Isaiah 3

The study today is on Isaiah 3, a continuation of the prophecy of judgment concerning the southern kingdom of Judah and its holy city of Jerusalem. As usual, let’s start by reading the entire chapter, then I will go back through the verses individually:

1 For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah The stock and the store, The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water; 2 The mighty man and the man of war, The judge and the prophet, And the diviner and the elder; 3 The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the skillful artisan, And the expert enchanter. 4 "I will give children to be their princes, And babes shall rule over them. 5 The people will be oppressed, Every one by another and every one by his neighbor; The child will be insolent toward the elder, And the base toward the honorable." 6 When a man takes hold of his brother In the house of his father, saying, "You have clothing; You be our ruler, And let these ruins be under your power," 7 In that day he will protest, saying, "I cannot cure your ills, For in my house is neither food nor clothing; Do not make me a ruler of the people." 8 For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen, Because their tongue and their doings Are against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory. 9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves. 10 "Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him. 12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths."
13 The LORD stands up to plead, And stands to judge the people. 14 The LORD will enter into judgment With the elders of His people And His princes: "For you have eaten up the vineyard; The plunder 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. 16 Moreover the LORD says: "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with outstretched necks And wanton eyes, Walking and mincing as they go, Making a jingling with their feet, 17 Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the LORD will uncover their secret parts." 18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery: The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents; 19 The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils; 20 The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands; The perfume boxes, the charms, 21 and the rings; The nose jewels, 22 the festal apparel, and the mantles; The outer garments, the purses, 23 and the mirrors; The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes. 24 And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of a sash, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, baldness; Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty. 25 Your men shall fall by the sword, And your mighty in the war. 26 Her gates shall lament and mourn, And she being desolate shall sit on the ground.
Isaiah 3:1-26 (NKJV)

Let’s start with the first three verses:

1 For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah The stock and the store, The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water; 2 The mighty man and the man of war, The judge and the prophet, And the diviner and the elder; 3 The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the skillful artisan, And the expert enchanter.

Here’s is another title of God, the Lord of hosts. Used over 200 times in the Old Testament, that title refers to God, our leader, while the word hosts signifies a band of soldiers ready for battle. God, in the form of Jesus, is the General of that army. In that army will be the angels and us, all of the believers in Him. I look forward to the time described in Revelation when we will all be clothed in white and will be members of the massive army, when Jesus speaks a supernatural word and vanquishes His enemies. I have envisioned that word to be His name, the “I AM” of the Old Testament:

14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
Exodus 3:14 (NKJV)

Combining that with the following passage in the Gospel of John is what leads me to this belief:

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. 2 And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. 3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?" 5 They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am (He)." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6 Now when He said to them, "I am (He)," they drew back and fell to the ground.
John 18:1-6 (NKJV)

I removed a word in the passage above, the word He. Anytime you see a word in the Bible in italics, it is a word that the translators placed into the passage to have it make sense in English. In the Hebrew, the word He is not there. The passage made perfect sense without the word He, but the translators must have missed the prophetic significance of the phrase uttered to Moses. Back to the first verse, the General of our army takes away from Jerusalem and Judah, the stock and the store, the entire supply of bread and the entire supply of water. Sounds like an incredible famine, and we can read about that famine in Revelation 6:6-8 and in the following passage, as well:

7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Revelation 8:7 (NKJV)

Noted prophecy scholar Hal Lindsey pointed out that the Hebrew word for grass in the First Trumpet judgment above actually means grain, so while green grass might be important to us, the word grain shows this to be harsher as it shows a worldwide famine. Continuing in verse two, we see that the Lord of hosts also takes away the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder. While all of these have many facets, the one I see is that they are all leaders, so God is removing the leaders of the world. It appears to be wide-reaching to every aspect of society, but we know from studying the Book of Revelation that there is one group left on earth not included in this mass upheaval, though they may be included in the first six trumpet judgments in time frame. The remnant of 144,000 Jewish apostles and all of their converts are sealed by the Holy Spirit and protected through the remainder of the judgments.

"Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
Revelation 7:3-4 (NKJV)

Continuing in verse three, the Lord of hosts removes from Judah and Jerusalem the captain of 50 and the honorable man, the counselor and the skillful artisan and the expert enchanter. As I said before, everyone who leads is affected here, and a society without leadership is thrown into chaos. Each person will have one of two decisions to make at that time…to follow the charismatic antichrist or to follow Jesus. It goes back to the old line by Robert Frost, “Two paths diverged in the wood. I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” It certainly won’t be the easy decision and choosing Jesus will mean the person gives up their ability to buy and sell, and will be declared an enemy of the worldwide dictator. That demonstrates the level of faith that believers will have, as that decision could affect the ability to supply a meal for their families.
Let’s continue in verses four and five:

4 "I will give children to be their princes, And babes shall rule over them. 5 The people will be oppressed, Every one by another and every one by his neighbor; The child will be insolent toward the elder, And the base toward the honorable."

This is the complete disintegration of society, completely upside down. While it is not a positive thing, I can’t help but see that the lowly are over the high. It reminds me that Jesus asked us to come to Him as little children. In this time, children will rule over the parent and will treat their elders with insolence. This reminds me of Nazi Germany when members of the Hitler Youth were turning in their parents for being Jewish sympathizers. The children are further described here as being “babes,” and that description tells us that their decisions will not by driven by knowledge or experience. They will lead because no man remaining wants the job. Once again, the rest of this passage demonstrates the oppression of neighbors against each other and that the dishonorable will be above the honorable, though that sounds like a pretty accurate representation of our own political system. Onward with verses six and seven:

6 When a man takes hold of his brother In the house of his father, saying, "You have clothing; You be our ruler, And let these ruins be under your power," 7 In that day he will protest, saying, "I cannot cure your ills, For in my house is neither food nor clothing; Do not make me a ruler of the people."

These verses demonstrate the unwillingness of any man to take charge. Here, a man is “qualified” to be a ruler because he has clothing. What a sad reason to lead! Yet, the man is unwilling and says that his household has neither food nor clothing. The famine here is not like anything this world has ever seen, worse than the Warsaw Ghetto. Next, let’s look at verses eight and nine:

8 For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen, Because their tongue and their doings Are against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory. 9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.

