Isaiah 3:1-15.  Well that didn’t happen but I’m getting closer to being back on schedule.  Since I haven’t finished the introduction to this book yet I’d like to make a little note here.  Much of Isaiah’s book contains messages that he gave to the people.  Some people call these oracles (from a Latin word which means “speak”), others sermons, but they were messages to the people from God.  That was the job of a prophet, to help the people see their life and actions from God’s view (In Isaiah 1:1 he calls what he is writing about a “vision”).  He also told us that he was talking to the people of Jerusalem and Judah during the reign of four kings; Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  It appears that the messages in chapters 2-4 were originally given to the people during the reign of Uzziah.  According to 2 Chronicles 26 Uzziah (also called Azariah in 2 kings 14-15) was very successful militarily and there was great prosperity in Judah during much of his reign.  This fits with the pride and self confidence we see in chapters 2-4 of Isaiah.

Chapter two started with a glimpse of God’s coming kingdom.  Then Isaiah challenged the people to “walk in the light of the LORD”, to live with an understanding of what is coming.  After the challenge he listed the ways in which they were not living for God and he assured them that God would deal with their actions.

Chapter two ended with, what I thought, was a challenge to quit putting people on a pedestal.  Chapter three seems to continue these thoughts by telling us what will happen to all those people whom they were idolizing and what would happen to all of the riches they had trusted in.  God would allow immature people to take control.  The response would be that everyone would desperately look for someone to be a leader, all you needed to be considered was a coat, but everyone would make excuses,, “Hey I don’t have a coat.”  In verses 8-9 we see that things were going to fall apart because the people were rebellious and worse; there was no shame about their disobedient lifestyles.  Verse 11 tells us that the consequences of their actions are deserved.  Verses 12-15 return to the bad example of the leaders who are described as children (selfish and immature) and women (considered physically weaker and maybe not considered spiritual leaders).  In verse 13 we see what looks like a courtroom scene, the people are on trial but the leaders are blamed, the leaders have set the example of selfishness and unfairness.

There is a lot here that can apply to us today.  There is an old saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”  When there is trouble and danger most people default back to God or god, but when things are going good or even ok we rely on ourselves or others.  The problem is God will not be forgotten and through out history has found ways to remind us of His existence.  Chapter 2 reminds us that there is a kingdom of God coming and verse 20 talks about a “day” of judgment.  The fact that God uses trouble in life to make us look to Him is a sign of His mercy.  Uzziah reigned for 52 years starting when he was 16.  But he became proud because of all of his military conquests.  At one point he broke God’s law and entered the temple to make an offering for himself rather than letting the priest do it as the Law of God prescribed.  God punished him with leprosy and for the last 12 years of his reign he had to live in exile and act through his son, Jotham.  There is debate about exactly what the disease was which is called leprosy in the Bible.  If it was the same as our modern disease of leprosy (Hanson’s Disease) that would be an interesting contrast.  One symptom of Hanson’s Disease (or leprosy) is that a person looses feeling in their fingers and toes, hand and feet, ears, and other body parts.  As a result these people do not feel pain which warns them of injuries, often these people will loose these parts from injury without even knowing it (In a recent animated movie “Pirates” a scene was deleted because one of the pirates declared that he was a leper and then his arm fell off).   Uzziah was numb spiritually and lived like there were no consequences for disobeying God, as a consequence God made him numb physically so he could see the results of that kind of life, destruction of the body, slowly.  We need to be careful not to let our pride make us forget God.  We need to remember there are consequences.  And there is no room for pride.  Lord help me be humble. Help me remember that ll I am or have or can do is from you and for your honor.  Let me be careful to reflect back to you any honor I get.  Also Lord help me remember the great responsibility it is to be a leader.  Help me be a mature leader not a selfish or childish one.  Let me seek the welfare of others; let me care for their needs.  Help me cease to do evil and learn to do good.