In 64:5 Isaiah wrote: "All our good deeds are like filthy rags."
Lutherans use this to prove all our good deeds are sinful, for they
say we are totally corrupt. (Luther thought original justice, i.e.,
sanctifying grace, was a part of human nature. So the loss of it
would mean a total corruption of human nature: cf. his major work
The Bondage of the Will).
But they forget: 1) verse 6 says: "There is no one who calls upon
your name." But many did. So, Semitic exaggeration. 2) Isa 40:2: "She
has received double for all her sins." But that would be unjust--
more exaggeration. 3) Compare Is 13:9-10 on fall of Babylon, and
34:4 on Edom, and Ezek 32:7-8 on Egypt. - Same language as Mt. 24 on
sun darkened etc.
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