Historically, Jerusalem stumbled and Judah fell, but this is much more far-reaching than in that time period. Once again, this applies to the Great Tribulation. Already we can see some of the verses coming true. It says that the tongue and doings of the Jews are against the Lord. Most Jews today are atheistic humanists. It seems like a dichotomy to be Jewish and an atheist and one Jew described it this way, “I know exactly how to worship the God I don’t believe in.” That is sad, but true. Humanists believe in the power of man to do the right thing and to achieve power. Humanists believe that if you treat your enemy with respect, they will treat you with respect. Humanists believe that man will be able to eradicate cancer, war and even death in the future. Remember Romans 1:22: “Thinking they were wise, they became fools.” We can choose to believe in the goodness of man, but it doesn’t change the sin nature that exists. We can believe anything, but we can’t change God. Nor can we change His plans. The previous verse also tells us that those actions against the Lord will provoke the “eyes of His glory.” That verse makes me think of John’s description is Revelation 2:18, where it says that Jesus has eyes like a flame of fire. Fire signifies judgment in the Bible. I can’t imagine looking into His face and seeing His wrath!
In verse 9, we see that the look on their faces even witnesses against them, and goes onto compare their sin to Sodom. If you review the Biblical account of Sodom, what you see is a pride in sin. Many will attribute the destruction of Sodom to the rampant homosexual activity in the town, but that was more of a description of the depravity of the town. No one cared about the sin of themselves, or the sin of others. All of us are born with a sin nature. Additionally, we all have the knowledge of right and wrong. Ask someone who does not know the Ten Commandments what is sin, and they will probably be able to tell you most of those commandments. As society decays, people begin to ignore the difference between sin and good. This is not a momentary change, but a progression. We tend to rationalize our own sins. For an example, look back 50 years in our nation’s history. Television censors would not even allow a married couple to share the same bed (look at a re-run of “I Love Lucy)”. Sexual infidelity did occur, but it was certainly looked down on. The same can be said for premarital sex. Today, it is much more likely that a couple will live together before marriage to test their sexual compatibility. Is this God’s plan? Absolutely not, but it has become an accepted part of our society. Abortion has become legalized murder, and is used as birth control. Can you imagine either of these being commonplace 100 years ago? Ask anyone involved in these sins, and they get defensive. Once again, this takes us back to a phrase used often in the Old Testament…”everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” We re-write the words of God’s book to fit what we want to do. Just as the end of verse 9 says, they do not hide their sin and have brought evil upon themselves. Jesus doesn’t condemn the wicked. They condemn themselves. Remember that every action each of us takes is a choice, and we can either choose to serve God or Satan, it’s as simple as that. The last comment I want to make on this section of verses, and on my commentary, is that I don’t want you to think I am judging the sin of others. We all have our own blind spots and unless we remain grounded in His Word, the blind spots will increase. Don’t ever forget that all sins are forgivable, if we bring them to the foot of the cross and hand them over to our Messiah. Okay, on with verses 10-12:

10 "Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him. 12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths."

Verse 10 is a great reminder to all of us who are believers that we need not worry. It will all be okay for us. Notice that it doesn’t say anything about the timing of when we will eat the fruit of our doings. There are no promises in the Bible that becoming a Christian will make our lives any easier while on this earth. In fact, we all know that suffering and brokenness are the special times when we lean not on our own understanding but on the power of God. He draws us closer to Him in those times. No matter what we have to endure on this earth, though, it does not compare to our eternity with Him. If we have to suffer every minute of every day of our lives here and live to be 80, how does that compare to eternity? Verse 11 tells us that the wicked shall receive the reward of their hands. Remember, if any man was judged based on their own behavior, all we could earn is death and damnation. The only difference between the righteous and the wicked is that the righteous are forgiven. Verse 12 brings up another sore subject for many people when it says “and women rule over them.” As much as people have tried to prove the equality of the genders, God did not make men and women the same. Women have just as many strengths and attributes, but those strengths and attributes are not identical to those of men. We are very close to having a woman as president of the United States, and it easily could happen in the next presidential election. Don’t ever forget that God appoints kings and kingdoms and sometimes He appoints kings that will lead to destruction. The following verse says, “Those who lead you, cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths.” Let’s go back to the abortion analogy. When our “leaders” legislate sinful behavior becoming legal, it makes some people stop thinking for themselves. It’s easy to do what others are doing, and much more difficult to do what is right. Okay, let’s go onto another passage:

13 The LORD stands up to plead, And stands to judge the people. 14 The LORD will enter into judgment With the elders of His people And His princes: "For you have eaten up the vineyard; The plunder 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.

