Isaiah 3:16
16 Moreover the LORD [Yahovah] saith, ['amar] Because [ya`an] the daughters [bath] of
Zion [Tsiyown] are haughty, [gabahh] and walk [yalak] with
stretched forth [natah] necks [garown] and wanton [saqar] eyes, [`ayin] walking [halak] and mincing
[taphaph] as they go, [yalak] and making a tinkling [`akac] with their feet: [regel]KJV-Interlinear
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, NASB
Moreover, means in
addition to, not only this, and so forth.
Not that what has been already stated isn’t bad enough, but there is
far, far more to be said about the evil that has consumed the nation.
Isaiah has already
mentioned the rulers and leaders and people in general, as having failed in their
relationship with God. Isaiah’s prophecy
is primarily targeted at the nation of Judah, a nation that, in form,
represents the people of God.
But here, he mentions the
daughters of Zion. But who is this he is
speaking of now?
Zion is a hill in the
midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the
capital of Judah. Zion has generally
been referred to as the dwelling place of God, or the source of Gods vast
truth.
Jerusalem is the city of
peace, and Zion is its heart or source.
Therefore, Zion is often times used to refer to mature believers, or
those who have advanced in their spiritual lives through doctrine, thus
achieving inner peace and thus named, for the city of peace.
Zion, the hill, has no
daughters. That should be obvious. A hill does not procreate and have children
much less daughters. But the symbolism
of the mountain is of mature believers, or offspring of spiritual growth from
doctrine.
Since the prophecy is a
curse of sorts, against the rulers, leaders, and people of Judah, then the
prophecy is against the people of God, who have failed in their spiritual
lives. They failed because they were full
of arrogance and selfishness and many other indifferences and sins. Their spiritual growth, whatever it was, has vanished
and has been replaced with indifference and arrogance, and disobedience to God.
Believers can fail.
When society fails, there
is a ray of hope, in that God has set aside believers that are the recipients
of His blessing, and thus there is a ray of hope for society, in that blessing
flows from God to believers, and on through to the rest of humanity. Humanity is blessed not directly, but indirectly
by mean of their relationship with believers.
We all occupy the same planet, breathe the same air, buy and sell the
same things, and so forth.
But, when believers fail,
then all of humanity is in world of hurt, because the target of blessing has
ceased to exist.
In a few verses we will see
the words, ‘in that day.’
This has a dual meaning,
but for now we will focus on the last days when all of humanity has failed,
when believers who remain alive have failed, or have ben removed (with a few
exceptions), and when the Tribulation will literally see huge judgments against
evil as a result of all of the failures of humanity, both believers and unbelievers.
So, the term daughters, does
not refer to the female population, but is a descriptive term that identifies
the failure of believers within society.
And the description
continues in feminine terms, but these terms, identify arrogance and pride,
that have driven society to its own doom.
Haughty relates to
pride. Stretched forth necks relates to
arrogance or superiority. Wanton eyes,
refers to the enticements of the eyes as made up with makeup in order to lure
in, to deceive, to entrap.
Mincing as they go,
refers to the walk or an exaggerated walk, to gain attention, to attract,
approbation, also to lure someone into a trap.
Tinkling of the feet, is
a reference to jewelry like bracelets wrapped around the ankle, which also are
used to attract attention, to entice, or to decorate. The bracelets make a simple noise, and they
are used to decorate the ankles much the same as ear rings or necklaces are
used to decorate or accessorize the female appearance.
These terms are used in
the feminine sense, but they apply equally to both genders as all members of
society have failed within the terms of this prophecy.
So from the previous
verse, evil has bashed or ground into dust, those who are the legitimate heirs
of Gods blessings, but evil uses enticements, deceptions and false fronts to
hide its true identity.
Thinking highly of
itself, the evil person walks as though they know all things and/ or are all
things to all people, even deceiving themselves into thinking that they are
above and better than everyone else. While
at the same time destroying themselves in pursuit of blessings that they will
never have, because they have rejected the source of blessing, namely God,
Christ, and doctrine. All of which they
are disinterested in, and indifferent toward.
Most believers fail because
they do not learn the legitimate purpose and process of the spiritual
life. They fail because they believe
that they already know what they need to know, do what they need to do, and
thus they fall into the trap of self-purpose and self-indulgent evils.
The result? Failure, disaster, loss of blessing and huge
disappointment when, after too late, they discover their error.
Unfortunately, most folks
won’t be reading this study, and of those who do read this, will sooner or
later, fall into this failed category.
When a person is unteachable, it is very difficult to turn them
around.
That is something that
they have to do themselves.
E-Books, E-Book Reader
Your Comments
Daily Bible Study Quick Links
Subscription Options
