Isaiah 57:1 is a convoluted sentence in Hebrew, beginning and ending with the same word ( tsadiq , “righteous one”) and stuttering all along the way. But the parallel of the first two clauses makes an essential point clear:
A. The righteous one perishes
B. And there is no man unto heart
A’. Men of hesed are removed
B’. When there is no one considering . . .
The death of the righteous is supposed to provoke thought, but interestingly the thought provoked is not a thought of the injustice of the world. The logic is not: This man is righteous; yet this man dies; therefore, death indiscriminately takes the righteous and unrighteous.
Rather, the thought provoked is that the righteous and faithful are being rescued “from the face of evil.” The logic is: This man is righteous; this man dies; that must be God’s mercy in protecting him. In context, this refers to both the evil of rampant idolatry and of judgment against rampant idolatry. The just are blessed to be removed from the scene before things get even worse. RIS: Rest in Shalom, away from the un-shalom of the world (v. 2).
