Isaiah 59:1-4 English Standard Version
Evil and Oppression
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 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.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 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.
Enough, we get the idea. If you want more read Isaiah 59 for yourselves. Considering the long list of evil doings, it is undesirable to associate ourselves with such evil. Rather than beat ourselves up or even try to rationalize our behavior, let us accept that none of us are perfect and that even the least of our sins, by error or omission has alienated us from God.
Sin is sin and there is no scale to weigh sin against. Just one sin, call it unbelief, is enough to tip the scales of justice to the guilty verdict. Yesterday’s blog was about advocates. In that blog was one word that should stand out but has no biblical dictionary definition in sources such as BlueLetterBible.org.
That word is intercessor. The Hebrew word is paga; to fall upon. The Hebrew and Chaldean Lexicon makes it sound even worse as it infers to set upon with violence. That is true in its purest sense but is used in the Old Testament as an action taken upon someone who gets in between the victim of wrath and the executioner. The intercessor takes the hit for the sinner.
Since the word intercessor is only used once in the KJV, Isaiah 59:16, and is ill defined, not that many studies or teachings have been done on the subject.