Isaiah-3

Study:  Isaiah 3:1-4:1

Isaiah 3:1-15 (ESV)
¹  For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water;
²  the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder,
³  the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms.
⁴  And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.
⁵  And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable.
⁶  For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying: “You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule”;
⁷  in that day he will speak out, saying: “I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you shall not make me leader of the people.”
⁸  For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence.
⁹  For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.
¹⁰  Tell 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 him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
¹²  My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.
¹³  The LORD has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge peoples.
¹⁴  The LORD will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: “It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
¹⁵  What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

Chapter 3 outline:

God will remove Judah’s leaders 3:1–7

The leadership vacuum  1–3

Anarchy will reign  4–7

God will judge the leaders who oppress others  3:8–11

Sin will bring their fall 8–9

Fate of the righteous and wicked 10–11

God will take incompetent leaders to court 3:12–15

Judgment for oppression 12–14

Why do you crush my people?  15

The Meltdown: Illustration by C.S. Lewis:

Imagine yourself living in a house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself.^[1]

V.1-3 describes the leadership vacuum as God will cause a major social upheaval.   Take away from them the “support and supply”….   This is the use of the same Hebrew word but in Masculine and then Feminine form.

Is3a

4937. מִשְׁעֵן mishʿên, mish-ane´; or

מִשְׁעָן mishʿân, mish-awn´; from 8172; a support (concr.), i.e. (fig.) a protector or sustenance:—stay.

4938. מִשְׁעֵנָה mishʿênâh, mish-ay-naw´; or

מִשְׁעֶנֶת mishʿeneth, mish-eh´-neth; fem. of 4937; support (abstr.), i.e. (fig.) sustenance or (concr.) a walking-stick:—staff.

Key sense:  Support (activity) for both words.  God is taking away everything that stabilizes the corporate life of Isaiah’s generation.  “all support of bread, and all support of water”  – This will be done by the Assyrian invasion.

His support would be the position and her supply would be the substance.  (I think)

V.4 -7 – The social cohesion dissolves into chaos.  The removal of the key leaders with devastating implications.   A reversal of the natural social order with the young no longer respecting their elders.  They replace their leaders with the young.  Thus, the least qualified will become leaders.  (i.e. today frequently in bus. World as grads take over leadership w/ youthful pride.)

The social cohesion dissolves into chaos.  Trustworthy leaders are gifts from God.   For us, we are given the leaders for our spiritual wellbeing in:  apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers.  (Eph. 4:11-16)

V.8-11 –  “defying his glorious presence”  –  They have resisted God’s relevance to the whole of life.    “The eyes of his glory” or “his glorious presence”  – note different translations:

ESV:       For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. Is3b

NASB:  “…rebel against his glorious presence”   NIV:  “…defying his glorious presence”

NLT:    “ For Jerusalem will stumble, and Judah will fall, because they speak out against the Lord and refuse to obey him. They provoke him to his face

In reference to this phrase, Ray Ortlund states:
Literally this reads, “defying the eyes of his glory.” Isaiah’s contemporaries resisted God’s relevance to the whole of life—“the eyes of his glory.” To be forgiven, yes. To be protected, yes. But beyond that, they didn’t want God to be too real. They wanted a compartmentalized God, not an omnipresent God, and this is what did them in. The pagan cultures were not the problem. Why blame external forces when the people of God bring evil on themselves (v. 9)? God is still present, still at work (vv. 10, 11). But we either delight in his glorious presence or we defy his glorious presence. Everything else hinges on this.^[2]

V.10-11 contrasts the fate of the righteous and the wicked.  The theological principle is:  you will reap what you sow.  Galatians 6:7 (ASV)
⁷  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

God will administrate just reward toward the people for their own deeds.  Jerusalem will fall.  The evil people of Judah did not even try to hide their sinful deeds.  They openly rebelled and paraded their sins in public like the people did in Sodom.  (Gen. 19-20)

V.12-15 – The leaders receive judgement as they: oppress others, lead people astray, plundered the poor, and crushed God’s people.

