Isaiah chapter 3:13-26
I chose the NIV translation of these verses, because I think they evoke the court atmosphere more clearly than NKJV. The scene has shifted from the chaos of famine and self-indulgence and crime in Jerusalem to the courtroom. Israel is being judged.
13 The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.
First up for judgment, the bad shepherds:
14 The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: “It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
Then comes the judgment of the women who are dabbling in other religions and worshipping false idols as well as indulging in sexual sin. The Daughter of Zion, the wife of God Himself, is behaving like a prostitute. Solomon's wives got him and all Israel into this trouble because he let them worship the false gods they came to the marriage bed with, and this idol worship never left the kingdom of Judah, though a few later kings made the effort to purge them, like Hezekiah and Josiah. However, in the End Times, idolatry and pride and sexual sin will return to Israel in spades.
16 The LORD says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
17 Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald.”
Sounds like radiation, doesn't it? Perhaps by this time, the failing geomagnetic field around earth will no longer keep out high levels of solar radiation. Whatever the patriots are doing now to protect us may be no longer working, or the strength of the geomagnetic field has fallen too fast. But this may be a foreshadowing reference to slavery, too.
18 In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces,
"In that day" is the term for the Day of the Lord, also known as Daniel’s 70th week and "Jacob's trouble." We call this “day” the Tribulation, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus. These next verses focus on the first half of the Tribulation where Israel is scrabbling to recover from a deadly wound to their safety as well as a blow to their self-esteem—probably the Rapture and loss of allies and thus perhaps the loss of the geomagnetic field integrity mission and satellite directed energy weapons overseen by the US Space Force?
Israelis will deck themselves with finery to celebrate peace and prosperity, but the fragile peace reestablished by the Antichrist will not hold, and will fail at the halfway point, three and a half years into the Tribulation.
19 the earrings and bracelets and veils,
20 the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms,
21 the signet rings and nose rings,
22 the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses
23 and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.
Tiaras? Really? The description actually reminds me of a bunch of 4 year olds at a Halloween costume parade…or more likely, a Gay Pride parade.
24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
These are the hallmarks of slavery.
25 Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle.
The judgment continues: The men of the IDF are fighting but in a weakened state; apparently there are only women and children and the elderly left to fend for themselves in Jerusalem, as we heard earlier at the beginning of chapter 3. Jeremiah speaks of this in Lamentations, where we know his vision pertains to the future, because the “daughter” of any place refers to its descendants who will dwell there.
Lamentations 1:6,15 NKJV
6 And from the daughter of Zion All her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, That flee without strength Before the pursuer. …
15 "The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst; He has called an assembly against me To crush my young men; The Lord trampled as in a winepress The virgin daughter of Judah.
Now the remainder of Israel (those who did not run for the Judean hills, as Jesus warned in Matthew 24:15-16) shall be taken away from Jerusalem. A rope to secure them and branding as in the Holocaust, and shaved heads to shame then (and also prevent lice). These women are going into slavery.
After Antichrist crowns himself god, whatever remains of the IDF is vanquished by the betrayers from Edom (Jordan and the Palestinians—see the first chapter of Obadiah). The earthquake that follows will cause further degredation:
26 The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
Lam 2:9 NKJV Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes [are] among the nations; The Law [is] no [more], And her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
Literally, the gates will be buried in rubble.
But later, the Psalmist tells us, when Jesus returns, there will be another great earthquake, and the mighty gates will reemerge:
Psalm 24
9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory.
Can’t you picture it? And we will ride in with Him!!
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