Wednesday, November 20, 2024

She rushes through it. She's been rebuked for that already. She's not sincerely fearing the Lord and reverencing Him. She rather cites her idols, her wealth, her military power, so on and so forth. But these are all as another portion, another prophet would say, bruised reeds that can't support a weight.

And so after being shown in very brief fashion that wealth, military might, and idols, and pride are unsustainable, each one of those things is dealt with at length. And we're talking about now how wealth is not something to be trusted.

Wealth Is Not a Security or a Virtue

It is not a security. It is not a defense. It is not a virtue. It is not a justification. Wealth should not be trusted. So in Isaiah chapter 3 verses 13 through 26, we're going to read that passage. But notice that verses 13 through 15 deal with wealth gained by force, as the elders and the princes, the judges, are actually the ones who are corrupt, and robbing the poor, crushing the faces of the poor, we read in verses 13 through 15.

They strip the vineyard bare, and the poor are like the grapes in the wine press, getting crushed by the heel of the government officials. And then in verses 16 through 26, there is a survey of wealth both being flaunted and paraded about, but then also wealth failing to bring that desired sense of security and comfort.

So verse 13, Isaiah 3, the Lord stands up to plead and stands to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and his princes, for you have eaten up the vineyard, the plunder of the poor is in your houses.

What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor, says the Lord God of hosts. Moreover, the Lord says, because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet, therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their secret parts.

In that day, the Lord will take away the finery, the jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents, the pendants, the bracelets, and the veils, the headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands, the perfume boxes, the charms, and the rings, the nose jewels, the festival apparel, and the mantles, the outer garments, the purses, and the mirrors, the fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.

And so it shall be. Instead of a sweet smell, there will be a stench. Instead of a sash, rope. Instead of well-set hair, baldness. Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth, and branding instead of beauty.

Your men shall fall by the sword, and you're mighty in the war. Her gates shall lament and mourn, and she being desolate shall sit on the ground. So we've begun to talk about how when the focus is on wealth itself, wealth proper, it's a misdirection.

It's not that wealth in and of itself is evil. Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It's money itself can represent a great temptation, but it's the heart.

It's what goes on in the heart that's the matter that Jesus is concerned with. And so we find that trusting wealth is sinful. Those who believe that wealth is their security, their virtue, their right, might be willing to do all kinds of tyrannical things and atrocious things to gain that wealth.

Now in verse 16 and verses 18 through 23, we see wealth being flaunted. The wealth that was gained by force is now wealth that is being flaunted. The elders and princes of Zion have robbed the poor and crushed them, but what happened to all that wealth?

Well, it adorns their women. It adorns their women. They parade about. They flaunt the very evidence of their covenant breaking before the face of God and the faces of the poor being stomped. Notice that the daughters of Zion are being addressed and rebuked in this section.

They are partners with the elders and the princes because of the unrighteous wealth that flows both into the capital of Jerusalem and the surrounding satellite cities, the fortified cities that were part of the defense of Judea.

We are to understand daughters of Zion in two ways. Yes, of course, this was happening. These women in Jerusalem were flaunting the wealth gained unjustly in this way, but also the daughters of Zion is a metaphor talking about the fortified cities that were also adorned around Jerusalem and full of pride, places like Lachish that was a fortified city, a daughter of Zion.

The daughters of Zion are understood in this double fashion. They are under the judgment of God and will be stripped bare and undone. This happens in 2 Kings chapter 18 verse 13 when the armies of Sennacherib come through and roll up all the fortified cities of Jerusalem and only Jerusalem remains.

But in any case, this vivid portrait of the Jerusalem socialites gets to the point that God desires to make. God rebukes the daughters of Zion in their attitude, their affectations, their appearance, and their affluence.

Now verse 16 begins this way. It shows the attitude of the daughters of Zion. Moreover, the Lord says, because the daughters of Zion are haughty. It's in verse 16. The Lord says, because the daughters of Zion are haughty.

So when he begins to talk about the judgment in verse 17 and verses 24 through the end, he's showing the reasoning for it, the justification for his judgment, because the daughters of Zion are haughty.

The Hebrew word speaks of an estimation of self that soars. Their self assertions are lofty. They think very highly of themselves, their abilities, their capacities, their character, their persons. Their attitude is one of exalting self.

