Isaiah 3

In Isaiah 1-2, God rebukes Jerusalem and Judah’s sin, promising forgiveness and future rule in the distant future. In chapter 3, He vows to punish their pride and rebellion in the near future.

God’s first punishment removes all security (3:1-3): food, water, warriors, officials, prophets, and diviners, destabilizing Judah for exile.

Next, young, unreliable leaders will replace the older ones. They will oppress the people and ignore the wise, leaving a power vacuum no one wants to fill as Jerusalem declines into chaos (3:4-7). 

In 3:8-9, God says Jerusalem and Judah defy Him openly, like Sodom, bringing disaster on themselves through their blatant sin: “For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they have spoken and acted against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster on themselves.” The people aren’t just forgetting peripheral commands, but have elevated themselves to the point of disdain for God and His Word.

Yet God distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked in 3:10-11. Though He will bring rescue or punishment according to what they have done, the majority of the people will follow the misleading direction of their unqualified leaders (3:12).

Finally, God, as Israel’s covenant Lord and Judge, condemns Judah’s leaders for ruining His vineyard and oppressing the poor (3:13-15). He states they have “devastated the vineyard, crushed my people, and ground the faces of the poor”. They have used their power to extract the wealth of the needy.

Then he turns to the women who are the beauty of the nation and rebukes them as haughty, heads held high, and seductive in 3:16. Then He promises to remove their adornment and replace it with scabs, baldness, sackcloth, and branding in 3:17-24.

All these descriptions portray conditions of famine and lament that come as Jerusalem is under siege. That siege becomes an invasion in the final verses: “Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle. Then her gates will lament and mourn; deserted, she will sit on the ground.” 

The message is as clear to Judah as it is to us. God sees your evil and hates it. One cannot defy God through lifestyle and hope to avoid consequences. Repent today from your rejection of Him and the lack of love you have for others. For those who do, there is forgiveness and restoration.

Pastor David