In this week’s study of Isaiah
Chapters 3 to 4, we find God speaking to the men and women of Zion, confronting each
gender with their respective struggles and sins, in terms that each could
understand. It was picture language of course, as much of what God said to the
men applied to the women as well, and vice versa. But as we learned in the
previous chapters of Isaiah, identifying the idols of our hearts - the things
which draw us away from loving God - is a tricky thing. It can be a very
painful thing.
How does God do this? He speaks
to our deepest and darkest fears. In this passage we keep meeting the phrase,
“In that day.... in that day.” It was a day of judgement, when God would pour
out his anger on our sin. It was a day when our deepest fears become reality. But
you see, it would also be a day, when God can finally do his work of salvation
in us - not by taking away our dreams but fulfilling them more wonderfully than
we could ever imagine.
When men are no longer men
What is the nightmare scenario
for men? To lose control. Men are terrified of looking weak and incompetent.
Even when we know we are not up to the job, we still try to put on a show or we
pass the buck to someone else under the guise of humility.
You see, the deepest worry of
every man is not losing his job. It’s not losing all his money. No, the
nightmare is this: to have a job that comes with all of the perks - the office,
the car, the business cards - but to be absolutely useless. People are
kow-towing to you in the hallways, but you know that they’re making jokes at
your expense behind your back.
Isaiah Chapter 3 begins with God
stripping the city of all its men - all its strong men, all its influential
men, all its political leaders, all the intelligentsia - leaving behind
children. “And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over
them.” (Isaiah 3:4) By that Isaiah does not literally mean kids and teenagers.
No, these are childish men. Men who are good at pointing all the problems but
never the solutions. Men who are only concerned with their own needs, not the
needs of others. Isaiah gives us a picture - a dialogue - between two such men.
For a man
will take hold of his brother
in the
house of his father, saying:
“You have a
cloak;
you shall
be our leader,
and this
heap of ruins
shall be
under your rule”;
in that day
he will speak out, saying:
“I will not
be a healer;
in my house
there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall
not make me
leader of
the people.”
Isaiah
3:6-7
Here are two brothers living in
their dad’s house, shifting the responsibility to one another. “You deal with
this mess,” one says. “No, it’s not my mess, you take care of it!” the other
replies. Look at the reasons why. The first guy says to his brother, “You have
a cloak.” What he is saying is, “You look the part.” A lot of us do this, even
though we know superficial it is to choose our leaders based on their
appearances, we still want the pastor with the PhD. We still want the CEO who
went to Cambridge. We want the guy with the cloak.
But then look at the brother’s
response, “In my house there is neither bread nor cloak.” What is he saying? In
part, its, “I’m not qualified,” which kinda sounds humble. But in reality he is
telling his brother that he needs a real job. He doesn’t have bread. He needs a
real job that will pay him enough to feed himself. He’s got his own problems
and he doesn’t have time to solve the problems of others.
Here is a picture of judgement
for men - and notice, it’s not fire and brimstone. It’s worse than that. It is
the loss of control. Its that frustration of only being able to see the
problems, never the solution. Its that dreadful feeling of uselessness and
worthlessness that makes you feel like less than a man. That is God’s judgement
on these men: he strips them of their manhood. The real question is why? We can
understand judgement as wrath and anger and pain - though you might disagree
with that - at least that makes sense. But why does God judge men in this
peculiar way? Because sin means stripping God of his godhood.
For Jerusalem
has stumbled,
and Judah
has fallen,
because
their speech and their deeds are against the Lord,
defying his
glorious presence
For the
look on their faces bears witness against them;
they
proclaim their sin like Sodom;
they do not
hide it.
Woe to
them!
For they
have brought evil on themselves.
Isaiah
3:8-9
The expression in verse 9, “the
look on their faces,” is similar to when we say in Cantonese, “Pei Min,” or
“Give face.” That is these men were giving face to one another, acknowledging
each other’s status and achievements, all the while, ignoring God. The picture
here is of men and women sinning against God, but more than that, living their
lives independent of God. They couldn’t care less what God thought of their
deed and actions. “They proclaim their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it.”
This is the essence of sin: rebellion. God is no longer our ruler. God has no
say, no significance and no control over our lives. I hope you realise that
when sin is defined in this way, it doesn’t just mean doing bad things -
stealing, lying and cheating - but this means we can look quite respectable on
the outside and still be rebelling against God in our hearts. Sin means I get
to call the shots; I am the boss of me.
God says one day he will remove
all the men of influence and expose sin for what it is: the futile attempt of
settings ourselves up as mini-gods. If you look back to the list of leaders in
the beginning of the chapter, you see there, amongst the elders and leaders -
the soothsayer and the clever enchanter. Meaning, the men that the people of
Jerusalem looked to for leadership and inspiration were not simply strong,
smart and sexy - they were pagan worshippers who led God’s people away from
God. Such that, when God finally removes these men from leadership, it never
crosses their minds to turn to God. What do they do? They turn to one another.