The leaders of Judah were irresponsible, selfish, mean and knew very little about servant leadership.  They were entrusted with the tasks of maintaining true justice in God’s land.  They were to care for the precious vineyard. (Matt. 21:33-38)  The Parable of the Tenants…

V.14b – “It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses.”

They, the leaders, have devoured his vineyard.

The Vine:  Many illustrations are taken from the vine. Israel is represented as a vine brought from Egypt, and planted by the Lord (Ps. 80:8–11; Isa. 5:7; Jer. 2:21). Dwelling under the vine and fig-tree is an emblem of peace and tranquillity (Micah 4:4; Zech. 3:10). A fruitful vine is associated with domestic happiness (Ps. 128:3). The production of wild grapes and of grapes of gall, an empty vine, and a strange vine, are figurative expressions used to illustrate the departure of Israel from God (Deut. 32:32, 33; Isa. 5:2, 4; Jer. 2:21; Hos. 10:1). The phrase “wild grapes” is by some translated “putrid grapes.” They are considered by Berkeley as grapes affected with rot or mildew. Our Saviour calls himself the true vine, into which his disciples are grafted, so as to bring forth much fruit (John 15).  From:  Balfour, J. H. (1885). The Plants of the Bible…  Is3c

 V.15 – by “curshing my people, by grinding the face of the poor”
Rather than living to enrich others, false leaders ride on the back of others.

V.12 – infants are their oppressors.    Could be literally or they acted as infants.

V.15 – the final question????   How could someone do this to “my people”?   Where is their conscience?  Did they forget that the poor are precious in God’s sight.  Their respect for the value of human life.

When John the Baptist was announcing the coming of God’s kingdom he was asked what they were to do.  He told them Luke 3:11 (ASV)
¹¹  And he answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath food, let him do likewise.

MEANING:  To consider their neighbor  –  not oppress others – show love and concern.

This passage shows that God has judged his people and will replace their absurd arrogance with everything they dread.  Yet, God remedies with a great gain.

 Isaiah 3:16-26 (ESV)
¹⁶  The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet,
¹⁷  therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.
¹⁸  In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents;
¹⁹  the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves;
²⁰  the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets;
²¹  the signet rings and nose rings;
²²  the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags;
²³  the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
²⁴  Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.
²⁵  Your men shall fall by the sword and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶  And her gates shall lament and mourn; empty, she shall sit on the ground.

Isaiah 4:1 (ESV)
¹  And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”

The upper class women are condemned because of their haughty behavior.  They had filled themselves with pride.

5 times:  “instead of”  –  God is describing capture and exile and abuse to the people of Israel because they were filled with pride.   (Pride is what made an angel in a devil.)

1. 16, 17 – The text shows that God bring them low….
2. 18-19 – what is taken away…

The big-shot leaders stand in parallel with the women and their jewels and fancy clothes.  Both, in their way, fell short of the glory of God.  To swagger the way men do, to display false beauty the way women do.   God did not create us for that behavior or stance in life.

What is the secret beauty of a woman?  1 Timothy 2:9:  1 Timothy 2:9 (ASV)
⁹  In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment;

The Christian woman is a persona radiant with the Holy Spirit.

 V.24-26 – NOTE words:  “Instead of….”

Ch. 4:1  – And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”

Compare the desperation of women in 4:1 and of men in 3:6…  And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”   –   For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying: “You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule”;

A man takes hold of his brother in a pitiful attempt to escape social chaos, and women take hold of a man in a pitiful attempt to escape personal shame. Both images merge in 3:25, 26, where Isaiah describes a metaphorical lady, Jerusalem herself. God has taken away her “support and supply,” with all her finery, and “empty, she shall sit on the ground” (3:26)^[3]

^[1] Ortlund, R. C., Jr., & Hughes, R. K. (2005). Isaiah: God saves sinners (p. 58). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

^[2] Ortlund, R. C., Jr., & Hughes, R. K. (2005). Isaiah: God saves sinners (pp. 59–60). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

^[3] Ortlund, R. C., Jr., & Hughes, R. K. (2005). Isaiah: God saves sinners (p. 61). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.