The Book Of Isaiah. Day 9, Poor Leadership

As we begin Chapter 3, which is titled in the NIV as "Judgment On Jerusalem And Judah", we learn that part of this judgment involves the Lord allowing poor leaders to rise to positions of power. The Lord is the one who chooses the leaders of every government of every era, according to Daniel 2:21 and Romans 13:1. We may think we are in charge of electing our leaders in democratic nations but everything falls into place according to the Lord's will. He sends good leaders to bless us and He sends poor leaders to correct us. In today's text we find Him orchestrating the rise of poor leaders to power because the people have forsaken Him.

"See now, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support; all supplies of food and all supplies of water, the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter." (Isaiah 3:1-3) We learned in our study of the kings that the Babylonian army laid siege to the Jerusalem for some time and that the city finally fell to King Nebuchadnezzar. Whenever a city is under siege, its citizens eventually run out of food and water and other supplies, which is the purpose of siege. Going without the necessities of life can soon make a city's citizens surrender to the enemy army and that saves the enemy army from having to scale the walls and engage in hand-to-hand combat, thus saving many soldiers' lives. It's a more cost-effective method of defeating a city, in manpower and in horses and in chariots and in weapons. Siege doesn't always result in surrender, but even when it doesn't it makes the city's citizens less effective in fighting off an invasion if the enemy army has to engage them in battle.

Not only will supplies be cut off, but good leadership will be cut off as well. "I will make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them." (Isaiah 3:4) A succession of young and inexperienced men will attempt to lead the government and the army rather than wise and godly elders or battle-hardened warriors or political veterans.

Lawlessness will abound. "People will oppress each other---man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored." (Isaiah 3:5) In their distress, people will turn on each other and lash out at each other. The strong will forcefully take things from the weak. The aged ones will be cast aside when resources become scarce, for the people will reason with themselves that these resources are better spent on the young and strong who have a better chance of surviving and who might be able to do something against their invaders.

Resources will become so scarce that a man who has managed to hold onto anything---even the smallest of valuable items---will appear to his fellow man as a good candidate for leadership. "A man will seize one of his brothers in his father's house, and say, 'You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!' But in that day he will cry out, 'I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.'" (Isaiah 3:6-7) He will say, "I don't have any answers! I can't keep food on my own table or clothes on my own family member's backs. We are barely keeping body and soul together at my house. How can I advise anyone in the nation what to do when I don't know what to do for my own household?"

"Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying His glorious presence." (Isaiah 3:8) This is the reason for everything to come---everything Isaiah is prophesying about: the majority of the people have defied the Lord. They could have had peace on every side. They could have had peace with God and peace in their hearts. But because they scorned Him in favor of the idols of the heathens and for the idols of this world (money, power, prestige, and so on), He will allow a heathen nation to overcome then. Then, in a foreign nation, they will turn their eyes and their hearts toward God.