Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Scripture:  Isaiah 4:3 (NIV):  "Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem."

Thought:  To me, "those who are left..." are Christ's remnant of believers.

Question:  Am I "called" holy?

Zion becomes a kind of sanctuary for this remnant of believers.  They are referred to as "those who are left..." because judgment and death have overtaken everyone else!  Those who find physical protection there in Zion will be referred to as "holy."  Notice that Zion and Jerusalem are interchangeable names for the Holy City. 

To me, this speaks of the Millenial Age and the establishment of the Holy City, Zion as Christ's "headquarters."  Within that holy city are its righteous inhabitants, born-again believers in Jesus, made holy only by Him and the application of His cleansing blood, who are "recorded among the living."  This reminds me of the fact that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life at conversion, as a matter of firm, indisputable record.  As believers, we are "living" only in Christ and only in Him are we reckoned to be "holy."

Again there is a striking contrast between those receiving judgment from the Lord for their various offenses, and these who will be "called holy" and categorized as "the living."  Only through Christ can we find this life.  

Prayer:  Holy Father, can I ever praise You enough for proclaiming all believers "holy" through Your Son's blood?  Thank You that the names of all true believers are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.  Thank You that I am one of them!  It is all Your doing.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 4:2 (NIV):  "In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel."

Thought:  To me, there is great contrast between those who repent and know Christ and those who rebel and refuse to follow Him.

Question:  Am I going to "survive" the crises of the "Day of the LORD"?

Christ is this Branch.  We know from Isaiah 11:1-5 that "the Branch" is Christ.  Also Isaiah 11:10 mentions that this "Branch" will have all peoples "rally to him" and "his place of rest will be glorious."  He will be beautiful and glorious in His Day!  We will see that victorious side of Him we so long to see. 

The "fruit" the land bears at this time will belong to "the survivors" in Israel.  Are these not "the remnant"?  Are these not those who believe and follow Christ?  They have "survived" judgment because Christ has preserved them from it.  And thus their fruit will be pride-worthy and full of glory. 

The majority, however, do not follow Christ and are therefore judged.  What a stark contrast between the glory in this verse and the judgment in previous verses of chapter 3!  What a difference between those judged and those who are redeemed!  I see that those who rebel have behaviors reaching a point where the natural consequences erode positive living, and people are caught having to "sleep" in the very "beds" they have poorly made.

Prayer:  Father of Our Lord Christ, I thank You for Jesus, our Savior, our Branch.  I pray for those who reject Him:  may they see the Truth and turn to Your beauty and glory!  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 4:1 (NIV):  "In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, 'We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name.  Take away our disgrace!' "

Thought:  To me, we would do well to recognize God "knocking" on the door of our reason.

Question:  Does disgrace or difficulty drive me to God or away from Him?

The need of these women is not financial provision.  They are willing, and apparently somehow able, to provide their own subsistance:  "we will eat our own food and provide our own clothes."  Their need is to have a husband, to take his name and be identified with him.  Their culture seems to demand this for acceptability.  The apparent shortage of men is probably the result of what we read in chapter 3 verse 25:  "your men will fall by the sword."

The Jewish cultural disgrace of an unmarried woman is used here to show how tragedies of all kinds will be magnified in the Lord's Day of Judgment.  One failing or shortcoming seems to incite a snowball effect:  many are the consequences of sin!  God will not bless, He will allow many uncomfortable circumstances.  He does so hoping to have Israel open their eyes to their need of Him.  A woman's desperation for security and belonging is here used by God to draw the women to Himself.  To me, the significance of seven women illustrates the level of desperation.  Seven is often a biblical statement of fullness or completeness.  

Will they respond?

Prayer:  Sovereign Lord, open my reasoning!  May I see You at work in times of disgrace, desperation, panic and uncertainty.  Help me to turn to You always.  Amen.

Scripture:  Isaiah 3:26 (NIV):  "The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground."

Thought:  To me, we are slow to recognize God at work.

Question:  Has my spirit been broken?  Has God comforted me through it?

The "she" here, I believe, is Zion, the Holy City of God, also known as Jerusalem today.  After all the stripping and judging, Zion will utterly fail and leave a "standing" position being relegated to a vulnerable, "sitting" position of collapse and ruin.  Zion is broken in every way:  her leaders have been removed from power after influencing people into idolatry, her women have been degraded, her men have been killed in battle.  She is left to "lament and mourn" her losses.  

