Today’s passage: Isaiah 3
Helpful thoughts:
- Because of their sin and it’s just consequences, no one worthy of leadership would even want to rule over Judah if they were chosen during this time.
- In the absence of godly leadership, it is hard not to see in this passage that the women of Judah are pushed into the role…but they take on the sinful activities of men as they walk with “outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet.”
- These descriptions depict:
- An outstretched neck would also result in a nose up in the air… being stuck up and proud… Power!
- Lustful gazes toward others, a sexual promiscuity…women being seducers.
- The wealthy women would wear jewelry around their ankles. When they walked about, they would do so in a way to ensure everyone heard all the money invested in their beauty.
- These descriptions depict:
- This societal structure turns out very badly!
Questions to consider:
- Is it ever OK for men to act like these women were acting in Judah? Would it be right to “Change things back” to men being proud and stuck up, seducing and flaunting their wealth? Is that a right representation of manliness? What does the fact that the women in Judah turned to very similar sins in their role of prominence teach us about the human heart?
- How does a passage like this remind the Christian that our role is a counter-cultural one? If a society is headed these directions, what are the righteous (By God’s grace through the shed blood of Jesus) to do? What does verse 10 say?
- How sad would it be if the Church only sought cultural reform and abandoned the ministry of the Gospel? What is the mission of the Church? To whose kingdom does it belong? What is the ONLY effective way to bring sincere righteousness to ANY nation?