Isaiah 3

“For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory. 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.”  Isaiah 3:8-9 (NKJV)

Just because I have written songs for a living, which involve melodically rhyming words and ideas, does not mean that I like poetry.  I have never purchased a book of poetry, nor do I have any plans to.  So, I identify with the frustration of many folks who had to endure the past six months of the “Poetic Books” of the Bible.  The cry is typically, “When can we get back to something with a concrete narrative?”  Abstract thinking is not easy for most people; they like stories.  The problem is the story we pick up on in Isaiah is not a continuation of the positive deliverance stories we left with Nehemiah and Esther.  After a sizable measure of wisdom and poetry, we are dumped smack into a serious prediction of destruction.  It was this exact destruction that led to the cries for deliverance in Nehemiah's and Esther’s day. We are going way back in Israel’s history, so we know God doesn’t bluff.

God knows His people need a poetic reminder of His graceful wisdom and melodious majesty before they are bombarded with the hard, sin-revealing truths of the rest of the Old Testament.  The prophetic “party pooper” is Isaiah.  And that is what prophet preaching is: sobriety in the midst of a drunken stupor.  Who welcomes the voice of wisdom and righteousness, saying, “Someone has to pay this tab you guys are running up at the bar!?”  The wine the people drank was worldliness, and Isaiah was one of several men whom the Lord called to collect on the people’s sin debt.

Today’s message from Isaiah is simple: because the Church (Jerusalem) has stumbled, the nation (Judah) is fallen.  And that is about as relevant a message as you can hear in our generation!  Yet, in the midst of judgment, God’s people are still offered a word of encouragement; encouragement for true believers, not false ones.

“Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.” Isaiah 3:10-12 (NKJV)

The Word of God through Isaiah is often misunderstood as preaching on behalf of a God Who cannot be pleased.  That is simply untrue.  Isaiah’s words must not be misconstrued as anything other than God’s grace.  God’s first choice for His people is ALWAYS to plead for their repentance.  (2 Peter 3:9)

“The Lord stands up to plead, and stands to judge the people.”  Isaiah 3:13 (NKJV)

God’s grace is worthless unless it offers shelter from a certain impending judgment.