Isaías 3
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Isaías 3:6-9
Spurgeon comments that… They are as great in their own esteem as if they were aldermen of the New Jerusalem; they want no other ornament than their own pomposity. No jeweler could sufficiently adorn them; they wear their own pride as a better ornament than a gold chain. Solomon records that… There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance. (Pr 30:13) Display (05046) (nagad) means to make know by declaring something. To announce or inform. This root basically denotes “to place a matter high, conspicuous before a person” (TWOT). The idea is to bring something to another's attention. In this context Judah is flaunting their sin publicly, casting off all fear of God and respect for men even reveling in or glorying in their sin! This is the essence of self delusion or deception and is one of the awful effects of sin (Heb 3:13-note). Nagad is used 29 times in Isaiah - Is 3:9; 7:2; 19:12; 21:2, 6, 10; 36:22; 40:21; 41:22, 23, 26; 42:9, 12; 43:9, 12; 44:7, 8; 45:19, 21; 46:10; 48:3, 5, 6, 14, 20; 57:12; 58:1; 66:19. Like Sodom (See note Sodom) - Flagrant sin is the idea. Modesty has been jettisoned. Out in the open. Woe to the nation makes no attempt to conceal its sins, sins that speak of a morally corrupt heart! Do we see this in post-Christian America? (Obviously that is a rhetorical question!) Lot warned the Sodomites but they flatly rejected his warning. As Judah's sin was like Sodom, so too would be their punishment (cp Is 1:9-note, Is 1:10-note) Moses describes Sodom as follows… Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. (Ge 13:13, cp Ge 18:20) Jeremiah who like Isaiah also prophesied primarily against Judah (627-585BC cp Isaiah whose prophecy ended some 50 years earlier circa 680BC) described their flagrant "Sodom-like" sin… Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all. They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,” says the Lord. (Je 6:15) Jeremiah records an example of Judah's brazen attitude… As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord (Note that they were so deceived and depraved, they did not argue by what authority Jeremiah spoke. They had made up their mind - their way or the highway!), we are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ed: She is identified as Astarte, the goddess of the planet Venus, called Ishtar by the Assyrians and Babylonians and Ashtoreth by the Phoenicians and other Canaanites. She was regarded as the sister or consort of Baal, the storm god. Together they were looked upon as symbolizing the generative powers of nature, and their worship is denounced in the OT as abominable in the sight of Jehovah. Cp Je 7:18) and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had dplenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune (Ed: Professing to be wise, they became fools! They foolishly and audaciously attributed their lack of plenty to the discontinuance of honor they paid to the goddess!!!). (Je 44:16, 17, cp Je 44:19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25) RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION Woe to them - Isaiah literally cries out “Woe to their soul”, which is an apt exclamation for their sin sick souls were the source of the societal collapse. "The chickens would soon come home to roost" or as the KJV renders it "they have rewarded evil unto themselves"! Woe (0188)('owy/'oy) is an impassioned onomatopoetic (word whose sound suggest the sense or meaning) interjection (act of uttering an exclamation) used to express grief, despair, regret, distress, sorrow, pain, discomfort, or unhappiness. Woe is a distinctive form of prophetic speech, found both in the OT and in the NT. {46x in 35v in the NT - Mt 11:21; 18:7; 23:13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29; 24:19; 26:24; Mk 13:17; 14:21; Lk 6:24, 25 (twice), Lk 6:26; 10:13 (2x); Lk 11:42, 43, 44, 46, 37, 52; 17:1; 21:23; 22:22; 1Co. 9:16; Jude 1:11; Re 8:13 (3x); Re 9:12 (2x); Re11:14(2x); Re 12:12; 18:10(2x), Re 18:16(2x), Re 18:19(2x)} The Lxx translates the Hebrew with the interjection ouai which expresses extreme displeasure, much like the Hebrew equivalent. 'Owy/'oy - 22v in the OT - Nu 21:29; 24:23; 1Sa 4:7, 8; Is 3:9, 11; 6:5; 24:16; Je 4:13, 31; 6:4; 10:19; 13:27; 15:10; 45:3; 48:46; La 5:16; Ezek 16:23; 24:6, 9; Ho 7:13; 9:12 is translated "Woe" 19 times and "Alas" 2 times. Martin adds that woe… is an interjection of distress or of a threat voiced in the face of present or coming disaster. Isaiah’s book includes 22 occurrences of that word or its companion word hôy, more than in any other prophetic book. (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor or Logos) Brought evil upon themselves - Judah and Jerusalem had sown the evil seed of pride and would reap its rotten fruit (Gal 6:7, 8). Sin always results in just requital. Indeed the wages Sin pays its workers are death (Ro 6:23-note). Hosea records a parallel thought… Israel, you have destroyed yourself though in me lies your help. (Hosea 13:9, New Jerusalem Bible) Motyer aptly puts it that… The boomerang quality of sin is highlighted and the sinner is his own paymaster (brought … upon) (Motyer, J. A. The Prophecy of Isaiah. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press)
