Isaiah 1:5-6 -- "The Whole Head Is Sick"

"Why should ye be stricken any more?  ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
"From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."


In verse 5, the Lord asks: "Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint."

The Lord's people have continually been chastened due to their iniquity.  He has taught them over and over the way to live, through obedience to His commandments, and admonished them that disobedience and wickedness leads to death and destruction, of both a spiritual and temporal nature.  A good example of this is in Numbers 11:6-9.  As the people of Israel began to murmur against the Lord, he sent fiery serpents among them, which bit them.  Many died.  The people were chastened and came to Moses asking him to pray unto the Lord to take away the serpents.  The Lord then told Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it on a pole and "every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live."

In Helaman 8:14-15, Nephi speaks of Moses, explaining the significance of this experience.  "Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come?  And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.  And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal."

The way is simple.  Look and live.  Look unto Christ and live.  And yet, here in Isaiah 1:5 as in many other instances, the Lord asks, "Why should ye be stricken any more?"  In Ezekiel 18:30-31, the Lord echoes this sentiment saying, "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.  Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"

To me, it is almost as if we can hear a sense of frustration.  These children that the Lord loves and wants to bless, continue to turn away from Him.  Because He loves them, He must once again chastise them, so that they will come to Him again.  The way is simple, yet they choose their own way, resulting in pain and suffering.  "Why should ye be stricken any more?" the Lord asks.

Yet they continue to revolt and the Lord proclaims "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint."  A couple scriptures lend some understanding to this.  The first is Mosiah 12:27:  "Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise."  The second is D&C 8:2-3:  "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.  Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground."

We need our head and our heart to understand spiritual things.  Here in Isaiah, the Lord proclaims of His children that their whole head is sick and the whole heart faint.  They have completely turned from the Lord and will not seek His peace and understanding of His ways.

He continues this condemnation in verse 6, saying:  "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it;" -- the whole body is sick and full of iniquity, there is no good in it.

"...but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."  What are these wounds and bruises and putrifying sores?  It is the iniquity and sins of the people.  I like Isaiah 53:4-5.  Speaking of Christ, it says:  "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

The very same imagery of wounds and bruises are used here to show that Christ has taken upon himself our iniquities.  He is the binding for our wounds, His atonement is the ointment that will heal us.  Yet in verse 6, the Lord proclaims that His children's iniquity has completely taken over, they are filled with wounds which have not been closed or bound up or had ointment applied to them.  No attempt has been made to be healed.  By this He is speaking metaphorically of His atonement.  They have not applied His atonement in their lives, they do not look to Him to be healed.