Isaiah, Chapter 3 - The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem and Judah

For behold, the Lord God of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah…the mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter.  

Leaders are supposed to be champions of justice. They are supposed to protect us. They are supposed to create a climate that allows us to live faithfully in according with our conscience.  It’s disheartening when we recognize they are doing something far different. In the USA we have a blessing called the “election cycle”. When we identify leaders who violate this sacred trust we can remove them. Unfortunately, we often lack sufficient wisdom…or sufficient voter unanimity…to make the correct choices.

So, there are those who resort to unscrupulous methods in pursuit of their own desires.

Dick the Butcher said “the first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” (Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2). Shakespeare meant it as a compliment to attorneys and judges who instill justice in society. Dick the Butcher, a killer as evil as his name implies, viewed lawyers as an impediment to his dream of chaos and tyranny…that would culminate in his becoming king. Believe me when I say we have leaders in our country that agree wholeheartedly with Dick the Butcher.

Actually…it would rightfully be the lawyers who would kill Dick the Butcher.

The sentiment is axiomatic. If we are to effect desired change we must eliminate all the impediments to change. So, when we see, in Chapter two, that God will eventually set up His government in Jerusalem and subjugate all the pretenders, this is how he will do it. He will remove those who stand in the way of his purposes. Why? Because their speech and actions are against the Lord, to rebel against His glorious presence. The expression of their faces bears witness against them, and they display their sin like Sodom; they don’t even conceal it.

It’s easy to wonder if things haven’t deteriorated to the degree that our circumstances can never be redeemed. Herein is an important lesson:  I’ll say, without equivocation, this is not our problem. God has every one of these folks on His list…and when the time comes…they will be gone.

I recommend we avoid helping God with this task. It’s not an exact science. I believe, at the day of His appearing, we will all be curious about the names that were on that list…and the names that were not. And…by the way…say to the righteous that it will go well with them,

Live boldly out there today…