Isaías 3:10-12
Spurgeon commenting on Psalm 46:1 writes… God is our refuge and strength. Not our armies, or our fortresses. Israel's boast is in Jehovah, the only living and true God. Others vaunt their impregnable castles, placed on inaccessible rocks, and secured with gates of iron, but God is a far better refuge from distress than all these: and when the time comes to carry the war into the enemy's territories, the Lord stands His people in better stead than all the valour of legions or the boasted strength of chariot and horse. Soldiers of the cross, remember this, and count yourselves safe, and make yourselves strong in God. Forget not the personal possessive word our; make sure each one of your portion in God, that you may say, "He is my refuge and strength." Neither forget the fact that God is our refuge just now, in the immediate present, as truly as when David penned the word. God alone is our all in all. All other refuges are refuges of lies, all other strength is weakness, for power belongeth unto God: but as God is all sufficient, our defence and might are equal to all emergencies. A very present help in trouble, or in distress he has so been found, he has been tried and proved by his people. He never withdraws himself from his afflicted. He is their help, truly, effectually, constantly; he is present or near them, close at their side and ready for their succour, and this is emphasized by the word very in our version, he is more present than friend or relative can be, yea, more nearly present than even the trouble itself. To all this comfortable truth is added the consideration that his assistance comes at the needed time. He is not as the swallows that leave us in the winter; he is a friend in need and a friend indeed. When it is very dark with us, let brave spirits say, "Come, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm." (Listen to Psalm 46 in Song) "A fortress firm, and steadfast rock, Is God in time of danger; A shield and sword in every shock, From foe well known or stranger."
Isaías 3:10-12
Spurgeon says… Jehovah cannot be unjust or impure. Let His doings be what they may, they are in every case righteous and holy. This is the confession of the godly who follow His ways, and of the gracious who study His works. Whatever God is or does must be right. In the salvation of His people he is as righteous and holy as in any other of His ways and works: He has not manifested mercy at the expense of justice, but the rather He has magnified His righteousness by the death of His Son. For Old and New Testament believers righteousness is all that God is, all that God commands, all that God demands, all that God approves, & ultimately all that God provides in Christ. Tsaddiq is used 11 times (out of a total of 196v) in Isaiah (Is 3:10; 5:23; 24:16; 26:2, 7; 29:21; 41:26; 45:21; 53:11; 57:1; 60:21) Well (02895) (tob) is a verb which describes something that has attractive or beneficial qualities. It is that which of a favorable character or tendency (be it economic or material good, abstract good like pleasant, morally good, etc). Tob describes that which has admirable, pleasing, superior, or positive qualities and not that which is negative, bad or mediocre. I love David's picture of God's goodness ("tob" - David uses the adjective) chasing after the righteous… Surely goodness (tob) and lovingkindness (mercy) will follow (Hebrew = pursue after cp the picture in Ge 14:14) me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Ps 23:6) Ray
Isaías 3:10-12
Spurgeon adds… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. This is a fact as indisputable as it is encouraging, and therefore a heavenly verily, or "surely" is set as a seal upon it. This sentence may be read, "only goodness and mercy," for there shall be unmingled mercy in our history. These twin guardian angels will always be with me at my back and my beck. Just as when great princes go abroad they must not go unattended, so it is with the believer. Goodness and mercy follow him always -- all the days of his life -- the black days as well as the bright days, the days of fasting as well as the days of feasting, the dreary days of winter as well as the bright days of summer. Goodness supplies our needs, and mercy blots out our sins. (Psalm 23:6 - Treasury of David)
