to us over 2,000 years later?
First, we need to remember that God’s character - who He is and how He is described - never changes. We are reminded of this in James 1:17:
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. - James 1:17 (ESV)
When we stand outside with the sun directly overhead, there is no shadow that is cast from our body because the sun is shining directly down on us. However, as the earth spins and as it rotates around the sun, the angle of the sunlight hits us differently. As these angles are created and change as we stand there, the shadow we cast also moves. But as James notes, this isn’t the case with God. He is not only our Source, but He also does not change.
Because of this, we know that His character does not change. This means if He was holy and righteous 2,000 years ago, then He remains holy and righteous. If He hated sin 2,000 years ago (which He did), then He hates it now. If sin and iniquities caused a separation from God in the times of Isaiah, then separation is also created now. If sin and iniquities caused God to hide His face 2,000 years ago, then it will cause the same today. And if sin and iniquities caused God to not hear His people all those years ago, then the same applies today.
That means that our sins and iniquities still cause a separation from God.
If we do not have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ, then we are separated from God for all of eternity because of our sins and iniquities. As Romans 6:23 reminds us, the wages of sin is eternal death.
If we have received Jesus Christ by faith and if He is our Lord and Savior, then we escape the eternal separation from God and we live with the eternal promise of heaven. However, while we live, our sin still impacts our relationship with God.
If we belong to Jesus and we sin (which we will), we are still going to heaven. However, our experience here on earth will be different. If we sin, the promises contained in Isaiah 59:2 are still applicable. Our iniquities create a separation from God. Our relationship with Him is strained when we sin - especially when we sin so intensely that it is described as “iniquity.” When we sin, God may turn His face from us.
If we are Christians, because we love God and understand the work of Christ on our behalf, we should not want to sin. And when we understand that our sins and iniquities may affect our fellowship with God, then our attitude should always be one of repentance.