Similarly, God's judgment aims at our spirit.  It may dishearten us completely to be stripped and brought low by God.  To me it is clearly meant to happen so that we will turn and return to God for recovery.  

How slow we are to recognize God!  How blind to see His presence!  How much difficulty God must allow to descend upon us to awaken us!  We need to become children of sensitivity to His Spirit.  We live too much in the physical, mental and emotional parts of our being.  We completely overlook the spiritual.  God therefore must resort to many harsh strippings and substitutions of ugliness to finally awaken us to Him.

Will we respond?  Will He find us teachable?

Prayer:  God of all comforts, meet me in my mourning and lament!  Help me to understand what it is You long to teach me through sadness and loss.  Amen.

Scripture:  Isaiah 3:25 (NIV):  "Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle."

Thought:  To me, God knows every part of our "little world":  He works through each one.

Question:  Do I know Who grants military victory?

Israel rejected God and chose idolatry; therefore God arranges for their defeat in battle.  Thus we see again the law of sowing and reaping:  the disrespect they gave God was returned upon their heads--God would not grant victory.  Defeat as a nation militarily is another aspect of the long list in this context that God controls.  It is also a way He reaches the hearts of the men, I would say.  (We have seen in verses 16 through 24 of this chapter how God's judgment comes against the women.)

Military failure hurts men.  God will speak to the men through their defeat.  Hopefully, this judgment will cause them to repent and turn and credit God with Who He is.

Notice in each of the verses in this passage, God "will" do a work.  This is a firm, unretractable, prophetic promise.  God will!  (He has fulfilled these verses historically, and they will be re-fulfilled in our future, as well.  We can be sure!)  God is in control of who wins in war and who falls in battle.

Prayer:  Lord of all, I thank You that You control all things.  I pray that I would always acknowledge this truth; both in word and in the way I respond to all circumstances, including war.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 3:24 (NIV):  "Instead of fragrance there will be stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding."

Thought:  To me, outer ugliness can become a stepping stone to knowing and thanking God.

Question:  Do I find God when He judges me?

Yesterday, we saw God stripping the women of their outer luxuries in judgment.  This continues, but in addition to eliminating their idolatrous accoutrements, He now initiates ugliness.  How clearly and bluntly God contrasts rich blessing against harsh loss and suffering!  Surely their situation should awaken them to their inner condition. All that these women created for themselves as their "worlds of security" have been removed.  When the vain trappings are taken away, their true, ungodly, unappealing and sinful condition should be evident to them now.

I think without experienceing ugliness once in a while, we have no contrastive elements for comparison.  Without seeing our sinfulness, we cannot realize Holiness as a desired goal.  And without comparison, we slip into a tendency to take everything for granted.  Appreciation for all that God has given and allowed us to enjoy is vital.  If we lack gratefulness to God for the small things mentioned here, we will be unable to be thankful for larger things.  God's judgment strikes at the heart of Israel's ungratefulness.  It strikes at the heart of their forgetfulness of Who God is, that is, their most Holy Father.  They, and we, need to be brought back to remembrance.  Thank God His judgments can do that!

Prayer:  Merciful Father, thank You for Your healing judgments!  Reveal my sinfulness to me, Father, that I may confess it and be freed.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 3:18 - 23 (NIV):  "In that day the LORD will snatch away their finery:  the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls."

Thought:  To me, God is merciful to judge us.

Question:  Have I accumulated any objects that God would prefer to strip away?

Here are all the trappings of a woman whose life is filled with the importance of vanity.  God strips them all away in His judgment.  He is not cruel to do so.  All along, all He ever wanted was for women to be as He intended.  The interests listed in these verses have diverted the women to a wrong, outer focus.  God's judgment merely removes those objects of focus, forcing them to look once again at Him.  Their eyes have belonged there all along.  Scripture teaches in I Peter that God desires women to be "ornamented" with their meek and quiet spirits--not their outer jewellry or dress.  We are truly attractive to God when we are inwardly lovely.  How foolish we must appear to Him "all dolled up" on the outside and vacant and/or evil on the inside.