Isaías 3:10-12
Spurgeon comments: The Lord trieth the righteous: he doth not hate them, but only tries them. They are precious to him, and therefore he refines them with afflictions. None of the Lord's children may hope to escape from trial, nor, indeed, in our right minds, would any of us desire to do so, for trial is the channel of many blessings. "It is my happiness below Not to live without the cross; But the Saviour's power to know, Sanctifying every loss." "Trials make the promise sweet; Trials give new life to prayer; Trials bring me to his feet -- Lay me low, and keep me there." "Did I meet no trials here -- No chastisement by the way -- Might I not, with reason, fear I should prove a cast away?" "Bastards may escape the rod, Sunk in earthly vain delight; But the true born child of God Must not -- would not, if he might." William Cowper. Is not this a very cogent reason why we should not distrustfully endeavour to shun a trial? -- for in so doing we are seeking to avoid a blessing. But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth: why, then, shall I flee from these wicked men? If God hateth them, I will not fear them. Haman was very great in the palace until he lost favour, but when the king abhorred him, how bold were the meanest attendants to suggest the gallows for the man at whom they had often trembled! Look at the black mark upon the faces of our persecutors, and we shall not run away from them. If God is in the quarrel as well as ourselves, it would be foolish to question the result, or avoid the conflict. Sodom and Gomorrah perished by a fiery hail, and by a brimstone shower from heaven; so shall all the ungodly. They may gather together like Gog and Magog to battle, but the Lord will rain upon them "an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone:" Ezekiel 38:22. Some expositors think that in the term "horrible tempest," there is in the Hebrew an allusion to that burning, suffocating wind, which blows across the Arabian deserts, and is known by the name of Simoom. "A burning storm," Lowth calls it, while another great commentator reads it "wrath wind;" in either version the language is full of terrors. What a tempest will that be which shall overwhelm the despisers of God! Oh! what a shower will that be which shall pour out itself for ever upon the defenceless heads of impenitent sinners in hell! Repent, ye rebels, or this fiery deluge shall soon surround you. Hell's horrors shall be your inheritance, your entailed estate, the portion of your cup. The dregs of that cup you shall wring out, and drink for ever. A drop of hell is terrible, but what must a full cup of torment be? Think of it -- a cup of misery, but not a drop of mercy. O people of God, how foolish is it to fear the faces of men who shall soon be faggots in the fire of hell! Think of their end, their fearful end, and all fear of them must be changed into contempt of their threatenings, and pity for their miserable estate. Motyer writes that… The tragedy of sin is that it ruins the life of the sinner; the danger of sin is that it excites the wrath of God. (Motyer, J. A. The Prophecy of Isaiah. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press) ILLUSTRATION of REAPING: The Emperor Charlemagne wanted to have a magnificent bell cast for the church he had built. An artist named Tancho was employed by the church to make it. He was furnished, at his own request, with a great quantity of copper, and a hundred pounds of silver for the purpose. He kept the silver for his own personal use, however, and substituted in its place a quantity of highly purified tin. When the work was completed, he presented the bell to the Emperor, who had it suspended in the church tower. The people, however, were unable to ring it. So Tancho himself was called in to help. But he pulled so hard that its tongue fell down and killed him. Woe! Isaiah 3:12 O My people! Their oppressors are children, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths. (NASB: Lockman) (NASB: Lockman) English Translation of the Greek (Septuagint): O my people, your exactors strip you, and extortioners rule over you: O my people, they that pronounce you blesses lead you astray, and pervert the path of your feet. Amplified: As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, your leaders cause you to err, and they confuse (destroy and swallow up) the course of your paths. (Amplified Bible - Lockman) KJV: As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. NET: Oppressors treat my people cruelly; creditors rule over them. My people's leaders mislead them; they give you confusing directions. (NET Bible) NJB: O my people, their oppressors pillage them and extortioners rule over them! O my people, your rulers mislead you and efface the paths you ought to