Self becomes very large in the mind, very large in the heart. The self becomes very large everywhere. They are proud. Their hearts in this manner are in the same frame as that fool Uzziah. Remember in the year that King Uzziah died, right?

Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1. Well, the daughters of Zion are much like that king. In 2nd Chronicles 26 verse 16, we read that when Uzziah was strong, his heart was lifted up. That's the idea of being lofty.

His heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. He was not supposed to do that. He was so big in his own mind, he thought he could.

And the priest tried to stop him, said don't do that, but he did it anyway. And then he, God struck him with leprosy and he died a leper. These daughters of Zion are haughty. They think far too often about themselves, far too much about themselves.

You know, the opposite of the fear of the Lord, right, would be what? It would be pride, right? There's no man or woman who fears God who is proud, right? Why? Because the fear of the Lord is to think of him first and think of him most, right?

To be proud is to think of self first, to think of self most. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, because I want to see things in his way. I want to think his thoughts after him.

I need his perspective on these things. But to be proud means my perspective is what matters, and that those just do not work together. So these daughters of Zion forget that loftiness belongs to God alone.

This question in Psalm 113 verse 5, who is like the Lord our God who dwells on high? Well, he's the lofty one, certainly not us. He's the one who dwells on high. They should take the humble approach of Jerusalem's favorite king.

David writes in Psalm 131 verse 1, Lord my heart is not haughty, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Now listen to how this connects to the next part. Neither do I concern myself with great matters nor things too profound for me.

Right? So when the heart goes lofty, when the heart goes haughty, we think we know more than we do. Isn't that the Achilles heel of pride? Thinking you know more than you do, asserting that you know things or have things or are things that you're not.

David says, I don't concern myself with great matters or things too profound for me. And why is he okay to do that and not be anxious and afraid? Because he can trust in God who is strong, who is lofty, who is in charge.

God resists the proud. It's hard to live in God's world and be a prideful person. It's a guaranteed, 100 guaranteed recipe for misery I've experienced in my own life. Every time I'm miserable, when I come to myself, I know pride's somewhere in my heart.

It's getting out of hand. Why am I miserable? Because I think too much of myself. I think my perspective matters way too much and I've got to go back to fearing the Lord. Think of him first and think of him most.

The Lord resists the proud. Those who are proud and think of themselves often and think of themselves highly also feel that they are oppressed. If you were to go ask anybody in the pride parade, are you oppressed?

They'd all say yes. Why? Because the more proud you are, the more resistance you get living in God's world and you think you're oppressed. Well, you are. You're oppressed by God. God resists the proud.

God makes it hard on you. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Now, think about this. When we recognize his loftiness in our lowliness, you know what the great joy is? When we think about his loftiness in our lowliness, that is the measure of his mercy.

That is the measure of his mercy. Psalm 103 verse 11 says, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. When he's lofty and we're lowly, we catch the joy of his grace, the joy of his mercy.

The Lowly in Spirit and the Mercy of Christ

And so Jesus brought that message when he when he came preaching about his kingdom. He said, you know, the entry to his kingdom, front door of the kingdom, is what? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Right?

The lowly in spirit, the impoverished in spirit, those who are not making much of themselves. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Front door. Front door to the kingdom, right there.

Jesus said he came as a great physician, not for the healthy, but for the sick. You know, I'm here to save sinners. I'm not here to help people who have it all together. There were two kinds of people that we keep on meeting in Jesus' teaching, in his ministry.

There were those who were very keen on everybody, seeing that they were virtuous and right. And then there were those who were like, I need help. Jesus preached to the both. He gave parables to them both.

And the more he's preached his gospel, and the more he gave his parables, the more sifting happened, and the more clear those two types of people were there. Right? There were those who considered themselves righteous, and right, and virtuous, and they could point to people and say, well, they've seen me do this, and seen me say that, and they know me, and so they can vouch for me, and this is my standing.

And Jesus said, well, you know. Well, you remember in Luke chapter 4, in Luke chapter 4, in verse 16, Jesus talked about who he came to save, who he came to redeem. Luke 4, verse 16. So he came to Nazareth.

He comes to his hometown, comes to Branchtown, Nazareth. He's the branch man from Isaiah's prophecies. He comes to Branchtown, Nazareth, where he'd been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.

And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Now remember, he just got baptized, and the Holy Spirit came down to him in the form of a dove, right?

