The City of Righteousness, the Faithful City

I ran across what most people know as Isaiah 1:26, which says,

"I will restore your judges as in days of old,
your rulers as at the beginning.

Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.” (TNIV)

At first glance, one may think these mean "really, really good city" and "city that does what it's supposed to." Thanks mostly to NT Wright, my view has shifted to something a bit more, well, nuanced. Wright proposes that faithfulness is adherence to the covenant with YHWH, the Creator God. Righteousness is a condition that results from this faithfulness to the covenant showing oneself as a member of the community of YHWH. Yeah, so? Interestingly, the New Covenant that Christians are supposedly under stems very much from the above mentioned First Covenant. Read a bit of context:

“The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the LORD.

“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;

I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?

Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.

They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;

even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;
wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!

Stop doing wrong,
learn to do right!

Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.


“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.

If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;

but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.


See how the faithful city
has become a prostitute!

She once was full of justice;
righteousness used to dwell in her—
but now murderers!

Your silver has become dross,
your choice wine is diluted with water.

Your rulers are rebels,
companions of thieves;

they all love bribes
and chase after gifts.

They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
the widow’s case does not come before them.

Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:

“Ah, I will vent my wrath on my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.

I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.

I will restore your judges as in days of old,
your rulers as at the beginning.

Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.”


Zion will be delivered with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.

But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the LORD will perish. (TNIV)



Interesting how the biggest deal seems to be, not keeping the Law with sacrifices, but keeping the Law by looking out for the oppressed, the poor, the widows and orphans. The point of Jesus's little foray into his creation was to bring about a new covenant where our hearts can be restored to keep this "law" of looking out for the powerless. Someday heaven will come back to earth when Jesus restores all of creation. YHWH (LORD in the text) is going to restore judges and rulers who will keep his law in this way. He will dwell among us as we all keep the New Covenant perfectly. The idea of the Christian life today is to pull this future (or eventuality) into the present as YHWH's children. Why not start now?

A blessing or curse?

I've noticed that I've had a lot to say recently. Whether said stuff that wants to be said is interesting, relevant or that it even ought to be cared about is beyond the purview of my judgment. I guess that's up to you to decide. And having thoughts in my head that want to get out—is that a blessing or a curse? I'm not sure. But at least I can post the thoughts here, and my vexation will be moderated.

I feel like I spend a lot of time quibbling. About certain nuances of ideas. About nuances of word choice. Thus the title of the blog. (And yes, it's a nod to Luna Lovegood's father's publication.) It appears to me that there is far too little recognition of nuance in our world today. Our political discourse (while being neither a discourse nor politic) has seemingly lost any nuance. The politicians know they have one shot at a soundbite, and they feel they have to lambaste the other party to be recognized as doing anything productive. Bye-bye, nuance. And then there are a bunch of people that I know are crying, "Just tell me what to believe!" They don't want nuance. They want something easy to follow.

I don't want to come across as snobby. We can chalk the black-and-white vs. gray debate up to personality or upbringing or current environment. Regardless of the validity of a black-and-white perspective, I feel much is lost when we lose nuance. So enough about that. The rambling rants herein will often (and to me, most importantly) be about nuance. Many of them will be one-off shots at making sense of something. Please interact with me, since I've found that my particular nuances usually have gaping holes. Your nuances plus my nuances can help build a better worldview, and I know I'll be the better for it!