Isaiah had even called Jerusalem a harlot and compared it to Sodom (Isaiah 3:9). Yet they had turned their backs on Him by worshiping false gods (Isaiah 42:17), making sacrifices and burning incense on strange altars (Isaiah 65:3–5). The word filthy is a translation of the Hebrew word iddah, which literally means “the bodily fluids from a woman’s menstrual cycle.” The word rags is a translation of begged, meaning “a rag or garment.” Therefore, these “righteous acts” are considered by God as repugnant as a soiled feminine hygiene product.Īs Isaiah wrote this, the Israelites had been the recipients of numerous miraculous blessings from God. The doctrine of total depravity is taught clearly elsewhere in Scripture (e.g., Ephesians 2:1–5), and the illustration of Isaiah 64:6 could rightly be applied to the whole world, especially given Isaiah’s inclusion of himself in the description. Yet he includes himself in the description, saying “we” and “our.” Isaiah was redeemed and set apart as a prophet of God, yet he saw himself as part of a group that was utterly sinful. Isaiah was writing concerning his nation and their hypocrisy. The context of this passage is referring specifically to the Israelites in Isaiah’s time (760-670 B.C.) who had strayed from God. This passage is often used as a proof text to condemn all our acts of goodness as nothing more than “filthy rags” in the eyes of God. “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
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