Judah and Jerusalem had become so wicked that God brought punishment upon them. The punishment against Judah would come in several different forms. First, the All-Powerful Lord would take away everything they needed; He would remove their food and water. Second, great men and leaders would be taken away. The people were left without leadership and direction.  

 
     Nebuchadnezzar took away some of the best men when he defeated Judah. (2 Kings 24:14) The leaders that were left would be children; they would be unqualified, immature and disrespectful of others. The unqualified leaders who were appointed knew they were unfit and told the people not to appoint them as leaders. The words and the actions of these Jews caused them to stumble and find themselves far away from God. God’s judgment was coming upon them and it was the consequence of their own actions. Those who had obeyed God were very fortunate; they would be blessed and rewarded for their righteousness. The disobedient had followed wicked leaders and were, therefore, in serious trouble because of their rebellion. The Jews, and especially their leaders, would face God’s judgment. They had disrespected and oppressed the poor and defiled His nation. These wicked people strutted around; full of pride, attempting to bring glory to themselves. God promised that He would bring the proud low! He said, “When that day comes, I will take away from those women all the fine jewelry they wear on their ankles, heads, necks, ears, arms, noses, fingers, and on their clothes. I will remove their veils, their belts, their perfume, their magic charms, their royal robes, and all their fancy dresses, hats, and purses.” God promised to replace all their good with bad, “In place of perfume, there will be a stink; in place of belts, there will be ropes; in place of fancy hairdos, they will have bald heads. Instead of expensive clothes, they will wear sackcloth; instead of beauty, they will have ugly scars. God would also humble that nation with war. Many of their men would die in battle. In the book of Lamentations we see the city after it faced God’s Judgment. “How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!” (Lamentations 1:1) Jerusalem would mourn and sit in the dirt. It was emptied of its people. This terrible end was the result of a failure to love and obey God.    

      Sin destroyed a stable society – Isaiah 3:1-7: God took away from Judah and Jerusalem everything that made a stable society. The people were totally out of touch with God; they had no concern for His commandments and no desire to obey Him. They were trusting in material things instead of God. Their disobedience brought about God’s Judgment. “Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” (Isaiah 30:12-15) Most of the people in Judah were not faithful to God. They would not listen to Isaiah and other faithful prophets of God. One way God took away their stability was by giving them children or little boys to be their leaders. Leaders must have wisdom and good judgment. These unwise rulers would act like tyrants. This instability would affect every segment of life; family, government and society in general would deteriorate. Nobody would want to take responsibility for daily living. A man would be made ruler just because he had some presentable cloths.   

     Things that are against the Lord – Isaiah 3:8: In somber words Isaiah 3:8 says, “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD.” Here God gave the reason as to why these things were happening to Judah and Jerusalem. It was because of the sins of the people, both in words and in deeds. Isaiah had already mentioned, (a) Their hypocritical prayers (Isaiah 1:15), (b) Their refusal to take up the cause of the widows (Isaiah 1:17-23) and the practice of idolatry. (Isaiah 1:29-31) Isaiah 3:14-15 also mentions some of the sins of Israel. “The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.” (Isaiah 3:14-15) Their sins had provoked the eyes of His glory. They especially provoked God by going to the Temple for worship, acting so very pious, when all they were doing was offering hypocritical worship to God, rather than repenting of sins and living righteous day by day. 

     It shall be ill with the wicked – Isaiah 3:9-15: God promised that things would not be good with the wicked. He said, “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.” (Isaiah 3:9-15) The look on their face said they were guilty of sins. They could not hide these things from God! The people hypocritically appeared before the Lord with sin written all over their faces. They have done evil to themselves. In contrast, it shall be well with the righteous. They shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Their deeds produce good fruits. Even though many in Judah and Jerusalem were wicked there were still some who were righteous. Sadly though, the leaders of the people, including judges and prophets had gone astray and had led the people astray. Now the Lord would stand up against them to accuse them of their evil deeds. The Lord would bring special judgment against the leaders of the people. They should have led them in the right paths, but had failed miserably to do so. They would face the consequences of robbing and plundering the poor. The poor looked to the leaders for help and for justice, but found only oppression and hurt. The leaders were greedy; they beat down the poor and took their land from them. The leaders refused to help the poor and needy, yet they still expect God to help them!