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

And then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

You know the sad thing happened there in Nazareth? They all got distracted about him being the son of Joseph and Mary, and you know, where's he coming out with this kind of stuff? And he just talked about who he came to save, who he came to redeem, whom he came to bring all the way to God, that they may have eternal life.

And you know, they look around at each other and say, well, there's no poor here, no brokenhearted here, no captives here, no blind here, no oppressed here. We don't need that. What a sad thing. What a sad thing.

But this is a trustworthy statement, worthy of all exceptions, that Jesus Christ has come into the world to save sinners. Save sinners. So they bore witness to him, but they eventually ran him off, tried to kill him, tried to throw him off a cliff.

They were so incensed that he would intimate that they have problems, that they have sin, that they need forgiveness, that they need a righteousness not their own. That's what Paul looked for, a righteousness not his own.

They were haughty, just like the daughters of Zion were haughty here in Isaiah 3, verse 16. So God will take action against them. They refuse to exalt God. They don't even recognize him as their father anymore.

They only exalt themselves. So he says he's going to expose them, enslave them, and empty them. Verse 17, verse 24, verses 25 through 26. That's the judgment that's on the way. Well, wealth is being flaunted.

Pride, Outward Appearance, and Secret Piety

Their attitude is very haughty. But also notice their affectation. Notice the way that they behave, the way that they, their older mannerisms and so on. Verse 16 concludes, they are haughty and they walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet.

Not really the style today. Somewhat the style today. Not really the style today. The daughters of Zion are known by their deeds, their works, their ways. Out of the abundance of their haughty hearts come their jaunty walks.

The Lord looks upon the heart, but man is left looking on the outward appearance. The outward affectations of these women show what Jezebels they are. Their heads are on a swivel, neck stretching, hoping to catch the attention of a man so they make eyes at him and entice him.

They're the living embodiment of Miss Folly from Proverbs 5 and Proverbs 7. They crave attention. They crave adoration. They crave affirmation. They've just got to have it over and over and over again.

And it's all due to their haughty attitude. You know, it's really, really hard to keep a prideful gas tank full. You're just running on fumes all the time. Got to have all that all the time. They are so self-centered, they demand and assume all attention to themselves.

And so here's what they do. You see this? They tie little bells on their ankles and then they walk with tiny little steps. Normal people, it would take them 20 steps to get across the room. Them, 250.

Why do they take little mincing steps across the room? Because they've got bells on their ankles and every time they make a little movement, they jingle. And it's just, hey, pay attention to me. Pay attention to me.

They are prostitutes for attention. I think the Pharisees' trumpets outpace them, but it's along the same lines. Right? Hey, look at me. Look at me. Now, we know that man looks on the outward appearance.

We know that. Now, so that means that those who manipulate their outward appearance to seek the approval of men are fearing men, not God. Now, we are to steward our outward appearance. We are to moderate our outward appearance.

I mean, Joseph got shaved and got changed before he went to go see Pharaoh. Makes sense. He wasn't trying to manipulate Pharaoh. The Pharisees modify their outward appearance to gain the attention and the approval of men.

Right? They put on a show. They're going to maximize their exposure so that people will see it and applaud and say, you're great. You're awesome. For example, Matthew chapter six, verse 16, Jesus said, moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, which is, you know, the Greek word has to do with acting.

Don't put on the mask. Don't put on the plate. With a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have the reward. Remember the Pharisees fasted twice a week?

They fasted twice a week because that's how many times they had market day. They fasted on market days. And then they would drag themselves through the market with really sad faces. Oh, look at me. And they, you know, they drag themselves through.

I'm fasting today. And they would walk up to some, you know, stand full of fruit or bread, and they'd look longingly at it and like, no, I can't. And they would move on. Right? Everyone's like, wow, that's a really spiritual person.

And give them applause. Jesus says they've got their reward. It's exactly what they wanted. They wanted the approval of men. And Jesus says, here's how you steward and manage your outward appearance. Verses 17 and 18.

He said, but when you, when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting. Right? Jesus is not against public piety. He prayed in public. Okay. He prayed in public.

He wasn't against giving good things to people. He healed in public. Okay. But he insisted that the majority of our piety in our spiritual lives be private for God and God alone. Rather than prostituting our virtuous spirituality for everyone's attention so that you can say something nice about me.