follow! (NJB) NLT: Children oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, can't you see what fools your rulers are? They are leading you down a pretty garden path to destruction. (NLT - Tyndale House) Young's Literal: My people -- its exactors are sucklings, And women have ruled over it. My people -- thy eulogists are causing to err, And the way of thy paths swallowed up. O My people! Their oppressors are children, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths: children - Is 3:4; 2Ki 11:1; Nah 3:13 Guide - Is 9:15; Nu 6:23, 24, 25, 26, 27; Je 5:31; Mt 15:14 O My people… O My people - This repetition emphasizes a deep lament and pain for Judah and Jerusalem. Either God or Isaiah is speaking but given that Isaiah is God's messenger, this message is addressed to God's people regardless of who is making the declaration. Oppressors (05065)(nagas) means to be pressed or harassed, to be a taskmaster. The root conveys the sense of exertion of demanding oppressive pressure for payment or labor. Although nagas is a verb, the participle is used to describe a taskmaster or slave driver. For example in Ex 3:7 the taskmasters caused affliction of God's people, but in the present context the affliction is not from the Egyptians, but from one Jew to another illustrative of the total breakdown of society in Judah and Jerusalem. Delitzsch comments that nagas signifies to treat as tyrant or taskmaster. The meanest selfishness then stifles all nobler motives; one becomes a tyrant over another, and rude insolence takes the place of reverence, which, by the law of nature, as well as the Torah (Lv 19:32) and custom, is due to the aged and superiors from boys and those in the humbler ranks… When there is disregard of the distinctions due to age and rank, the State in a short time becomes a wild and waste scene of confusion. (Isaiah 3 Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah) Nagas - 23v in the OT - Ex 3:7; 5:6, 10, 13, 14; Dt 15:2f; 1Sa 13:6; 14:24; 2Ki. 23:35; Job 3:18; 39:7; Is 3:5, 12; 9:4; 14:2, 4; 53:7; 58:3; 60:17; Da 11:20; Zec 9:8; 10:4. Rule (04910) (mashal) means to have dominion, reign over, be in charge, exercise authority over another. The translates mashal with kurieuo (present tense = continuous action) which means to be lord of, to exercise control over, to be master of or to dominate. Mashal - 73x in OT - Gen. 1:18; 3:16; 4:7; 24:2; 37:8; 45:8, 26; Exod. 21:8; Deut. 15:6; Jos. 12:2, 5; Jdg. 8:22f; 9:2; 14:4; 15:11; 2 Sam. 23:3; 1 Ki. 4:21; 1 Chr. 29:12; 2 Chr. 7:18; 9:26; 20:6; 23:20; Neh. 9:37; Job 25:2; Ps. 8:6; 19:13; 22:28; 59:13; 66:7; 89:9; 103:19; 105:20f; 106:41; Prov. 6:7; 12:24; 16:32; 17:2; 19:10; 22:7; 23:1; 28:15; 29:2, 12, 26; Eccl. 9:17; 10:4; Isa. 3:4, 12; 14:5; 16:1; 19:4; 28:14; 40:10; 49:7; 52:5; 63:19; Jer. 22:30; 30:21; 33:26; 51:46; Lam. 5:8; Ezek. 19:11, 14; Dan. 11:3ff, 39, 43; Mic. 5:2; Hab. 1:14; Zech. 6:13 and is rendered in the NAS as dominion(1), gain control(1), govern(1), had charge(1), have authority(1), master(1), obtain dominion(1), really rule(1), rule(27), ruled(5), ruler(18), ruler's(2), rulers(6), rules(9), ruling(3), wielded(1). Children and women - These groups who would generally be considered the least suited to rule would in fact rule. Women rule over them - In Isaiah 3:6,7 we see that no one wanted to hold office (be ruler), so here we see women and children rule which would have been especially humiliating in Judah’s male-dominated society! Some commentators (Ed Young, John MacArthur) do not take this literally but rather as a figurative description of the rulers who were as weak as women. Others think this may refer to wives (or mistresses) influencing the leadership of their husbands. The interpretation of this phrase is difficult and not conclusive. Nahum does use women in a figurative description of the people… Behold, your people are women in your midst! The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies; Fire consumes your gate bars. (Nah 3:13) There are references in the OT which indicate women did exert considerable impact on the nation… When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring. (2Ki 11:1) Those who guide you lead you astray - This text finds a parallel in Psalm 1:1 which says… How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! (Ps 1:1-note) Jeremiah describes false prophets… The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it? (Je 5:31) Guide (0833)(asar) means to lead or to set right, the exact opposite of what their leaders accomplished. Asar - 15v in the OT - Gen. 30:13; Job 29:11; Ps. 41:2; 72:17; Prov. 3:18; 4:14; 9:6; 23:19; 31:28; Cant. 6:9; Isa. 1:17; 3:12; 9:16; Mal. 3:12, 15. The NAS renders asar as bless(1), call blessed(3), called blessed(3), direct(1), guide(2), guided(1), happy(2), proceed(2), reprove(1).