The man says to his brother, “You take their place.” The men still want to be
in control. Even in the face of disaster; even in the face of desperation, it
never crosses their minds to repent of their self-sufficiency, to turn to God,
to ask for help.
Man’s desire is always to
dominate at all costs. They must always have the remote control (even though
they can never decide what’s good on TV). They must keep driving on ahead at
full speed (even though the GPS tells them they’re way off track). God says to
these childish men, one day they will be stripped of their dominion, for it is
God who gave them their dominion in the first place. For it is God who
entrusted dominion into their hands in the first place, not for personal gain,
not for personal glory, but for God’s glory. And one day, even the most
stubborn man will have to acknowledge that he is not lord of all, God is.
Man’s desire is always to
dominate, but next, Isaiah speaks to the women, whose deepest desire is to be
desired.
When women are no longer
women
The Lord
said:
Because the
daughters of Zion are haughty
and walk
with outstretched necks,
glancing
wantonly with their eyes,
mincing
along as they go,
tinkling
with their feet,
therefore
the Lord will strike with a scab
the heads
of the daughters of Zion,
and the
Lord will lay bare their secret parts.
Isaiah
3:16-17
If every man wants to be the
boss, Isaiah reveals to us that every woman wants to be beautiful. If the worst
nightmare for men is that one day, they will lose all control over their lives,
then the deepest fears for any woman is that one day, she will no longer be
loved. God says to the women of Zion, that day will come when you will be stripped
of all your articles of beauty. Why? Because for these women, it wasn’t enough
to be beautiful. They wanted to be noticed. Or put it another way, beauty was
no longer the end but a means to an end. Everything about the way that they
dressed, even they way that they walked, said, “Look at me! Look at me! Look at
me!” The women of Zion used their feminine beauty as a tool to gain prominence,
attention, worship.
In that day
the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the
crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; the headdresses, the
armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; the signet rings and
nose rings; the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; the
mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
Isaiah
3:18-23
Now the application of these
verses is not: Women can’t wear makeup or that girls can’t wear jewellery or
nice clothes. That’s not the point. Please don’t quote me by saying, “Calvin
taught us that all the girls must only buy the cheapest, the most worn out and
tatty clothes from second-hand shops. Maximum 3.99 pounds!” That is not
the application of these verses.
Why does God say that one day he
is going to throw out your entire wardrobe? And let’s face it - it’s a pretty
long and extensive list. Many of you girls have these very things at home. In
your minds, you might be going, “No! Not my Prada shoes!” Nothing is left out
of this list, as if to say, every single thing will go. Why does God say this?
Because sisters, as much as you
might think that these things make you look more beautiful, they don’t. Not in
God’s eyes.
You see, as many times as you
might like to look in the mirror and say to yourself, “You’re worth it!”
dressed in your finest clothes, with stunning makeup, hair-done up; as much
money as you might spend, as much time as you might dedicate to making yourself
look stunning; it is nothing compared to having someone else say to you, “You
are worth it.”
The most beautiful women in the
world can be at the same time, the most insecure. They were the supermodels and
catwalk models of their day. They were beautiful, but that wasn’t enough for
them. They had to be always beautiful. They had to always be reminded that they
were beautiful. And the more attention that they received, the tragic thing was
this, the less they believed it. That’s why they needed “accessories.” The
handbags, the perfume, the scarves, the headbands, the flowing dresses. These
accessories became essential. They might have said, “I’m worth it,” to
themselves, but their hearts were saying, “These things are all I’m worth.”
And God says to these women, “The
day will come when all your articles of beauty will be stripped away. In fact,
on this day of judgement, you won’t even want to put on your makeup. Rather,
you will dress yourselves in sackcloth.”
Instead of
perfume there will be rottenness;
and instead
of a belt, a rope;
and instead
of well-set hair, baldness;
and instead
of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth;
and
branding instead of beauty.
Your men
shall fall by the sword
and your
mighty men in battle.
And her
gates shall lament and mourn;
empty, she
shall sit on the ground.
Isaiah
3:24-26
Beauty becomes meaningless
without the beholder. Loveliness is emptiness when there is no one to love. Why
are these women of Zion dressed in sackcloth? Why are their heads shaven? It’s
not because someone took their clothes away and shaved their heads; no, it’s
because they are in mourning. Their men have fallen by the sword. Their
husbands have been killed in battle.
Isaiah says, “Her gates shall
lament and mourn.” The whole city is in mourning. The entire city has been
stripped of its beauty. The entire city is covered in ashes. She is empty. It
is a description of hollowness, worthlessness, even meaninglessness. She sits
on the ground. Lifeless.
And seven
women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own
bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away
our reproach.”
Isaiah 4:1
I know there are guys who read
this verse and go, “Cool.” It isn’t cool. It is tragic and frankly,
humiliating. Seven women chasing after one man (“You can be Monday, You can be
Tuesday, You’re Wednesday...”). They don’t say to this man, “Love me. Take care
of me. Protect me.” No, these women will look after themselves, they will feed
and clothe themselves. But what they say to this man is, “Let us be called by
your name.” It is a proposal of marriage.
