◄ What Does Isaiah 3:12 Mean? ►

O My people! Their oppressors are children, And women rule over them O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the direction of your paths.

Isaiah 3:12(NASB)

Verse of the Day

Although there are many prophetic passages that pronounce the punishment and terrible tribulation which Israel must one day experience because of their unbelief, there are also many sections in Scripture which speak of the blessings which God has promised His chosen nation, and the cleansing through which they must pass - but first they must turn from their sin and return to the God of their fathers.

The Lord chose Israel to be His own special nation, and although there was always a remnant of righteous men and women who believed God and obeyed His instructions, the majority were led astray and followed after the idolatrous practices of the pagan nations that surrounded them.

It was not only the people who were forsaking the way of the Lord, but the leaders of Israel and those that had authority over them. They ignored the Word of God and led the people astray by engaging in pagan practices themselves, which turned the hearts of the people away from the Lord their God and brought condemnation down on their head.

Those who should have been guiding the people to follow after truth, were equally guilty of apostasy. The rulers who should have taught the people to do what is good and to eschew the evil, were the very ones who were leading the people astray and turning God's chosen nation away from the true and living way.

What grief this caused the Lord Who had brought them out of the land of Egypt and cut a covenant with them at Mount Sinai - that THEY would be His people and HE would be their God: "O My people!" was the Lords plaintive cry, "Their oppressors are children. Their women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray, and confuse the direction of your paths."

"All that the Lord has said, we will do," was the collective cry of God's holy people, centuries before, but instead of following the way of the Lord and obeying His commands, they brought the justified wrath of God down upon their heads. Those that should have guided the people to follow the Lord were the very ones that lead the people into apostasy and idolatry!

They did not bring up their children to meditate on the Law of the Lord, and rejected the headship of men within their individual families and in their collective worship. The leaders of the nation did not teach the people to carry out the things that were ordained by God. Children were allowed to become unruly and insubordinate while women influenced their husbands away from the Law of the Lord.

The judgements of God are always fair and altogether righteous and He knew that the failure of the nation's leaders to teach the Word of truth to the people of God would result in curses being poured out on His disobedient and errant nation, instead of the blessings the Lord desired to given them. The pain of this shocking situation grieved the Lord and was reflected in His lament, "O My people! Their oppressors are children, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray, and confuse the direction of your paths."

How we pray that Christian leaders in this post-Cross, Church age, do not fall into the same foolish ways as the leaders of pre-Cross Israel who allowed children and young people to oppress them and permitted feminism and similar ungodly practices to infiltrate the God-ordained structure in their homes and their meeting places. Oh, that the Church of Christ would learn the lesson from Israel's failure and not stray from the Word of God.

How important it is to KNOW the Word of God so that we are not led astray by false teachers, doctrines of demons, liberal leaders, and the worldly philosophies and practices of this modern, ungodly culture.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, as I see the influence that pagan beliefs, idolatrous practices, worldly philosophies, women’s lib, and other unbiblical practices have on the Church today, I pray that You would stir up Christian leaders to stand firm on the Word of God. Please help the people of God to study to show themselves approved unto Him so that we do not fall into the terrible trap into which Israel fell, when children oppressed the people by dictating their own rules, and when the sanctity of family life was overturned by worldly philosophies and pagan practices. Lord, as I see the same ungodly worldview flooding the earth today, keep me low at the Cross and broken before You, and may I live my life according to Your will and Your way. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.