Isaiah 3:1-26

Judgment comes in many different forms but usually it is all for the very same reason: sin.  When men and women choose a life of sinfulness and rebellion against God, they open themselves up to the judgment of God.  This judgment may not be immediate but it is certain.  God is patient, loving and kind but He is also holy, just and severe.  God gives man ample opportunity to repent and return to following His Word; but when repentance is not forthcoming, judgment will soon follow.  Israel had been living a life of idolatry and rebellion against God; they were blatant and open in their sinfulness.  Both men and women had been living without scruples and without shame.  God’s patience had worn thin and now they were about to face the consequences of their poor choices and misplaced loyalties.

GOD JUDGES MEN WITH POOR LEADERSHIP: When God judges a nation it is complete.  He takes away food and water but perhaps more significantly He removes the blessings of good leadership.  Nations are defenseless and destitute without competent leadership and men suffer greatly when there are no leaders to provide security and direction.  As part of God’s judgment on the sinfulness of Judah, He promised to take away the soldiers, the mighty men, the prophets, the teachers, the skillful and the experts.  In this vacuum of qualified leaders the only option that the nation had would be to go to children the leaders.  The result would be internal oppression and disrespect.  When people have brats for leaders, they become brats.  When there are no qualified leaders available men become desperate and will make anyone a leader but will find no one who is willing to serve.  This judgment is what happens when men sin without restraint and without shame.  God is able to protect the few righteous but the wicked are destined for destruction under the leadership of women and children.  Ungodly leadership results in unbridled sinfulness which is judged by God through unqualified leadership.

GOD JUDGES WOMEN WITH POOR LIVING CONDITIONS: Men are not the only ones affected by or guilty of sinfulness.  The women too had become haughty and insolent with immorality in their eyes.  They had chosen to walk the path of pleasure and perversity only to find that this path leads to pain and poverty.  Because of their rebellion the women of Israel were struck with scabs on their heads and nakedness of their bodies.  All of their fine jewelry would be stripped away.  Their clothing and perfume were all hauled off as plunder.  They were left stinking, dressed in rags, bald and ugly.  Their husbands and sons would all be killed in battle and they would be left homeless, helpless and hopeless sitting in the dirt crying over all that had been lost.  Sin has terrible consequences and when God judges He does so in a very thorough fasion.