SIGNS OF JUDGMENT (PART 5 – NO ONE WANTS TO BE IN CHARGE)

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A man will seize one of his brothers in his father’s house, and say, “You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!”

But in that day he will cry out, “I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.”

Isaiah 3:6-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What happens when signs of judgment begin to take root and total chaos begins to happen within a city or nation?

As we will see in today’s passage in our continued study of Isaiah, Chapter 3, no one wants to be in charge. Look at these words from verses 6 and 7:

A man will seize one of his brothers in his father’s house, and say, “You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!”

But in that day he will cry out, “I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.”

The scene here is one of desperation and anguish. As we saw in the first devotion in this series, the first sign of judgment will be God removing supply and support from His people and here we get a scene of how that impacted the people.

First, with supply and support removed, no one had the clothing to wear that would distinguish them as a man worthy of leading. In this instance, any man who had a cloak would be considered a candidate to take charge of things.

Second, the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah at large had been reduced to a heap of ruins at the hands of the Babylonians. No marketplaces. Living spaces demolished. The temple, representing the heart of worship for the Israelites and the presence of God, destroyed.

Finally, with all this, who would want to be in charge? Certainly not the man at the center of these verses for when called to be the leader, he proclaimed:

“I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.”

Note there was no reliance or faith in God mentioned. No confidence that God would be there with the man to help him guide Israel through the mess they were in. In fact, there was no consideration of this as a possibility. Instead, the man came up with every reason why he was not the man for the job to include the fact that he had no remedy for how to deal with the issue at hand and deliver Israel from the hands of their attackers.

Perhaps if he had consulted God, he would have had a remedy, perhaps he would have stepped up and participated in the deliverance of the Israelites. Perhaps, if he had remembered the history of Israel, he would have remembered that one man can make a huge difference against incredible odds if he just placed his trust in the God who can and does do all things. Perhaps, he could have relied on God’s strength and wisdom instead of leaning on his own understanding.

But he did none of this and instead became part of the judgment narrative, showing us yet one more indicator of what happens when God’s judgment is imparted.

Do you have a city or nation with an official who shows an attitude that says, “I don’t want to lead”, or has no remedy for the ills that the city and nation are experiencing?

Maybe you are experiencing a growing pain of God’s judgment upon you and I would bet that if you look at other things happening around the situation, you will find other indicators from this series in Isaiah, Chapter 3 coming to light.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com