Isaiah Back to the Present ~ Part 2 Chapter 3:16-4:6

Transcription

1 Isaiah Back to the Present ~ Part 2 Chapter 3:16-4:6 T he history of women s styles is a fascinating subject. Janette and I both watch the History and Style channels and programs on fashion, makeup, design, etc. But what is most interesting is how women s fashions often reflect the condition of a society. Consider the flappers and the society of the 20s. We can tell much about the moral/spiritual condition of a culture by looking at how the women present themselves. I wonder what modern cultural icons like Madonna, Brittney Spears, or Kelly Clarkson will tell future generations about the beginning of the 21 st century? When Terry and I sit, having coffee at Starbucks, we often see young teenage girls going by. You know the look, extremely short skirts, skimpy tops, bare midriffs, etc. Modest is hardly a word I d use for these young women. But they just want to fit in, to dress like everyone else. What is the problem? Is it society? Or, is it parents who haven t taught them to be modest, to respect themselves, to understand the dangers of sending sexual messages? As we look at this section this morning, let us consider the world around us and what we see in relationship to the spiritual well-being of our society, and even more importantly, the spiritual state of the local community of believers. I Introduction II A Failure of Leadership Verses 1-7 III God Judges the Leadership Verses 8-15 IV A Failure of Character Verses 3:16-4:1 V A Promise of Hope Verses 4:2-6 VI Conclusion As you may notice I have added chapter 4 to this study because I thought we might want to end on an up note. Introduction: This morning we finish up examining Isaiah s concerns for contemporary Judah and Jerusalem found in Chapter 3. But God doesn t leave Judah without hope because this section of the prophecy with the comfort found in Chapter 4. Isaiah, as God s prophet, shifts his concern from the future kingdom, the Messianic age. Now his focus is on the sins of the nation and their effect on her collapse. In the first part of chapter 3 we see that the nation s problem lies in two areas. First the people have found their security in sources other than God. As a consequence, God was going to remove all of these sources. There were going to be famines, of both aq both physical and a spiritual nature.

2 These famines would lead to chaos, anarchy, and new leadership, which at best was inadequate, and at worst perpetuated the sins and actions that led to the whole situation in the first place. This is an example of the fact that we get the leadership we deserve. At the core of all this is idolatry. With Judah, this included traditional idolatry, following after other gods. But it also included placing people and things ahead of the Lord. This is the same kind of idolatry with which we struggle. The second area where the nation s problem resided was specifically in her leadership. While we are responsible for our own actions, those placed over us by the Lord have specific responsibility to lead in His ways. And when they don t they will be judged. In the first part of this chapter, Isaiah deals with the arrogance of men and its resultant fallout. In the second, he focuses on the arrogance of women and the resulting consequences. God disciplines by taking away the things that provide security. For the women of Judea, it was all about position and appearance. Verses 16-17: The arrogance of the leadership has infected the nation as a whole, And sadly, this wasn t limited to the men. Grogan puts it this way: If there is still some moral fiber in the women of a rapidly deteriorating society, the situation is not without hope; for it is the women who, through the home, have the most formative influence on the younger generation. The arrogant pride seen in the rulers of Judah was, however, just as evident in its women. Those depicted here are clearly the wealthy, whose rich stores of finery had probably been bought by the plunder taken by their husbands from the poor (cf. v.14). 1 Phillips paraphrases this verse this way: walking with their noses in the air and flirting with their eyes. 2 These were the socially conscious women. They want to make an impression on those around them, especially the men. They aren t concerned with morality. They flirt and act seductively. And sadly, modesty is becoming more the exception rather than the rule, even among believers. It was no accident that Madonna was so popular singing Material Girl. It is important to understand the problem with the women isn t so much how they dress as much as how their dress represents what is going on spiritually. This is why Peter stresses modesty for believing women. Spiritual beauty is inward beauty. It isn t wrong to dress well and apply makeup. But a woman appearance should reflect who she is in Christ. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God s sight (1 Peter 3:3-4). 1 Grogan, Geoffrey W., The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Isaiah, Zondervan Interactive Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, Buksbazen, Victor, The Prophet Isaiah, In Two Volumes, The Spearhead Press, Collingswood, NJ, 1971, p ) 56 (

