Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. What counsel are we given in Isaiah 2:22 (printed below?) What do you think this means? Why are we given this counsel?
Stop looking to man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for how much does he count? (Isaiah 2:22)
In Isaiah 2:22 the Word of God exhorts us, “Stop looking to man!” That is to say, don’t put your confidence in man; don’t adopt his thinking and outlook; don’t follow his agenda; don’t identify yourself with his kingdom. In a word, Don’t Align Yourself with Man. This present passage of Scripture alerts us to the fact that even those who identify themselves as God’s people may in actuality be aligning themselves with man rather than with God. Isaiah 2:22 proceeds to describe man as the one “whose breath is in his nostrils,” and then asks the question, “For how much does he count?” We are being reminded here that man is frail and transitory: his life is dependent upon his breath, and his breath is dependent upon God (note Genesis 2:7 and Genesis 6:13, 7:21-22). As Christians, we must consciously align ourselves with the Lord in our thinking and conduct, not with secular mankind.
2. What does the Lord warn Israel that He is about to do? See Isaiah 3:1-3 (printed below)
See now, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, is about to take away from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support; the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water. (2) He is about to remove the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder, (3) the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the expert craftsman and the skillful enchanter. (Isaiah 3:1-3)
In Isaiah 3:1 the prophet announces that the Lord of hosts is about to remove the nation’s “supply and support.” The Hebrew word meaning “to lean upon,” or ‘to rely upon,” is repeated here in two different forms; the point being made is that the Lord of hosts is about to remove everything that contributes to the making of a secure and stable society. The Lord’s dismantling of the society is outlined for us in verses 1b-3. The Lord is about to take away “the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water” (verse 1b). Verses 2-3 describe how the nation is about to be deprived of its stable government. The Lord is going to remove “the judge, the prophet, the soothsayer, the elder”—the civil and religious leaders, the spiritual and moral conscience of the nation—because, as the inclusion of “the soothsayer’ indicates, they have become spiritually and morally corrupt. The Lord is going to remove ‘the captain of fifty’—the forces responsible for internal law and order. The Lord is going to remove ‘the expert craftsman”—there is a deterioration in the quality of craftsmanship and pride in workmanship as the conscience and the spirit of the nation decline.
3. According to Isaiah 3:8b (printed below,) why will the Lord bring this devastation upon Jerusalem? What does verse 9 (printed below) say about the people’s attitude? What do you think this means?
…because their words and their deeds are in opposition to Jehovah, provoking the eyes of his glory. (Isaiah 3:8b)
The look on their faces testifies against them; they display their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought calamity upon themselves. (Isaiah 3:9)
Isaiah 3:8 explains that the city/nation is ruined “because their words (i.e.; their speech, the ideas which they express) and their deeds are in opposition to Jehovah, provoking the eyes of his glory.” In verse 9 the prophet Isaiah personifies the nation in its present moral and spiritual state: “The look on their faces testifies against them.” Their expression of defiance testifies to the truth presented in verse 8; theirs is not an ignorance of the law of God, rather it is a conscious rejection of it and hostility against it. “They display their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it.’ When there is still some remnant of the fear of God, men seek to conceal their sins out of a sense of shame and guilt. But described here is a people who have become so steeped in sin and so defiant of God that, like Sodom, they practice their sins openly without any trace of guilt or shame.
4. In Isaiah 3:16-23 (printed below) the character of the society is being described by means of the lifestyle of its women. What does this passage tell us about their attitude and appearance?
Furthermore, Jehovah declares, Because the daughters of Zion are arrogant, and walk around with heads held high and seductive eyes, and go about with mincing steps as ornaments jingle from their ankles, (17) therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs and Jehovah will expose the private parts of their bodies. (18) On that day the Lord will take away all that makes them beautiful: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, (19) the earrings and bracelets and veils, (20) the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and magic charms, (21) the signet rings and nose rings, (22) the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses (23) and the mirrors, the linen garments and the tiaras and the shawls. (Isaiah 3:16-23)
Verses 16-23 depict the vanity, conceit, and superficiality of this society as it is especially exemplified in the lifestyle of its women. “The daughters of Zion are arrogant”—they are proud, vain, conceited. They “walk around with heads held high”—an outward display of their arrogance—”and seductive eyes”—in their haughtiness they disregard God’s commandments relating to moral purity. They “go about with mincing steps as ornaments jingle from their ankles”—they walk with short, dainty steps so as to emphasize their sophistication. Verses 18-23 describe an incredible amount of ornate and superficial beauty; what is described here is in striking contrast to the admonition of 1 Peter 3:3-4, “May your beauty not merely be the external beauty of having elaborately braided hair and wearing gold jewelry or dressing in exquisite garments; (4) rather, may it be the inner beauty of the heart, consisting in the imperishable beauty of a humble and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”
5. Following His purging and purifying judgment (described in Isaiah 3:1-4:1), the Lord shall dwell with His redeemed people. Isaiah 4:5-6 (printed below) now describe what their life will be like together. List some of the characteristics of that blessed state as they are presented in these verses.
Then Jehovah will create over all of Mount Zion, and over those who assemble there, a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; for over everything the glory will be spread as a covering. (6) There will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat of the day, and to be a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. (Isaiah 4:5-6)
There shall be the experience of the Lord’s own wonderful presence: “Then Jehovah will create over all of Mount Zion, and over those who assemble there, a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night” (verse 5a). Here is a symbol of the Lord’s presence as at the time of the Exodus: “And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud… and by night in a pillar of fire” (Exodus 13:21). There shall be the experience of the Lord’s divine glory: “over everything the glory will be spread as a covering” (verse 5b). There shall be the experience of the Lord’s blessing: “There will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat of the day, and to be a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain” (verse 6).