God begs us to follow Him! He sent His Son to live as a man, die a brutal death on the cross and rise again to save us from what we deserve. If I was the only sinner, He would have died for me! That is love! While He pleads with each one of us to come to Him, He cannot stand idly by and allow sin to run rampant. Satan has dominion over this earth, but the time is coming when God will no longer allow that to be the case. He is slow to anger, as the Bible tells us, but that doesn’t mean that He will not judge the wicked. This verse reminds us that His patience is wavering. He enters into judgment with the elders of His people and His princes. Once again, this reminds us that He holds people in leadership responsible for leading others astray. That doesn’t mean that followers are not responsible for their actions, but don’t ever forget the responsibility that leadership brings. The end of verse 14 concerns eating up the vineyard. Wine was a luxury, but one that was not instantaneous in its usage. It took years of preparation to enjoy. If you eat all the grapes today, it will affect the wine not tomorrow, but in the years to come. In Hebrews, Jesus tells us that He is the vine. The Jews are the natural grapes, and we the Gentiles, have been grafted into the vine. The end of verse 14 combined with verse 15 shows another problem…that of the wealthy taking advantage of the poor. In our society, we are seeing this happen on a daily basis. You can call it the disappearance of the middle class. Look at the difference between the pay that a professional athlete receives in comparison to that of a minimum wage worker. Once again, this is synonymous with an upside down society. God describes it as “crushing” His people and “grinding” the faces of the poor. This is very descriptive language. This is not gentle, but harshly overpowering. Once again, it also appears that it applies to the grapes, God’s people. Crush the grape, and you get the juice that turns into wine. Once again, when we are crushed, we turn to Him!

16 Moreover the LORD says: "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with outstretched necks And wanton eyes, Walking and mincing as they go, Making a jingling with their feet, 17 Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the LORD will uncover their secret parts."

This is a confusing area of the prophecy to me, but I will tell you what I think it means. This describes a time when women’s outer beauty has become much more of a priority than their inner beauty. That is present today! I live in one of those communities where this is more the norm than the exception, as thousands of dollars are spent yearly on plastic surgery. Go to the local high school and you will be amazed how the young girls are dressing. That astounded me, as I couldn’t imagine a parent allowing a child to dress in such a sexually alluring way. Then I began to notice the dress of the mothers and understood where it began. Most of the terminology shows actions that are designed to call attention to the women…walk with their heads held high, luring eyes, walking in a way that gets everyone to look, even making noises with their feet. The next verse I have to take literally, for I don’t see a metaphor here. The Lord will strike with a scab on the crowns of the head and will uncover their secret parts.

18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery: The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents; 19 The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils; 20 The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands; The perfume boxes, the charms, 21 and the rings; The nose jewels, 22 the festal apparel, and the mantles; The outer garments, the purses, 23 and the mirrors; The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes. 24 And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of a sash, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, baldness; Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.

Verses 18-24 continue with the prophecy regarding the women. All of the finery, the items of luxury, will be gone. This is pretty straightforward, as you can see that beauty disappears. What goes along with this? If there is no money to spend on luxuries, my guess is that times have grown pretty hard. Once again, look historically at the situation. I doubt that in the Holocaust the women were spending much time on their own beauty and instead, focused on survival. Don’t forget that this is prophetic of a time unlike any other in the history of man, so it will be even worse than it was in Nazi Germany. Let’s finish up this chapter:

25 Your men shall fall by the sword, And your mighty in the war. 26 Her gates shall lament and mourn, And she being desolate shall sit on the ground.

I will go into this more in the next blog on Isaiah 4, but it tells us in Zechariah 13 that two-thirds of the Jews will perish in this time. What war is it? In this time, the antichrist will be ruling the earth, and he will have a hatred of Jews like none before him. This will begin with a peace treaty with the Jews, and many will be deceived. It is hard to believe that this could happen again, for if you look back to Nazi Germany, you get an inkling of how awful this is. Many Jews supported Hitler in his early days, based on his nationalistic approach to their country. Once again, it is their belief as humanists that causes this. When you believe with every fiber of your being that all men are good and that if you treat someone fairly, they will treat you fairly, it becomes an eye-opening event when you are hated for no apparent reason. We know what the apparent reason is that causes the antichrist to hate the Jews and try to destroy them. He will be fueled by Satan’s hatred of the Jews, and any of us alive today have seen this supernatural hatred. Israel’s mighty men will die, and the country will weep and mourn. Feeling like there is nothing else they can do to battle this dictator, they will sit idly on the ground. This is a great step for them as they will stop relying on their own strength and start relying on Jesus!