THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Contending Against
the Lord
Isaiah 3 SCC 2/24/13
There comes
a time when the people of God, who choose to counter the moral and revealed
word of God, can expect judgment from God. If you claim to be God’s people and
adopt a temporal worldly philosophy of living, you can expect to be held
accountable for that before God. You can also expect his discipline while alive
here on earth and his judgment of you on that day. You cannot contend against
God and all His expectations of you, and not have him contend against you. Here
is the
lack of qualified leaders and the consequent collapse of society resulting
because God’s people put their trust in people rather than in Him. This is
evident in Isaiah’s warning that God will remove the leaders and Judge the
society they were the product of.
GODS JUDGMENT REMOVES ALL THAT GIVES US STRENGTH, SUPPORT, AND PROTECTIVE
LEADERSHIP
Israel’s breakdown in
national character and seriousness is noted by stages in Israel’s degradation.
With the breakdown of their society the people will be placed in jeopardy,
their lives and families threatened by the chaotic governmental breakdown.
1. Good leaders
disappear 1-3
3:1: Here is the
emphasis on the lack of qualified leaders and the consequent collapse of
society that would result because God’s people put their trust in people rather
than in Him. God was going to remove what was essential from Judah and
Jerusalem. This is suggesting that every type of support will be removed. The
figures of bread and water stand for food and drink—famine will come—but in a
larger sense these things also represent all that is essential to the nation.
It is God who removes all of Judah's support, strength, and idolatrous
leadership.
3:2-3: The Lord would remove the leading men in
the military, political, religious, and commercial spheres of life. These were
people the Israelites depended on. This happened when the Babylonians conquered
the city and the land (2 Kings 24:14) and earlier when the Assyrians defeated
Israel. In other words, God is going to remove any sense of governmental order
and replace it with a sense of governmental futility. What good is it going to
be to rule this people in this place? All whom Israel depended upon for
survival and security would crumble from beneath them.
2. Immature,
capricious leaders v. 4 who begin to oppress the populace v. 5 take their place
3:4-5: This lack of
leadership would result in incompetent individuals seeking and gaining
positions of
authority (cf. Lev. 19:32; 1 Kings 3:7). Judah's
elder leadership will be removed even to the highest levels. Ineffective and
senseless young people will lead. Verse 4 is reminiscent of
the reign of King Rehoboam. Looking ahead, wicked King Manasseh began ruling
over Judah when he was only 12, and Kings Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah,
who followed him later, proved capricious. Good government is one of God’s best
gifts to a sinful human race. Society becomes divided as age gaps open up and
respect for the respectable breaks down (v. 5). Inexperienced
youth, now in charge, would be unable to stop oppression and societal conflict.
3. Unqualified
people get pressed into leadership, and a spirit of despair dominates elections
vv. 6-7
3:6-7: Things would
become so bad that the possession of a mere coat (an outer garment) would lead
others to thrust its owner into leadership despite his protestations. Any type
of superiority will seem like an indication that the possessor can provide
desperately needed authority and power. Yet the chosen leader will refuse to
take responsibility, even lying about his resources, because what he would rule
is only a ruin and because he knows he lacks the qualifications to lead. The
breakdown in the societal character only creates generational tensions,
societal tensions, and family tensions.
The reason for these conditions is that we are defying god by
depending on humans rather than on Him
1. They speak, act,
and rebel against the lord 8
3:8: Everything the nation said and did was
against the covenant God of Israel. Their conduct clearly displayed their
blatant disregard for the will of God embodied in the Law of Moses. It was
entirely against the Lord. They defied Him even while His glorious presence was
among them. They did it right before His face not behind his back.
2. They flaunt
their evil 9
3:9: Instead of bowing before God’s glorious
face, the Israelites were with brazen faces rebelling against Him, as the
people of Sodom did. So it would go hard for them. “Woe” is an interjection of
threat or distress. The Israelites had brought the judgment of God on
themselves by their pride. These Judean leaders (and their
families) were flaunting publicly their pride, wealth, and exploitation of the
weak and powerless of society. Humans break themselves on God's standards. We
reap what we sow. The coming disaster is brought on by themselves.
3. The
impending disaster is distressing 10-12
3:10-11: The faithful minority, however, would not
simply get lost in the judgment of the unfaithful majority, but the Lord would
remember them and send them good. Sin does bring its own wages. Here the
long-term blessing of the righteous contrasts with the short-term blasting of
the unrighteous. There were these two groups among God’s chosen people then as
there are now. The faithful frequently suffer along with the unfaithful, but
their ultimate ends are very different.
