America 935 B.C.
Isaiah 3:1-26
You don’t have to tell me. I know that America didn’t exist in 935 B.C., but she sure was described. In the chapter of Isaiah that we’re going to look at today he’s talking to and about Israel. But when we look at the circumstances that are described it could just as easily be America 2006.
On March 3, 2006, as I was driving to Eureka from Augusta, I had what I call a life-changing meeting with God. We have most of our serious conversations while I’m driving. I guess that’s the only time He can catch me where I’m not doing something else and can really take the time to listen to Him.
I’m convinced, after this meeting that this nation of America is collapsing in on itself. It’s imploding. And the church has let it happen! Don’t get me wrong, I love this country, and I’ve served her in different capacities for most of my adult life. I’d still fight for her, but she’s sick. And I’m not at all sure that she’s going to recover.
I also believe that God’s sick and tired of preachers that ignore the facts and keep teaching that everything’s just hunky dory as long as we keep sending money into their coffers. The Bride of Jesus, in America has fallen in love with the world. We’re seeing the prophecy in 2 Tim 4:3 come to pass in the church. The teachers with itching ears are alive and well in the American church today. We will no longer listen to sound doctrine. We’ve gotten to the point that God has to fit into our little box. And even worse, He’s got to obey us by waiting on our every want, normally without even a please of thank you.
Listen to what the prophet Isaiah has to say in the 3rd chapter of the book of Isaiah.
1-8 (Amp)
1 For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff [every kind of prop], the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water.
2 The mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the [professional] prophet, the one who foretells by divination and the old man.
3 The captain of 50 and the man of rank, the counselor and the expert craftsman and the skilled enchanter.
4 And I will make boys their princes, and with childishness shall they rule over them [with outrage instead of justice].
5 And the people shall be oppressed, each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; the child shall behave himself proudly and with insolence against the old man, and the lowborn against the honorable [person of rank].
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, “You have a robe, you shall be our judge and ruler, and this heap of ruins shall be under your control”.
7 In that day he will answer, saying, “I will not be a healer and one who binds up: I am not a physician. For in my house is neither bread nor clothing: you shall not make me judge and ruler of the people.”
8 For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory and defy His glorious presence”.
In these verses we see Isaiah prophesying Israel being under siege, her leaders destroyed. He’s denouncing the sins of the affluent upper class, telling them that God’s going to take away their leadership.
The referral to the stay and the staff means that He’s going to take away everything that they’re depending on as a nation. Then He goes on to list several things that they’re going to lose.
• The mighty man of war (their armies)
• The judge (National leaders “King, etc.”)
• The professional prophet.
• The diviner
• The old man (counselor)
• The chanter, or “prayer”
• The eloquent orator
And in the place of these national leaders He’s going to place “children” to rule over them.
In other words, He’s going to allow their competent leaders to be replaced by incompetent rulers. The instability of the nation will become so bad that the people will be oppressing one another. People will become “unneighbourly” and constantly be at each other’s throats. The leaders, being childish and incompetent, will do nothing to correct the situation.
The last half of verse 5 can be interpreted two ways.
1. It can refer to the childish and incompetent leaders ignoring the wisdom of those who have gone before them, and doing a “new” thing.
2. It can also be speaking to insolent and rebellious youth who ignore the values of preceding generations and therefore devalue, among other things, the morals and self-control of earlier generations.
What verse six & seven are telling us is that a man who has clothes to wear will be considered rich. Those who couldn’t afford the decent clothes to wear would come in their “underwear” and beg him to assume the position of ruler over them. But Isaiah warned them that this man would refuse to become their leader. You know, it’s a sad state of affairs when a man won’t even consider for an instant being the ruler of a nation because of the condition that it’s in. It’s not that God doesn’t still love the nation, He’s forced by His own word to judge sin. They’ve put themselves in this position.
Then we come to verse 8. Isaiah’s telling them “Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen. And they can thank themselves for it! They’ve brought all this destruction on their own heads by all that they’ve said and done against the Lord. In word and action they broke God’s law. They provoked Him to His face, as if they knew more than He did, and they took pride in slighting Him.
9 Their respecting of persons and showing of partiality witnesses against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil [as a reward upon themselves].
10 Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with them, for what their hands have done shall be done to them.
12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, your leaders cause you to err, and they confuse (destroy and swallow up) the course of your paths.
13 The Lord stands up to contend and stands to judge the peoples and His people.
14 The Lord enters into judgment with the elders of His people and their princes: for [by your exactions and oppressions you have robbed the people and ruined the country] you have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor? Says the Lord God of hosts.
