Isaiah 3:16-26 - The Proud Daughters of Zion
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[READING - Isaiah 3:16-26]
16 Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, And go along with mincing steps And tinkle the bangles on their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments,
19 dangling earrings, bracelets, veils,
20 headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets,
21 finger rings, nose rings,
22 festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses,
23 hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils.
24 Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will fall by the sword And your mighty ones in battle.
26 And her gates will lament and mourn, And deserted she will sit on the ground.
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] We get a sense of Judah’s spiritual condition in these opening chapters of Isaiah.
In the first five chapters, we see that Isaiah was certainly correct when he said in response to the holiness of God that he was an unclean man dwelling in the midst of unclean men.
We were introduced to some of those unclean men in the first half of Isaiah 3.
By oppressing and preying upon the people, the leaders of Judah taught the people to oppress and prey on one another (Isa. 3:5).
By speaking and acting against the Lord, these leaders led the people to speak and act against the Lord (Isa. 3:8).
By displaying their sin like Sodom, these leaders led the people to flaunt their sin like Sodom (Isa. 3:9).
Led by these wicked men, the people of Judah became increasingly wicked…
…but it wasn’t just the men.
[CIT] In Isaiah 3:16-26 we meet the proud daughters of Zion who adorned themselves with worldliness to attract worldly men only to be left as widows lamenting, mourning, and deserted.
[PROP] Although the passage specifically speaks to Judah’s women, the lesson it teaches is for all of God’s people: it teaches us to put off worldliness and to adorn ourselves with godliness as we hope in God rather than man.
[INTER] What made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked?
[TS] Let notice four things…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: The first thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they exalted themselves rather than the LORD (vv. 16-17)
#1: The first thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they exalted themselves rather than the LORD (vv. 16-17)
16 Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, And go along with mincing steps And tinkle the bangles on their feet, 17 Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”
[EXP] The LORD saw the pride of the leading women of Judah.
They held their heads high and batted their seductive eyes.
Some translations say these women walked along craning their elegant necks (NLT) and giving flirting glances with their eyes (LEB).
They went along with mincing steps, tinkling the bangles on their feet.
The CSB says they pranced along, jingling their ankle bracelets.
Their prancing, their craning, their batting of eyes, their jingling along was all meant to turn heads.
Everything they did was meant to make known their exalted status in Judah’s society.
In his comment on v. 16, scholar Gary Smith writes…
Isaiah 1–39 (4) Removal of Judah’s Proud Women (3:16–4:1)
This high society look drew attention to these women and communicated their importance. The way they carried their heads breathed sophistication as they flirtatiously looked from side to side and down their noses at the lower class. These exhibitionists, who boldly strutted in their finest attire, displayed a proud heart that God hates.
Because they lifted themselves up, the Lord would bring them down.
Isaiah 3:17 says the Lord would send scabs on their scalps and then make them bald so all could see their scabbiness.
If the scabs became infected and spread, it would be considered leprosy, and these women would be counted as unclean and be excluded from the worship of God until the leprosy was healed (Lev. 13:7-8).
But that assumes there will be a temple still standing when God’s judgment comes.
At the very least, these scabs meant these haughty women would soon be humiliated by their unsightly appearance.
[ILLUS] There was a preacher that once lost his patience with certain members of his congregation. There were too many people in the video room, too many members missing church too regularly, and a couple people that were too chatty during his sermon.
He said to the chatty people, “You’re not going to talk when I’m talking. I’m somebody!”
I’m sure he meant that what he had to say from God’s Word was important and should be listened to, but what came across was that he was important, so he should be listened to.
In that moment, that preacher exalted himself, and the Internet has now spent years humiliating him as a result.
[APP] Every follower of Jesus must decide whether they will live to exalt themselves or live to exalt their God.
When we live to exalt our God, we will carry ourselves with humility rather than pride. We live to bring attention to Him rather than ourselves.
When we carry ourselves with humility, the Lord will exalt us.
When we exalt ourselves, the Lord will humble us.
He may even humiliate us.
[TS]…
#2: The second thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they adorned themselves with worldly trinkets rather than godly character (vv. 18-23)
#2: The second thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they adorned themselves with worldly trinkets rather than godly character (vv. 18-23)
18 In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, 19 dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, 20 headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, 21 finger rings, nose rings, 22 festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, 23 hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils.
[EXP] The leading women of Judah had it all: anklets, headband, crescent necklaces, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils—all the things that a woman of high society should have in Judah to let others know that she belonged to high society.
Perhaps these leading women were able to have some of these things because their leading husbands oppressed the poor.
What did these women care so long as they wore the earmarks of the affluent?
[ILLUS] Cheryl and I had a friend that was going to give us some clothes for Lillian. This friend was excited because she had been looking for someone to pass these clothes down to. She talked about this item and that item and how Lillian would just be so cute in them all.
