Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

The name Isaiah means “Jehovah has saved”. Little is known about Isaiah’s personal life apart from what is revealed in the book. We know he was married to a “prophetess” (Isaiah 8:3) and had at least  two sons, Shear-Jashub (Isaiah 7:3) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Isaiah 8:3). Shear-Jashub means “a remnant shall return”. Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means “plunder speedeth; spoil hasteth”, denoting the swift attack on Syria and Samaria by the Assyrian army (Isaiah 8:4). For about 20 years, Isaiah spoke to both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. After Israel’s fall to the Assyrians in 722 B.C., Isaiah continued to prophesy to Judah. Isaiah's work as a prophet began in the year King Uzziah of Judah died, 739 BC (Isaiah 6:1), and continued through the reigns of Kings Jotham (740-736 BC), Ahaz (736-716 BC), and Hezekiah (716-687 BC). Isaiah outlived King Hezekiah, who died in 686 B.C., for he recorded the death of King Sennacherib of Assyria (Isaiah 37:37-38), who was assassinated by two of his own sons in 681 B.C. Isaiah's ministry occurred at a critical time in Judah's history. Israel and Judah had gone into spiritual apostasy. The two nations had forgotten Jehovah God and became corrupt. Isaiah’s commission was to faithfully proclaim the Word of God to a people who refused to heed it. Still, God continues to call to a people who refuses to listen: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (v.18). Come now, let us reason together — The Lord GOD invites His people to come reason with Him. What He is offering them is not something that is unreasonable. Judah and Israel are the ones that have departed from God and are doing all sorts of evil under the sun. God is offering them an olive leaf. God says their sins are crimson red but they can become white as snow. They have a choice to take it and be saved or reject it and suffer the consequence: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (v.19, 20). Our God is a reasonable God. His commands are not unreasonable. He does not demand perfection from us. He does not demand that we be sinless. He asks only for the humility to repent and turn to Him: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God said to Abraham that He would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham argued with God about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham reasoned with God about the righteous in the city. He went on to argue all the way down to ten righteous souls, and God agreed (Genesis 18:22-33). We know how that turned out for Sodom and Gomorrah! God was right, and Abraham was wrong. Today, God has placed His commandants in the written Word of God, the Bible. His commandments are plain and simple to understand. Only a disobedient heart will want to reason with God about His commandments. The reason they have trouble obeying it is because they do not want to obey it. For example, God has spoken plainly about baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16). Men want to reason (argue) because they do not want that commandment. God has spoken; let us be obedient to His commandment.