Isaiah chapter 3:8-12
Good morning! Isaiah continues to describe the fall of Jerusalem due to the peculiar sin, or stumbling, which is described in detail in chapter 28. More on that later!
We've just heard in the prior verses that Jerusalem is crying out for a leader, but there is none. Verse 8 begins a zoom in on how things got so bad.
The root word of lason, meaning tongue, is a word for slander. "Doings" is ma'alal, or evil practice. Everyone in Jerusalem is speaking evil against the Lord. These are rebellious children who don't want to obey or please God. They want to sin without being rebuked. In fact, they WANT to make Him mad. That's what we see today, a generation absorbing the social media psyop that everyone is required to validate your alternate reality.
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.
It is an interesting thing that you can often tell a Christian by the look on his or her face, by looking into the eyes. I think it is the Holy Spirit in each, recognizing the Holy Spirit in the other, making us one body. Here in v. 9, that look is absent. Whether it is because the eyes are the window to what's in the soul, or whether those who are sinning are wearing some version of virtual reality (VR) on their faces, like Google glasses, apparently you could tell just by looking at them that they were flaunting their sexual sin (as Sodom did).
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.
Jerusalem still has people who love the Lord in it, and the Lord directs Isaiah to speak to them and reassure them that this nightmare will end well for them, though it is hard to endure. Gee, that sounds familiar. 🤔
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.
Verses 10 & 11 echo the warning of Mount Gerazim (blessing) and Mount Ebal (cursing) from Deuteronomy chapters 11 & 27, and Joshua 8. This was where a million people (six tribes) stood on one mountain and a million (the other six tribes) on the other mountain, and they affirmed their covenant with God for themselves and their descendants.
12 As for My people, children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
Obviously, this is a reversal of the right order in Eden, where Adam was made the head, but listened to deceived Eve instead of to God. God can choose women to be good leaders, such as Deborah the judge, or the Queen of Sheba. But there don't seem to be any women of that quality in Jerusalem at this time in the future. It sounds like Jerusalem will be run by teenage gangs, a Lord of the Flies scenario, with sexually sinning women filling the Knesset. The current hate for white males continues into the future.
O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err,
And destroy the way of your paths.”
Bad leadership, bad shepherds, very bad situation with no way out, literally. Some change might be made to roads but the word paths can also mean "paths of righteousness," as in Psalm 23, which makes more sense, as it contrasts with the word err. A verse will often provide its own context, and this is a great example. We use the Bible to interpret the Bible.
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