3 Our concern shouldn t be that it is wrong to be stylish, or to wear makeup. Rather, Peter s concern is for women to put their emphasis on spiritual well being, or inward beauty. And that is what was lacking in Judea s women. As a result, God s judgment would fall on them. It would fall directly on what gave them their sense of security: their beauty. They would break out in disease and would end up bald, either from the disease itself or because they shaved their heads in mourning, or for medical reasons. It may well have been venereal disease. When I look at someone like Madonna, I see a walking Petri dish. Verses 18-23: The next verses are a shopping list of what these women did to make them feel good about themselves. And it would be these things that would be taken from them. Again, it is important to understand these things are a problem because of what they represent, not in and of themselves. Although Leupold does note: it may be that some of the articles mentioned were in the nature of amulets and lucky pieces. It has even been noted that the Canaanite goddess Ishtar had many of these in her makeup, which fact might point to aids in idolatry. But this is largely conjecture. 3 Verses 24-26: But there is a sense of irony here. And the imagery may move beyond the women themselves and be speaking of Judea/Jerusalem. All the women used to make themselves feel good about themselves has been replaced with slavery, exile, sorrow, and in the end the death of the men. For defeat in war leaves the men behind. And so a woman is pictured sitting at a the gate of the city in grief and sorrow. When Jerusalem was captured and leveled to the ground by the Romans in 70 A.D., the emperor Titus struck a commemorative medal, depicting the daughter of Zion sitting on the ground under a palm, mourning. The inscription on the medal was Judea Capta. Titus may have had the words of Isaiah 3:26 in mind when he struck the medal. 4 Verse 1: In fact so many of the men have died that many women are willing to share a husband just so they can be married. They would even support themselves. Nothing was worse than being single. And war changes the dynamics of a society. As Oswalt notes: Warfare has always meant destruction of the male population (Germany and France are said to have lost 1,000,000 men each and Britain 500,000 in World War I). 5 So the day is coming when judgment will fall. It is God s judgment on a rebellious and arrogant people. But it is intended to drive them back to God. But there is a natural consequence to a culture when it moves from morality and social justice. So, even if we can t call this a Christian nation, we can see the dangers we face from the ongoing attack on the family and traditional values. Application: But of even more concern is how that values and standards of the culture can permeate and contaminate the church. Fortunately, where sound teaching and biblical values 3 Leupold, H. C., Exposition of Isaiah, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1971, p Buksbazen, p Oswalt, John N., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, The Book of Isaiah, In Two Volumes, William B. Eerdman s Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 1986, p ) 57 (

4 are the norm there is protection against this danger. Our youth are our strength, so therefore the real struggle is to train young people to think biblically. Biblical thinking isn t about focusing on a collection of rules, although rules for children are appropriate. Instead, it is teaching them to test social values against biblical ones and make godly decisions for themselves. Yes, as parents you need to help them make good decisions. You don t buy or let them wear clothes that are immodest and reflect a self-image that isn t biblical. (And this is equally true for boys as for girls.) But remember, parenting is not about control, it is about learning to relinquish control over time. It is about training a child to make good choices for themselves. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6). Verses 2-6: Once again God balances out the flow of His prophecy. Between messages of judgment, another of which is found in Chapter 5, we find messages of hope and comfort. And that is the case in this short chapter. It is a balance between 3 and 5. The crux of these verses and their interpretation is found in verse 2 in the phrases the Branch of the LORD and the fruit of the land. There are three general views of the meaning. I ll only mention the first two because I believe the third is the better approach. 1. This view limits the phrases to a reference to the end of famine and a return of provisional prosperity. 2. The second position is that the first phrase relates to the survival of a remnant from the hand of God s judgment and the balance is simply support for this first phrase. 3. The third position is the phrases are Messianic, which is certainly in line with earlier passages and the use of the phrase in that day. Grogan notes. According to the third view, both phrases apply to the Messiah. This interpretation is very ancient and pre-christian. The Targum renders the Branch as the Messiah. Most conservative commentators (e.g., Hengstenberg, Delitzsch, Young) have taken at least the first of the two phrases to be messianic. The word semah ( branch ) occurs in four verses (Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12) as a technical messianic designation. 6 The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David s line; he will do what is just and right in the land (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15). Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: Here is the man whose name is the 6 Grogan. ) 58 (

