When

 

Isa 3:6 When a man takes hold of his brother In the house of his father, saying, "You have clothing; You be our ruler, And let these ruins be under your power," 7 In that day he will protest, saying, "I cannot cure your ills, For in my house is neither food nor clothing; Do not make me a ruler of the people."

 

I like the use of the word “when” here. It puts a time frame on the judgment of God. “When” is a great question for man to naturally ask, and “when” is God’s great answer. It is His great warning to those who have spiritual ears.

In the case of these first several verses in Isaiah, “when” the people see these things unfolding, it is God’s warning shot that judgment is about to go down, and this is what it will look like.

There will be a crisis of supply with basic necessities. (verse 1)

A sudden dearth of courageous men, justice will be fleeting in the court systems, true proclaimers of God’s Word…rare, the line between right and wrong, wise and foolish will become blurred, and the wisdom of the elders regarded as “old-fashioned.” (verse 2)

There will be a famine of gifted leaders, honorable men, wise counsel, skilled craftsmen will, and eloquent speech will become profane and guttural. (verse 3)

Rulers will be like petulant children! (verse 4)

There will be a decline in respect for authority (verse 5)

And in verse 6, we see that qualifications for being a ruler will be greatly diminished. The wealthy will be seen as qualified leaders. “You’re doing better financially than the rest of us….you must be a good ruler!”  

And in verse 7, it gets so bad that no one wants the job! Can’t blame them, can you? Who wants someone rummaging around in their closet, looking for clothing and other things like skeletons from their past?

 

Does any of this sound familiar? I think it does, and we should use these signs in our own land as a call to personal repentance. God’s not allowing such things to happen to drive us away from Him, He wants us rather to return to Him. He wants us to draw near to Him with godly sorrow over our sins, and receiving His forgiveness, then living out our faith in loving obedience to His Word!