All judgment is a kind of "stripping".  We tend to bury ourselves in so many things.  They divert us from God.  We become preoccupied, sidetracked and too busy with things to focus on God.  God has to act to save the day.  That action is really a very merciful rescue of all of us.  Judgment is that rescue.  Judgment, therefore, is mercy in action.  It is only our evil behaviors that make judgment "unpleasant."  Stripping is unpleasant.  If we had never added all those things to our lives, then we could avoid the pain of being stripped of them.  God is always good.  Even His judgments are good, and not merely because they put out evil; but also because they restore many of those who did the evil.  Some will never bend.  Those are the truly incorrigible who choose to live forever apart from God.

Prayer:  My God and Master, if You find anything in my life that needs to be "snatched away", please do it, Lord!  And may I respond properly to You when You do it.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 3:17 (NIV):  "Therefore the LORD will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald."

Thought:  To me, God is behind every trouble; either bringing it (direct judgment) or allowing it (automatic consequences).

Question:  Do I receive affliction as having come through God?

Probably one of the worst disfigurements for a woman is the loss of her hair.  This strikes against the heart of her feminine appeal and what God calls a woman's "glory"; her long hair (see I Corinthians 11:15).  We reap what we sow.  To misuse her feminine glory and attractiveness in the eyes of God is to incur His judgment upon her physical beauty.

Again, the law of reaping what you sow is evident here.  Note also that the LORD brings these consequences directly to the offending women:  "the LORD will bring" and "the LORD will make."  How often today do we attribute disease, pain or other sufferings directly to God's judmental hand?  Are we past being awakened by these afflictions--past the point of self-examination and spiritual realization that God is behind our trouble?  He is!

Prayer:  Ruler of all things, I pray that Your purposes, even in the darkest of moments, would be achieved, and that I would trust You in all You allow to happen.  Help me always to see that it is Your hand at work.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 3:16 (NIV):  "The LORD says, 'The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jungling on their ankles.' "

Thought:  To me, oppression and promiscuity can go hand in hand in a degraded society.

Question:  What is my attitude toward prostitution?

The emphasis of these women is entirely wrong.  They think their physical attractiveness is most important.  God calls them "haughty", and we know God detests a proud look (Proverbs 6:16 and 17, 16:5 and 21:4).  They are caught up into a trend that produces promiscuity.  They have exploited themselves, taking the features God has created and twisting them into an evil purpose.  Their goal is to have power and influence over men to improve their standing and security in life.  This is a misuse of God's intentions for women.  God doesn't want a woman seductive toward many men; He wants a woman helpful to one man.

Taken in context, this verse points another finger; not only are the male leaders and elders at fault to oppress and mislead the people, but also now, the women are at fault to warp and twist their femininity to their evil purpose--both in a desire to "get ahead" in their world.

All of the descriptions here relate to prostitution of that day.  We are no different today.  Women use these "wiles" to climb their way up in society just as the male leaders oppressed others to make their "gains."  Unfortunately, the reality is that in the end their behaviors will bring on the wrath of God, their Creator, Who has different purposes in mind for His creatures.

Prayer:  Lord, I pray for the women of our country.  May they all seek to draw near to You, honor You, worship You, obey You and live for You.  Amen. 

Scripture:  Isaiah 3:15 (NIV):  " 'What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?' declares the LORD, the LORD Almighty."

Thought:  To me, very many aspects of our culture are oppressive to certain groups of people.

Question:  Have I experienced "crushing, grinding" oppression at the hands of another?

What an empty set of values to have all your goods provided by the sweat, tears and blood of the poor!  God's question is valid:  "What do you mean by crushing...and grinding..." the people?  It is a bit of a rhetorical question but what it reveals, in reality, is that these leaders love evil.  They have preferred becoming "elevated" in society by climbing onto the backs of the poor to lift themselves up.  To accomplish this, they oppress them and lord it over them.  

God is always concerned about "others."  Jesus died for "others."  Government leaders should live for the good of "others", as God ordained government to do, but here the values have been twisted:  the leaders expect "others" to exist to serve and elevate them.  This is akin to Lucifer's pride because he, similarly, desired elevation above all others--even God Almighty.

I can think of company executives who do this.  I can think of politicians who do this.  I can think of money lenders who do this.  I can think of employers who do this.  And I can even think of church officials who have done this.  These are the "elders" and "leaders" of our world (see yesterday's verse:  Isaiah 3:14).  But the heaviest question becomes:  do I do this, on any level, with any person?

Prayer:  Lord, purge out of me any wicked desire to rise above others, especially at their expense.  Help me to serve them instead, as Jesus would do.  Amen. 

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