The prophet Isaiah was praying for the afflictions of the people of God. Jerusalem was being destroyed by the Chaldeans. The sin of Israel had brought this divine judgment upon them. They were pleading for the mercy of God for their afflictions. In Isaiah 64:6, the prophet pleads, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
In this prayer, Isaiah confesses that we are sinners by nature and that our own righteousness does not suffice for acceptance by a holy God. Self-righteousness refers to an attitude or mindset where someone believes they are morally superior or convinced of their own worth or virtues. It is an idea that mankind can be acceptable to God on his own good merits. However, Isaiah is comparing man’s righteousness to filthy rags. The imagery of “filthy rags” emphasizes the idea that no amount of good works or adherence to moral laws can meet God’s requirement for salvation.
What is “filthy rags”? First, we investigate the background of the use of the rag. We find in Leviticus chapter 13 that the disease of leprosy was common. Leprosy was a disease that affected the skin and worked inward. It would affect the nerves and joints, and sometimes skin boils would cause the fingers and toes to fall off. Leprosy was one of the few abnormal conditions of the body which the Levitical law declared unclean. When a person was afflicted with this disease, they would approach the priest and be examined.
Leviticus 13:25, “Then the priest shall look upon it: and behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is leprosy broken out of the burning; wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the plague of leprosy.”
When a person has leprosy, there were laws governing this process. The disease is so contagious that this leper must live in a colony outside the city. If the lepers were to come into town for some reason, they were required to cover their lips and cry,” unclean, unclean” to warn the healthy people to avoid them.
Leviticus 13:45, 46 reads, “And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.”
In the city square, lepers were provided a rag to wipe the dripping pus draining from their limbs and sores while in town. All lepers used the same rag, and over a period of time, it was saturated with the contagious disease of leprosy.
Isaiah is referring to this filthy rag as a metaphorical illustration of the inadequacy of human efforts to reach moral purity. The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness.
Jeremiah 23:6 reads, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”