i. 18. _Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool._
We are informed by the Rabbins that the high priest bound a scarlet
fillet round the neck of the scapegoat, and that when the priest
confessed his own sins and the sins of the people, the fillet became
white if the atonement was accepted by God, but that if it was not
accepted, the fillet remained scarlet still. The Rabbins further say
that the goat was led about twelve furlongs out of Jerusalem where it
was thrown down a precipice, and was mangled to atoms by the fall. In
case of the sacrifice being received by Heaven, a scarlet ribbon
which hung at the door of the temple changed from scarlet to pure
white. They affirm that it is to this changing of the fillet and
ribbon from scarlet to white that Isaiah refers in our text. While we
regard these as fictions, and not as facts, they serve to illustrate
the nature and greatness of the change spoken of in it. +I. Scarlet
and crimson represent sins of excessive and glaring notoriety.+
1. The soul has been steeped in the dyeing element. 2. It has carried
away as much of the dyeing quality as it can hold. It is twice dipped
in the dye-vat. 3. The sins glare and arrest the eye like scarlet in
the sun. As the uniform of the British soldier is most conspicuous,
so these sins glare in the eye (1) of society, (2) of conscience,
(3) of Divine justice. +II. Scarlet and crimson symbolise the fast
and permanent hold of these sins upon the soul.+ 1. The sins are not
a _stain_ but a _dye._ 2. The sins are not superficial: they have
penetrated into the fabric, every thread of which has been dyed. The
faculties are the threads: the whole man the web. 3. The sins are not
typified by _any_ dye, but by _scarlet_ and _crimson,_ which are as
permanent as the fabric they colour. They resist sun, dew, rain, the
wash. +III. Scarlet and crimson becoming white as snow represents the
perfect removal of the greatest sins.+ The colouring element is
removed. The soul is _restored._ The power that removes the sin yet
saves the soul. _Application._--There is hope, then, even for the
vilest. The most desperately sinful need not
despair.[1]--_J. Stirling._