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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Isaiah 3
Judgment
On
In
verses 1 through 3 we see God's judgment that will come on I
look at verses 1 through 3 and see how God might well be judging western
culture today. All that is
mentioned in these verses are being lost right now in the western world.
In
verse 4 when it says, "I will make boys … children, their
officials", this tells me that good quality leadership in Verse
5 says that people will oppose each other.
How true that is today in The
verse says that the young will oppose the elderly.
There is little respect for the elderly in our youth driven
generation these days. When
it says that the "base will rise up against the honorable",
well, I certainly see that in today's western world.
It is the base that are being idolized.
The honorable are being thought of as old fashion and out of step
with modern society. In
verses 6 and 7 we see lack of quality leadership again.
People will try to force men to be leaders, but these men are not
capable of leading. He has
no qualifications or interest in leading. The political aspect to Judah's existence will simply disintegrate, and that it did.
They could not withstand the attacks of the Babylonians. Verse
8 says that " Verse
8 also says that "their words and deeds defy" their Lord and
His presence. The Lord, once
among Israel
has long left them. He is
standing back watching and waiting for the time of judgment. Verse
9 is interesting because it shows clearly today's western culture.
"They parade their sin like Sodom". Obviously this
reference to We
see in verse 10 that even though the majority are sinful, there is a
remnant of righteous people in Verse
11 begins with "woe to the wicked".
The word "woe" reminds of the "woes" found in
the book of Revelation, and it should, because the same God that judged Judah
of old will judge Verse
11 says that "they will be paid back".
It is the Lord Himself that will pay Judah
back. As is often said in
the Bible, "vengeance belongs to the Lord".
We as believers have no part to play in instituting vengeance.
That is all on God's shoulders. Verse
12 is interesting. It says
that "youths oppress God's people".
It appears that in The
next statement is controversial in our modern times.
It says, and it's in a negative sense, "women rule over
them". Even
though God made Eve to stand along beside Adam, as the Hebrew text
suggests, in the eyes of God, it appears that women holding places of
leadership, and in this case, it looks like political leadership, is
frowned upon by God. I'll
let you think that one over. Maybe
you will come up with a different commentary on this phrase. Verse
12 says that "your guides lead you astray".
I believe the "guides" spoken of here, that is, in
context, are the youth and the women.
Traditionally, and I believe this was God's will, it was elders,
older men, who led One
reason why woman and youth might have been more predominant in Jewish
society back then was seen back in verse 7.
The men were neither interested or properly qualified to lead as
they did. In
verses 13 through 15 we see God as the judge in a court room, as I
stated back in chapter 1, verse 1. The
scene is in God's just court and judgment is about ready to be spoken by
the judge. It is my opinion,
as seen throughout the Old Testament, that once judgment is pronounced
by God, there is no turning back. Judgment
will come no matter what. Man
can do nothing about it. God
will not change His mind. Individuals
may repent and benefit, at least in part, but judgment will come on the
nations. The nation will not
and cannot repent as a whole. It's too late for that. Verses
16 and 17 are directed towards the women of As
part of God's judgment on Judah
as a whole, verses 18 to 24 tells us how judgment will affect these
proud women. All that was
once meant to make them beautiful and sexually attractive will be gone
and replaced what their
opposites. Beyond that, the
men belonging to these women, the men they want to attract, will fall by
the sword, as seen in verse 25. I
wonder if there might not be a correlation here between the promotion of
sexuality by women and the killing of their men at war.
That appears to be what is happening even today.
Verse
26 says that "the gates of
Chapter
4, verse 1, speaks of 7 women grabbing hold of one man.
There will be many more women than men.
The men will be killed in battle.
The women are desperate. They're
widows. They're single. They
disgraced because they have no children.
At this point I'd like to insert an article I wrote on Isaiah 3.
What
Judgment Looks Like For numerous reasons many
Christians avoid the prophetic books of the Old Testament.
By so doing they fail to understand and recognize what God's
judgment on a nation looks like. So,
when judgment appears on the horizon, they're pathetically unprepared
for the rough road ahead. Isaiah
3 gives us a glimpse of what God's judgment can look like.
Although the specific nation in question is Isaiah 3:1 to 3 states
that God will disrupt a nation's food and water supply.
When agricultural and economic failures plunge a nation into
recession or depression, whether it's seemingly due to supply and demand
disruptions, global upheavals, or climate change, God's hand of judgment
is behind the fallen economy. Isaiah 3:1 to 3 also
states that God will remove the effectiveness of the warrior, the judge,
the craftsman, the wise man, and the prophet, from an ungodly nation.
When a nation's military, judicial system, manufacturing sector,
and religious institutions, fall into disrepair and becomes ineffective,
God's judgment has infiltrated the nation's infrastructure.
Isaiah 3:4 states that
God installs youths as national officials.
Children rule the nation. The
installation of incompetent childish politicians is one way God brings a
nation down to its knees in judgment.
Isaiah 3:5 states that
God causes the citizens of a nation to oppose one another.
Men fight against their fellow man while neighbours are caught in
conflict with one another. When
racial, social, economic, and religious, unrest divides a nation, that
divided nation will soon fall by the hand of God's judgment.
Isaiah 3:6 and 7 states
that an ungodly nation won't be able to conscript quality people to lead
it. When individuals are
asked "to take charge of this heap of ruins"(NIV) they will
answer by saying "I have no remedy" (NIV). God's
judgment is clearly seen when no one with sufficient intelligence and
quality character traits can be found to lead a nation out of its ruins.
The Apostle Paul, in
Romans 1:24 says that God will hand a society over to the immoral sins
it chooses to embrace. The
particular sin he points out is homosexuality.
Isaiah 3:9 tells us that God will hand a nation over to such
immorality. This is seen
when its citizens "parade" (NIV) around in their sin, just as
" The New Living
Translation of Isaiah 3:12 is notable in light of our present electoral
season. "Childish
leaders oppress my people and women rule over them." In
context, "my people" refers to the nation of Isaiah 3:13 and 14 states
that the Lord will take His seat in His court and enter into judgment.
I suggest that you carefully read all of Isaiah 3 for yourself.
Don't take my word on this. You
might well disagree with me on this issue, and that's fine.
Just ask yourself if the judgments you see in Isaiah 3 have any
relevance for the western world nations today.
Has God Almighty sat down in His courtroom to judge the nations
of the western world? From
my vantage point, I believe He has.
What I see transpiring in the western world today looks very much
like the judgments I see in Isaiah 3.
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