3:12: Isaiah
personally bemoaned the plight of the people (“woe” and “O my people”) who had
already begun to experience the frustration of incompetent leaders and who
would have to endure still more of the same. A child king possibly controlled
by (1) a strong "Queen mother" (2) the child king's wives
or
(3) the
women at court, is figurative of the weak and inexperienced leadership in the
nation. Children, in spite of their lack of maturity, experience, perspective,
and wisdom, were nonetheless needed to
lead adults. Unqualified and inexperienced leaders were leading the people
astray and giving them confusing directions concerning God’s will. God’s
special gift to his people through history involved furnishing inspired
leaders. Now He would withdraw them.
4. Defying God,
He will be the ultimate Judge 13-15
3:13-15: The
Lord enters into a dispute with His people's leaders (elders and princes). They
have destroyed His community ("vineyard," v. 14). They have taken
advantage of the poor, helpless, and powerless of society. They used the legal
system inappropriately to their advantage, and must now stand before The Lord’s
judgment. The prophets hold Israel/Judah accountable to the requirements of the
Mosaic covenant, obedience had consequences and disobedience had consequences! The Lord is the
ultimate judge of His people, and He would contend with His human
representatives who used their positions to fatten themselves rather than
feeding their people. Their possessions witnessed to their stealing from their
neighbors. The vineyard is a common figure for Israel. The people belonged to
the Lord, not these abusing leaders who crushed them and ground them down to
get out of them as much as they could for themselves.
CONTENDING AGAINST GOD POTENTIALLY CORRUPTS EVERYONE JUSTIFYING THE
JUDGMENT OF GOD
1. Pride leads to
corruption 16-17
3:16-17: Pride led these
women to walk with their noses in the air, assuming superiority over others,
and to draw men to themselves. They glanced coyly to see whether others noticed
their elegance. They took small steps to give the appearance of humility and
drew attention even to their feet. Everything they did was designed to attract
attention. God would humble them by making the hair that they loved so much a
patch of scabs and the foreheads they decorated so carefully bare. Having
delighted in immodest exposure, God gave them over to it. He did not condemn
their luxurious lifestyle as much as their arrogant spirit, which their
lifestyle demonstrated. These proud, well-dressed,
wealthy exploiters will be humbled!
2.
Seductive beauty is replaced with humiliation 18-23
3:18-23:
The
Lord proceeded to condemn 21 (seven times three, a full measure) other personal
decorations that evidenced pride, many of which were popular in Isaiah’s day
and some of which are still popular now. Many of these items originated in cult
and in magic rituals.
Again, these things are not wrong in themselves, but they may assume
too much importance in a person’s life. ‘In That Day’ these women will not care
what they look like being in such distress when Babylon eventually comes. The
Lord will cause the soldiers to take away all of these trappings, fine jewelry
and wardrobes.
3. Jerusalem
will be disgraced 24-26
3:24: Disgrace would
result from trusting self rather than God. These five exchanges (instead) and
more took place when God humbled Israel in exile. They all represent the
results of divine judgment for self-exaltation. Taken captive by Babylon ropes
would pull the women along and sackcloth would replace their seductive
undergarments. Their captives scarring their former beauty would brand them.
3:25-26: The woman in
view is Jerusalem personified as weeping over the losses. She is seen as
having lost her providers and defenders and all on whom she depended. She is
utterly without joy and alone. Jerusalem alone. The city would be
destitute of both men and women with a hopeless future of any inhabitants and
the joy of a robust population. Every strata of society will be touched by this
carnage.
So
What?
1. If we fail to stop our sin, it can infiltrate and
penetrate its influence in the lives of others around us. We do not sin in
isolation. Every sin is a beachhead for further sin. It’s influence only
deepens, hardens, and advances within our realm and sphere.
2. God will not and cannot let sin go unchallenged.
For us today it begins with conviction, and then discipline, and finally
judgment. Paul says we lose reward and Hebrews says there is a day when we will
have to face it. But if we refuse to do anything, like Israel, you will have to
give account for it.
3. Pride and self-will and an independent spirit will
always attempt to encourage us to do what we want. To believe that we know
better than God what serves our best interests. And this is where the struggle
is for us—who knows better what is in my best interest—the same struggle as in
the garden.