5 Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD (Zechariah 3:8, 6:12). Once again we find what is best understood as the promise of the Messianic age, when the remnant of the nation will repent and will return to God. He will cleanse and heal them, with special attention here given to the women s healing in contrast to the suffering of the previous verses. And this approach is certainly the view of Jewish scholarship. Redak identifies that day with the coming of the Messiah, son of David, who, according to him, is the sprout of the Lord. The fruit of the land, too, refers to him (the Messiah). At first, he will be like the sprout, which people enjoy observing. When it reaches the stage when it produces fruit, they are even happier. The same will be true concerning the Messiah. When he appears, he will afford great joy to the Jewish people. When he performs miracles and defeats the armies of God and Magog, and casts the fear of Israel over all the nations, they will be even more joyful. Then he will be the object of greatness and glory, for all nations will be proud of him and boast of him. [ Redak] 7 Keep in mind that other Jewish scholars see this in a more simple way, as referring to the generation of Hezekiah and the religious revival of that day (see 2 Chronicles 29). But complete healing and restoration can and will only occur in the Messianic kingdom. And so God s protection will come over the nation. Or as Buksbazen states: The prophet goes back to Israel s experiences in the wilderness when the Lord surrounded His people with His personal protection, guiding them with a cloud of smoke by day and a shining flame of fire by night. We have a vision of perfect fellowship and harmony between the Lord and His people, unmarred by sin or evil. Hosea, Isaiah s contemporary prophet, described in similar terms the restored relationship between the Lord and His people, speaking of Israel as the bride of Jehovah: 8 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD (Hosea 2:19-20). Conclusion: We aren t able to have a perfect relationship with God now, because that relationship is still marred by sin and evil. But, while our relationship can t be perfect, it can be fulfilling and all God wants it to be. And to the extent we avoid Israel/Judea s trap of idolatry, this will be true. As we keep the Lord in the center of our individual lives and the life of our church, we will avoid the extremes of failure that we have often observed in the lives of God s children of all ages. And as we keep Him the center of the fellowship, then we will also create an environment which will benefit our children and give them a better opportunity of avoid the same problems of rebellion. Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the LORD s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you. Fix these words of mine in 7 Rosenberg, Rabbi A., Isaiah, Volume 1, The Judaica Press, Inc., New York, NY, 1992, p Buksbazen, p ) 59 (

6 your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth (Deuteronomy 11:16-21). So let us walk faithfully before the Lord, and then we can live in fellowship, peace and joy, which foreshadow the blessings of eternity. I am weak but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong. I ll be satisfied as long As I walk, let me walk close to Thee. Thro this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord, who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee. When my feeble life is o er, Just a closer walk with Thee, Time for me will be no more; Grant it, Jesus is my plea. Guide me gently, safely o er Daily walking close to Thee, To They kingdom shore, to Thy shore. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. 9 9 Anonymous, The Celebration Hymnal, Just a Closer Walk with Thee, Word/Integrity, Waco, TX, 1997, #564. ) 60 (

7 Isaiah Back to the Present ~ Part 2 Chapter 3:16-4:6 I Introduction II A Failure of Leadership Verses 1-7 III God Judges the Leadership Verses 8-15 IV A Failure of Character Verses 3:16-4:1 V A Promise of Hope Verses 4:2-6 VI Conclusion Introduction: (Romans 8:35-39; 2 Peter 3:8-13) IV A Failure of Character Verses 16-17: (2 Peter 3:3-4) Verses 18-23:

8 Verses 24-26: Verse 1: (Proverbs 22:6) V A Promise of Hope: (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15; Zechariah 3:8, 6:12; Hosea 2:19-20; see 2 Chronicles 29) Conclusion: (Deuteronomy 11:16-21) Personal Application: This week let us focus on Having God in first place in our life and enjoying the relationship He desires with us. Prayer for the Week: Lord, thank You that You love us in spite of our short comings. And thank You that You love us enough not to let us continually stray from Your path. In Christ s name, amen.