Isa 57:1 | MHM | STEP | Death of the Righteous. Isaiah shifts from criticizing the leaders to showing how careless and unaware the people have become. Just as the leaders were blind, the people also fail to notice important things happening around them. In these verses, Isaiah teaches about what it means when good people die, and how the rest of the world rarely pays attention to these events. v. 1 : God sometimes removes righteous people from the world through death. The righteous perish , and even those who are merciful are taken away . Good people are not protected from death, and sometimes they die even more quickly, especially during times of danger or persecution. When righteous people die, it is often a great loss for their communities—and sometimes, cruel people are responsible for their deaths. This happened before the exile to Babylon, when many good people died and very few were left (Jeremiah 5:1; Psalm 12:1 ). Sometimes, God allows the most valuable people to be taken away. However, most people do not recognize the importance of the death of the righteous. No man lays it to heart —nobody considers what God might be saying through these events. Few people mourn the loss as they should or think deeply about what it means. The death of good people should make us stop and think, asking what God is teaching us and how we might fill the gap they leave behind. When people ignore these signs from God, it shows a lack of understanding and respect for God’s blessings. Sometimes, the world even celebrates when good people die (Revelation 11:10 ), not realizing what a loss it really is.

‏ Isaiah 57:1

Death of the Righteous.

Isaiah shifts from criticizing the leaders to showing how careless and unaware the people have become. Just as the leaders were blind, the people also fail to notice important things happening around them. In these verses, Isaiah teaches about what it means when good people die, and how the rest of the world rarely pays attention to these events.

v. 1: God sometimes removes righteous people from the world through death. The righteous perish, and even those who are merciful are taken away . Good people are not protected from death, and sometimes they die even more quickly, especially during times of danger or persecution. When righteous people die, it is often a great loss for their communities—and sometimes, cruel people are responsible for their deaths. This happened before the exile to Babylon, when many good people died and very few were left (Jeremiah 5:1; Psalm 12:1 ^a). Sometimes, God allows the most valuable people to be taken away.

However, most people do not recognize the importance of the death of the righteous. No man lays it to heart—nobody considers what God might be saying through these events. Few people mourn the loss as they should or think deeply about what it means. The death of good people should make us stop and think, asking what God is teaching us and how we might fill the gap they leave behind. When people ignore these signs from God, it shows a lack of understanding and respect for God’s blessings. Sometimes, the world even celebrates when good people die (Revelation 11:10 ^b), not realizing what a loss it really is.