Isaiah 59:12
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
The verse is a confession in which the speakers acknowledge that their transgressions are multiplied before God, that their sins testify against them, and that their transgressions remain with them and their iniquities are known to them. In its setting it describes the sinful condition of the nation in its time of rebellion and gives the reason for its calamity. That national guilt means having forsaken and forgotten God, chosen other gods, followed corrupt ways until God turned from the people, and trampled upon the law of God and broken His everlasting covenant.
That national guilt also includes despising the Sabbath. The verse describes the character of the priests and rabbis who opposed Jesus, with their multiplied transgressions before God testifying against them. In verses 12-15 the confession portrays the corrupt condition of the world and of humanity sunk in sin, marked by rebellion against God, falsehood, oppression, and the collapse of truth and justice, a condition compared with the wickedness of Noah's day.
The chapter shows the state of the world just prior to the second coming of the Lord, when the end of all things is at hand and iniquity abounds because people have transgressed the law and broken the everlasting covenant given on condition of obedience, and by continual transgression turn away from God and His righteous government and come more and more under the sway of seducing spirits. The multiplied transgressions and iniquities are those of humanity laid upon Jesus in Gethsemane, where He surrendered His spotless soul as a living sacrifice as man's substitute and surety bound to the altar, carrying them knowingly while enduring the curse of the law, suffering under divine justice, seeing what justice means, and upholding the justice of God. The verse is part of the definition of Christ's work given in Isaiah 59 through 62, that He came to save people over whom Satan was exercising power and to work out the purposes planned in the counsels of heaven, setting things in their right light after God's vineyard had been worked by unrighteous scribes and Pharisees.
Compared with written prophecy and the facts characterizing the life of Jesus, this exposure shows the harmony between prophecy and its fulfilment in the lowly Galilean. The fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth chapters of Isaiah are to be searched and studied for a great lesson when the end is near, preparing for the future immortal life. The verse calls for deep humility, self-examination about preparation for the day of God, being purified as gold until the dross is consumed, divesting every sin, humbling the heart before God, and getting ready to meet the King in His beauty. Sincere study of prophecy for oneself instead of yielding judgment to leaders keeps from being misled by false reasoning and perverted prophecy.