Their inner sin is revealed by the look on their faces. (Proud, Arrogant, etc.) They proclaim their sin like Sodom. (They’re proud of their sin and flaunt it for the world to see.) What they don’t realize is that sin is self-destructive even though it’s disguised to seem glamorous and fun. But sin is wrong regardless of how society perceives it. God tries to protect us from our sinful nature by warning us of our sin, but those who ignore the warning and continue in their sin will receive God’s punishment for their rebellion, impudence and arrogance.
Then in verse 10 - 11 God tells His people that in His time, and in His way, they’ll receive their reward, just as the wicked will receive their punishment. It’s sometimes hard to see the wicked prospering while the followers of God are in need, but we have to trust and believe that God will bring about justice in the end. We’ll receive our reward, if we stay faithful.
Now, not to make any of the women here mad, but what’s Isaiah mean when he says that the oppressors of God’s people will be children and women will rule over them? Well, here we go. This indicates a complete and total failure of the male leadership in their society. And when male leadership fails it creates a vacuum that has to be filled, and naturally, women step in to fill the vacuum left by the men. This isn’t an indictment against women, but a simple statement of fact. Because of the failure of responsible male leadership, women stepped in and childish, immature men stepped in.
In the ancient world every nation understood the necessity of strong male leadership in the face of potential war. Failure to maintain this leadership always led to failure and collapse.
Then he goes after the existing leadership. The elders, judges, kings and princes, who were supposed to protect the helpless and the poor, were instead oppressing and using them. Isaiah promised them that they would be the first to suffer judgment and punishment at God’s hands. Any leader will be held accountable for how they lead. That includes church leadership too folks.
1 Peter 4:17 (Amp), “For the time [has arrived] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will [be] the end of those who do not respect or believe or obey the good news (the Gospel) of God?”
Okay, let’s finish this chapter out and see what God has to say about nations who disrespect Him.
Isaiah 3:16-26
16 Moreover, the Lord said, because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks and with undisciplined [flirtatious and alluring] eyes, tripping along with mincing and affected gait, and making a tinkling noise with [the anklets on] their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the heads of the daughters of Zion [making them bald], and the Lord will cause them to be [taken as captives and to suffer the indignity of being] stripped naked.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of their tinkling anklets, the caps of network, the crescent head ornaments.
19 The pendants, the bracelets or chins, and the spangled face veils and scarfs,
20 the headbands, the short ankle chains [attached from one foot to the other to insure a measured gait], the sashes, the perfume boxes, the amulets or charms [suspended from the ears or neck].
21 The signet rings and nose rings,
22 the festal robes, the cloaks, the stoles and shawls, and the handbags,
23 The hand mirrors, the fine linen –undergarments], the turbans, and the [whole body enveloping veils].
24 And it shall come to pass that instead of the sweet odor of spices there shall be the stench or rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; and searing [of captives by the scorching heat] instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty men in battle.
26 And [Jerusalem’s] gates shall lament and mourn [as those who wail for the dead]’ and she, being ruined and desolate, shall sit upon the ground.
God has already confronted the leaders, priests, and male population through Isaiah. Now he turns his attention to the women.
The women had placed their emphasis on clothing, jewelry and perfume. They had their hair done up immaculately and “pranced” around showing themselves off. They dressed and made themselves up to gain approval, be fashionable, and to be noticed. They were self-serving and self-centered instead of being concerned with the oppression and poverty all around them.
Again, these verses aren’t an indictment against having nice things; it’s a judgment of attitudes towards stuff in general. God requires of us, that when we have been blessed with money or position, that instead of flaunting it, we use whatever He’s given us to help others.
In verses 25 & 26, God’s warning the nation of Israel that their armies will fall in battle and the nation will be destroyed. The women will be taken slave and sold to the highest bidder. In the ancient Near East part of the humiliation of slavery was to be stripped naked and chained together, then marched off to be sold as a servant, or worse.
Folks, I believe that America is in the same position today in our relationship as a nation, to God, as Israel was when this was written. About the only difference is in some of the terminology that’s used. The attitudes are exactly the same.
We’re in the same position also as Greece, Rome, and other nations. I don’t believe that there’s a nation in the world right now that can beat us in battle, Rome and Greece were in that same position when they fell. They were eaten from the inside by a loss of morals and discipline. Somewhere the last Roman legion made their last stand against the barbarians, and it was all over.
Pray earnestly for this nation’s soul. Live the life that God requires of His people. The only hope that America has is for Christ’s church to stand firm and not give another inch to the enemy.
Pray with me.