Okay. That is the wrong kind of religion. In the scriptures, religion that is used as a covering to look good, Jesus rebukes. When religion is communion to love God, that pleases Christ. Because he says, you don't want to appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who was in the secret place and your father who sees it in secret, he'll reward you openly.

Keep it with your father. Think about your relationship with your father and how you relate to him by the righteousness of his son. I don't know anybody who grew up with the perfect father who was always there for them, had the right kind of encouragement, the right kind of instruction always, who never lost his temper, who never said a hurtful thing.

I don't know of a single father like that, except a heavenly father, right? And he is well-pleased in his son. This is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased. And when we're in Christ by faith, in Christ, we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places.

Where is Jesus sitting? Right hand of the father. Full pleasure, acceptance, joy, love, fellowship, perfect communion with God. If we're in Christ, we're seated with Christ in the heavenly places. So what kind of smile do we have on us if we're in Christ?

The same smile the father has on Christ. Which is why we can go to the throne of grace in time of need and find there mercy and grace, and we can go boldly because we come in a righteousness not our own.

Meaning we don't have to get out there and hustle and labor and get lots of approval from fellow Christians or from the world, whichever it may be, and then finally having stored up enough virtue publicly, then maybe God will do something nice for me.

Now, maybe we felt like we never had our earthly father's approval, but our heavenly father's approval is upon Christ, and that's why it's so important that we rest in Christ and trust in him for our righteousness.

So Jesus calls us to rejoice in him, to make much of him, to rest in him, and to live humbly. The best part about living humbly is you get to live freely. It is such a release to give up on pride. When you live humbly, you live freely.

It is a life of rest. It truly is. And there is a parable that Jesus told her, I think, that hits us right on the spot in a practical sense, but also, I think, in a relational sense. So in Luke 14, verses 7 through 11, as Jesus is dealing with these Pharisees, he takes the wind out of their sails.

He takes the wind out of their sails. Remember when Paul talked about all his credentials there in Philippians 3? Hey, he was indeed a Pharisee of the Pharisees, meaning that when he was showcasing that whole resume, that's what the Pharisees lived for.

I mean, you know, I tithed my dill and mint and cumin this week. Did you? All right, performance-based, keeping up. Paul laid that all aside to be found in Christ. Now, Luke 14, 7 through 11, so Jesus is telling a parable.

He's dealing with the pride of Pharisees. He says, to those who were invited, when he noted how they chose the best places, right? So they come into the room, it's time for a feast, and they're all trying to jockey for the best position, right?

Why? The best positions are those that receive the most attention, and when they see you sitting in that position, everybody knows you're a big deal, right? Oh, we should honor you because you're sitting there.

So he watches all this mad scramble for the best spots. And he said to them, when you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him.

And he who invited you and him come and say to you, give place to this man. And then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, friend, to go up higher.

Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. Jesus is making fun of them, by the way, right? This isn't actually instructions about how to win friends and influence people.

Jesus isn't actually saying, here's how you set it up, you get this special attention, okay, right? You know, set things up when you go to social events, so all of a sudden you become the star of the show, right?

He's making fun of them. He's giving them like tactical advice, showing that even though this is their game, he could play it better than they could, right? But the parable itself makes a point. What's the point?

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. So he's getting at that point. Now, let's back up. Why did Jesus, why does he say wedding feast? How many times does he tell parables with wedding feast?

And what's the wedding feast? Where the father honors the son, all those who come to the wedding feast are those who are being saved. We show up to the wedding feast, there is one more honorable than us.

He's in the position of most honor. We're there for him. We're there to glorify him and honor him. And when we, when we come to the wedding feast and we give due honor and glory to the one who was more honorable than us, guess what happens?

The master of the feast says, come up higher, come closer, draw near. It reminds us that if we ever feel distant from God, ever felt that way? I have. When you feel distant from God, like there's just some just gap in space there, maybe it's because we're honoring ourselves too much.

Go find that lowly seat and give all that honor to Christ. Give up on that hustle and enslavement, that weariness of pride, enjoy the freedom of humility, the liberating humility that we can have in Christ and rest in him.

Let Jesus be our righteousness for us and rest in him that we may know that intimacy with God again. Next time we'll talk more about the 21 items of finery that are listed in verses 18 through 23. Quite an impressive list.

And we'll talk about why those are there. And then we'll talk about wealth failure, how it all kind of falls apart for Judah. All right.