Isaiah 57:3-13 | The Way of Scripture

Isaiah 57:3-13

Can the idols people pursue actually rescue them?

Berean Standard Bible

3 “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! 4 Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deceit, 5 who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? 6 Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley; indeed, they are your lot. Even to them you have poured out a drink offering and offered a grain offering. Should I relent because of these?
7 On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifices. 8 Behind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness. 9 You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself. 10 You are wearied by your many journeys, but you did not say, “There is no hope!” You found renewal of your strength; therefore you did not grow weak.
11 Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me or take this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me? 12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not profit you. 13 When you cry out, let your companies of idols deliver you! Yet the wind will carry off all of them, a breath will take them away. But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.”

What is the context?

The address turns to people who mock and deceive. Their worship includes passion among the trees, offerings at stones and the slaughter of children. The description is an accusation of serious unfaithfulness, not harmless religious variety.

The language of beds, nakedness and pacts pictures their abandonment of the Lord for other loyalties. Their journeys and gifts continue even when the effort exhausts them. They keep finding strength to pursue a course that does not bring them back to Him.

The Lord asks whom they fear and why they have failed to remember Him. His silence has not made their deeds righteous or profitable. When crisis comes, they are challenged to seek rescue from their collected idols.

The contrast is decisive: the wind can carry those objects away, while the person who takes refuge in the Lord receives the land and His holy mountain. The question is what can truly bear the weight of their trust.

How is this passage commonly understood?

The USCCB notes read the passage as a summons to judgment, with the people’s unfaithfulness described through the image of sexual infidelity. They explain the ending as a contrast between the fate of idols and the inheritance of those who trust God.

Henry and Wesley likewise emphasize misplaced trust and the failure of substitutes for God. Their explanations include false worship and reliance on powers that cannot provide the rescue being sought.

For verse 9, the USCCB notes discuss the possible reference to Molech, the reading used by the BSB. Wesley, commenting on a translation that says king, understands an appeal to Assyria’s king. The explanations differ over that detail while recognizing the larger charge of seeking security away from the Lord.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

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