Isaiah 3

In the third chapter of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, we read a number of things which will never be expressed in Veggie Tales, flannelgraphs, or Illustrated Children's Bibles. For one, the Lord God says he is taking away support and supply from Jerusalem and Judah because they have embraced their sin and flaunted their sin, "defying his glorious presence."  Included in the list of things which will no longer be stocked are the following: bread water the mighty man  the soldier the judge  the prophet the diviner  the elder the captain of fifty the man of rank the counselor  the skillful magician the expert in charms What the people will get instead is a lot of chaos, confusion, and oppression. "My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths." It is telling here that infants oppressing the people is a sign of judgment. To be oppressed by infants is indicative of spiritual and moral decay, and a loss of the strength of character and qualities which are required to be a good parent and see children as a blessing instead of a curse. Furthermore, to say that women rule over a people reveals that men have grown weak and feckless, and no longer lead their families and homes, much less their communities and nation. By contrast, God tells us that marriage and children are to be a blessing. And we can take comfort in the tenth verse of the third chapter of Isaiah where we are promised, "Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds." In days like these, when America seems ripe for judgment - and moreover, when one could argue with merit that we are seeing evidence of already being under judgment - we do well to acquaint ourselves with passages like Isaiah 3, and to ponder the implications of righteousness for the individual, family, community, city, state, and nation. By God's grace, may we be found faithful in that day. And may it be well with us to the end of eating the fruit of our deeds.