Isaiah 55:6-11

"Turn to God who will forgive freely. For, thus says the LORD, my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways."

The prophet counsels his people to turn to God for forgiveness. That is hard, because they have broken their covenant with God and for that disobedience severe punishment is to be expected. This was what Moses said, when he invited the Israelites to accept the covenant of God. But here Isaiah says that God's ways may be surprising. Rather than simply punishing Israel for its sin, God might forgive the people in order to motivate them to repent.

The forgiveness of God, which requires God to overlook or set aside previous threats, becomes a central theme in the New Testament. Jesus is the supreme act of God that manifests divine forgiveness. The church proclaims that the death of Jesus atones for human sin, but this should not be understood as another form of divine punishment. In the crucifixion of Jesus, God suffers the punishment that was promised earlier in scripture for breaking the covenant.

Grace and peace...Bob