Then she mentioned a pair of shoes by their brand name, Golden Goose.
She expected Cheryl to recognize the brand name, but she didn’t.
Cheryl asked me if I had heard of Golden Goose, and I said something like, “You mean the one from the children’s story.” I had no idea.
But apparently these shoes were the it shoes.
I looked up the cost for Golden Goose shoes online.
The women’s Super-Star LAB with white star and Swarovski glitter upper run about $2,275.
The men’s stardan in suede with sand star and silver crystal inserts only cost $1,300.
The little girl’s Old School Teen in peach-pink glitter with pink suede star will run you $430.
What do these shoes do that other shoes don’t?
They might last awhile longer, but they don’t stop a child’s feet from growing.
For many who purchase them, they are just earmarks of affluence—worldly adornments meant to impress the world.
[APP] Peter said in 1 Peter 3:3-4…
3 Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
The world may not notice the hidden adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, but it is precious in the sight of God.
Our focus should not be on trimming ourselves out with worldly trinkets to impress worldly people but putting on godly character to please the LORD.
[TS]…
#3: The third thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they hoped in earthly apparel and earthly men rather than God alone (vv. 24-25)
#3: The third thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they hoped in earthly apparel and earthly men rather than God alone (vv. 24-25)
24 Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty. 25 Your men will fall by the sword And your mighty ones in battle.
[EXP] God’s judgment on the proud daughters of Zion is foretold beginning in v. 24, but this judgment symbolizes what will happen to Judah as a whole.
Everything Judah has taken pride in will become a source of humiliation.
Perfume become putrefaction.
Belts become ropes.
Styled hair become bald scalp.
Fine clothes become sackcloths.
Beauty becomes the branding of slavery.
And the leading men—those described in Isaiah 3:1-15—will die.
The prideful daughters of Zion will lose all they’ve hoped in—their apparel and the men who gifted them their apparel.
[ILLUS] King David decided he wanted to take a census. Joab knew that this wasn’t a good idea because while “some boast in chariots and and some in horses, (God’s people were to) boast in the name of the LORD, (their) God,” (Ps. 20:6).
Joab also knew that a king would not be saved by a mighty army or a warrior by great strength; he knew that a horse is a false hope for victory; but “behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,” (Ps. 33:16-18a).
Even so, David went ahead with the census, and when it was completed nine months later, David found that he had an army of over a million fighting men.
Immediately David was convicted because of the census. He knew that he had sinned greatly and asked God to take his iniquity away (2 Sam. 24:10).
God gave David some options for punishment, and David made his choice: eventually God sent a pestilence that wiped away seventy-thousand men from David’s fighting force.
[APP] God will remove those things we hope in more than Him.
It might be our apparel or our men or our women or our military, but whatever it is God will take it away, so that we have nothing left but Him.
When that time comes, will we repent and call on Him?
Would these proud daughters of Zion?
[TS] Let’s take a look in Isaiah 3:26-4:1…
#4: The fourth thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they would cry out to fallen men rather than Almighty God (3:26-4:1)
#4: The fourth thing that made these proud daughters of Zion so wicked was that they would cry out to fallen men rather than Almighty God (3:26-4:1)
26 And her gates will lament and mourn, And deserted she will sit on the ground. 1 For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!”
[EXP] The proud daughters of Zion and the people of Judah as a whole would be left ruined when God’s judgment came.
These once proud women and this once proud nation would be essentially left for dead. Stripped of the trappings of wealth and prestige, with its leading men dead, Judah would be left in the dirt lamenting and morning.
But would Judah then cry out to God? Would this proud daughter of Zion cry out to God after she had been made unsightly in the eyes of the nations? No.
Isaiah 4:1 tells the story. Because of God’s judgment, women will outnumber men in Judah seven to one. Before you get your hopes up fellas, remember these were scabby-headed bald women, but that didn’t prevent them from crying out for to the men who passed by.
They said they would support themselves, so long as they could bear the name of some man and have their reproach taken away.
The NLT translation has the women saying, “Only let us take your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.”
What could be worse for these proud daughters of Zion who adorned themselves with worldliness than to be thought of as old maids who were no longer attractive to the world.
But God was there offering make beauty from ashes if His people would call on Him.
[ILLUS] Every now and again, Lillian, will get mad at me because I’ve disciplined here, and she’ll want anyone other than me to pick her up or hold her. I will tell her something like, “No one’s going to pick you up but me. No one’s going to hold you but me. I’m the only one who is going to pick you up and hold you. Do you want me to do that?”
And because she is mad, Lillian will sometimes say, “No.”
[APP] When God strips our worldliness away, we may be mad. We may be humiliated, but He has done it for a good purpose.
He has done it to make us live for Him.
He has done it to make us call on Him.
Let us adorn ourselves with godliness.
Let us have the humility to call on Him.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]