Guys don’t get this. Mention
marriage to a guy and he’s thinking about how much the wedding is going to cost
or how cool he is going to look dressing up like James Bond. Girls have been
thinking about their wedding day since five. They know what flowers they want
to have, which dress they are going to where, what colour tablecloths to get.
They’ve thought about the kind of house they are going to live in and how many
girls and boys they want to raise. Why? Because the deepest desire in a woman
is to be desired, to be cherished. To be loved.
Here we learn that even in the
most desperate of times of judgement, even when the only guy available is a
loser who can’t provide for these women, who isn’t thinking of their well-being
but his own selfish gain - these seven women would still rather be loved by a
loser of a husband than not loved at all. “Take away our shame,” they say to
him.
Yet notice as well, that earlier,
this was the same thing the man was asking of his brother. “Lead us! Take care
of this mess!” Don’t you see, Isaiah is not describing two different nightmares
but one and the same. Not two situations but the same worst case scenario. They
lose their identity. They lose their purpose. They lose control. And they come
to the point when they recognise that they can’t look within, they need to find
help from outside themselves.
Both men and women recognise a
need that they can’t fulfil themselves, and they turn to someone outside to
fill that need - whether it is beauty or purpose. And it is here that Isaiah
speaks of a day - the same day, in fact - that these men and women of Zion will
finally recognise God as the only one who can give them the significance, the
worth and the affirmation that they so long for.
The branch of the LORD
In that day
the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the
land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is
left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has
been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the
filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from
its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
Isaiah
4:2-4
It’s still Zion, the same place.
And it’s still the same people, “the daughters of Zion,” though these are those
of remain in Jerusalem, called “the survivors of Zion.” It is even the same
day, the Day of the Lord.
But something has dramatically
changed. These survivors are now filled with pride and honour. The branch of
the LORD is described as beautiful. In case you didn’t get that, these were the
two sins of the men and women back in Chapter 3. The men were proud of their
strength and prowess and this led them to rebel against God. The women were
haughty in their own looks and beauty that wanted more to be worshipped than to
worship God. These were the same sins which resulted in judgement on the men
and women of Zion. And yet, pride and beauty characterise the new redeemed
community in Jerusalem. How can this be so? Because God is at the centre of the
city.
Then the
Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a
cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over
all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day
from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
Isaiah
4:5-6
The word for “canopy” (khupah)
is the Hebrew word describing a wedding chamber, or the honeymoon suite, if you
like; while “booth” (succoth) means tent, especially reminiscent of the
tent of God during the Exodus. Here is a dual image of a wedding and worship.
God comes as the true bridegroom of Zion, cleansing her by a spirit of fire and
judgement and clothing her with beauty and righteousness. God comes as the
redeemer of his people, pouring out forgiveness for their sin, sheltering them
from the heat and rain. God saves the men and women in his city in such a way
that strips them of the idols of their hearts but at the same time, fills their
deepest longings and desires with himself. Zion is fruitful once again, not a
heap of ruins. God takes away their shame and calls them by his name: holy.
The question I want to end with
is: How do we get this? God’s promises are for Jerusalem, we’re in Cambridge.
Isaiah speaks of a future day to come, can we apply this to our lives today?
To answer that, look back to
verse 2, because its packed with clues and descriptions. Isaiah calls this new
community of God, the branch of the LORD - and that word branch refers
to a new family tree, meaning that God will raise a new people. He calls them
survivors who “remain in Jerusalem.”
The reason why Christians can
look at these words and know with absolute certainty that they have received
these promises is because of Jesus, who once turned to his disciples and said
to them, “You are the branches.” It was his last conversation with them before
going to the cross. Jesus was on a steady course to his death - where he would
be humiliated, despised and rejected - but he wanted his disciples to know that
through his death, they would receive life; through his humiliation, glory. And
Jesus said this:
I am the
vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that
bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not
abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are
gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words
abide in you,ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my
Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
John 15:5-8
Jesus says to us, “I am the vine,
you are the branches,” and calls us to remain in him. He is calling us to find
our deepest satisfaction, our truest joy in nothing else and no one else but
him. Apart from Jesus, we wither and die, but in Jesus, we find life, purpose,
joy, righteousness, peace. Love. And the reason why Jesus chose to say these
words on that day was because that was the day when he would take our shame,
our rejection and our sin. On the cross, Jesus took God’s punishment for sin on
our behalf. It was the same day and the same event, both judgement from God and
salvation through God’s Son, Jesus.
Isaiah was speaking of this day -
a day when our deepest fears come to life. God would pour out his full anger
for our sin; God will expose the shame of our sin, on this day. Yet, Christians
know that on this day, Jesus took the penalty for our sin and offers us
forgiveness, reconciliation and life. That is what we see on the cross. That is
why we keep coming back to the cross, to see our sin, to see our God, and to
see our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Surely he
has borne our griefs
and carried
our sorrows;
yet we
esteemed him stricken,
smitten by
God, and afflicted.
But he was
pierced for our transgressions;
he was
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him
was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with
his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah
53:4-5
