Isaiah 3

King James Version (WordSearch Edition) Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The great confusion which comes by sin

1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, 3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. 4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: 7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people. 8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

Introduction

God pulls the supports out from under Judah. vss 1-3

Judah, as we have seen, was in rebellion to God.

They were living contrary to God’s law.

For God to be just, he has to address the breaking of His law.

In this chapter, God gives them a glimpse as to the way that He will judge them.

If you remember from last week, chapters 2-5 were likely written during the reign of Uzziah, a good and godly king of Judah.

Uzziah sought to lead the people in revival.

Like the saying goes, though, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

The people were still, individually, desperately wicked.

God blessed Judah, however, for the king’s righteous policies.

While at the same time warning them that if they didn’t not personally return to Him, there would be consequences.

God’s blessing of Uzziah gave the illusion that the country was strong and prosperous.

If every good and perfect gift comes from above, then from above they can also be taken away.

God warns Judah that He would remove the signs of strength that they were trusting in.

He says that He will remove the stay and the staff from Judah.

Let’s look at a few things about this threat.

Stay and staff are the same word given in the masculine and feminine genders.

Together, they refer to the support and supporters of the Judean society.

Stay and staff are props used to support something.

In this case, all of the physical things that the people looked to for stability.

Who will be responsible for removing them?

The calamities that will befall Judah are not by chance.

The present culture would be radically altered, and all the things the people were accustomed to depend on would be removed.

God will be the one to cause major upheaval.

Isaiah gives a list of supports that God will remove.

It starts with loss of food.

Bread and water are necessary minimums for the sustainability of life.

This loss of resources is detrimental to the Judean society.

It is historically proven to have happened during the sieges of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his father.

This is the loss of supports

We also see a loss of supporters.

It takes people of all types to keep society operating.

We are still feeling the effects of essential and non-essential workers being sidelined in 2020.

The list of roles that God will remove in vss 2-3 cover all aspects of Judean life.

We see the remove of Judah’s military leaders.

Mighty men

Man of war

Captains of 50

We see the removal of Judah’s political leaders.

Judges

Ancients

Orators

We see the removal of their religious leaders.

Prophets

Prudent

Honourable

Counselors.

Even the removal of the leaders of Judah’s economy.

The cunning artificers.

If you’ve studied history, you already know the answer to this, but who did Babylon take into exile first?

What happens when God leaves people without any leaders?

Judah is given over to anarchy. vss 4-5

Some of the people that Judah had trusted in were not good leaders.

It’s almost as if God said, “If you want to trust in incompetent leaders, then I will give you some really bad ones.”

All the leaders they had trusted in will be replaced by children.

Youth, not in respect of years, but in respect of skill and experience.

These inexperienced rulers will oppress the people as despots.

Government has one divine purpose.

Uphold justice.

When there is no longer a government to carry out justice, people oppress one another.

Despotism is sure to be followed by mob-rule, and mob-rule by anarchy.

No recognition of the rights of others.

Strife pits the generations and the classes against each other.

Young vs old

Honor vs dishonor

No recognition of the rights of others.

It becomes impossible to find someone to be in charge. vss 6-8

Refusal to take the lead.

The extreme conditions make anyone who owns a garment a candidate for leadership.

Ordinarily government position are sought after.

Simlah - garment of the poor.

Healer- one who binds up wounds.

Provoke the eyes means to oppose, resist, fight against.

Tongue and doing resisted God in His eyesight.

Sin before the eyes of God.

When God is dethroned, anarchy is always the result.

Application

This can be true for a nation.

It can be true for a church.

This can also be true for an individual life.