Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Tuesday - Isaiah 3 - Shooting Yourself in the Foot



C
ONDITIONS in Jerusalem of Judah were destined to decline.  Just how bad things were going to get was something that was virtually incomprehensible to the Jews of Isaiah's day.  But, after Isaiah preached this particular message, his audience should have had a pretty good idea about just how bad things were going to get.  Financial and physical poverty was going to become unbearably intense.  Even more devastating though was a poverty of personnel, which was on the way.  Worse than not having money or not having the things that money can buy, is not having anyone who knows what to do about it.  Jerusalem was destined to be ruled by men who were too young and inexperienced to even be called men, and by women who were too vain to have any leadership value (3:4, 12, 16 & 25).

The saddest thing about this whole scene is that the nation had brought these troubles upon itself (Isaiah 3:9).  Their words and their actions were in direct contradiction to what God wanted from them (Isaiah 3:8).  Because they had been distinctly warned and instructed repeatedly, their rebellion was effectively a willfully self-inflicted wound (Jeremiah 2:19). It sounds a mite harsh I suppose, but it is true nonetheless.  When we disregard God's commandments, we are shooting ourselves in the foot... or maybe more perfectly, cutting off our own nose just to spite our face.  That's not a very intelligent way to lead one's life.


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