Lesson on Isaiah 3:1-3

In the previous lesson, we discussed God's plans for Judah's future with the ultimate goal of redemption for His people. In this lesson, we will shoot back to the short-term view of their future.

Isaiah 3:1-3.(NIV)(NASB)(NKJV)(NCV)

We learn to trust God in the same way we learn to trust others. When we notice people have done what they said in the past, we come to trust their word. Likewise, when we notice that God has fulfilled His word in the past, we can trust that God will continue to do so in the future. In this passage, we glimpse an instance in which God does exactly what He says He will do.

Isaiah warns that God will soon remove from Judah and Jerusalem their supplies of food and water, along with many groups of people. The people refuse to submit to the rebuke God delivers through Isaiah.

During the final wave of conquest, Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem and cuts off its food supply. "By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat," the Bible records (2 Kings 25:3).

In Jeremiah 14:1-6, we learn that a drought has stripped Jerusalem of its water supply. Jeremiah, who prophesies just before and during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, records:

This is the word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

"Judah mourns,
her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
The nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns
but find no water.
They return with their jars unfilled;
dismayed and despairing,
they cover their heads" (Jeremiah 14:1-3).

In addition to losing their food and water, the people of Jerusalem lose their homes. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiles the people of Jerusalem in three waves. Under the first wave, Nebuchadnezzar slaps King Jehoiakim in chains and removes articles from the temple (2 Chronicles 36:5-7). Additionally, Nebuchadnezzar deports members of the nobility and royalty to train them for civil service (Daniel 1:1-5).

During the second wave of exile, Nebuchadnezzar takes King Jehoiachin and additional articles from the temple to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:9-10). Furthermore, he removes most of the people from Jerusalem, including "all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans." He also deports the queen mother, the king's wives, government officials, and "the leading men of the land" (2 Kings 24:14-15).

Nebuchadnezzar sets up Zedekiah as king of Judah (2 Kings 24:17). When Zedekiah rebels, Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem. Additional articles from the temple, along with further exiles, make their way to Babylon (2 Kings 24:20-25:21). Of this third wave, we read, "Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land . . ." (2 Kings 25:11-12). The stripping of Jerusalem which Isaiah describes comes to fruition in these three waves of exile.

God keeps His word. He doesn't make idle threats; He doesn't offer empty promises. Introducing his letter to Titus, Paul discusses "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time" (Titus 1:2). Our expectation of heaven is not a side note to the Christian faith; rather, it is the foundation. Notice that Paul doesn't say that the hope of eternal life rests on faith and knowledge. No, faith and knowledge rest on hope. And our hope is secure because God does not lie.

This hope of eternal life is so critical to our present lives that Paul likens hope to a helmet. He writes:

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him (1 Thessalonians 5:8-10).

We have already received salvation, from the point we trusted in Christ to deliver us from God's wrath against sin. But that salvation comes to full expression only when we receive new bodies, when suffering and sickness vanish from the earth, and when we permanently reunite with Christ. Our understanding of this future life is limited, but what we know serves as an adequate foundation for our hope. In another letter, Paul writes, "The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:42b-44a). Do we understand exactly what this spiritual body will appear or how it will function? Of course not. But I think this text clearly states that we will receive new and better bodies.

This hope of salvation functions as a helmet because it protects us during hardships. As we all know, this life assaults us with many forms of hardship. For each of us, the hardship looks a little different, but our hope is the same. When the troubles of life threaten to overwhelm us and tear us to pieces (whether in body, mind, or heart), we cling to this hope and find a comfort that surpasses all others. God keeps His word, and on this simple truth, we must stand.

To read the previous article in the Isaiah series, click here.
To read the next article, click here.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.