EGW WritingsIsaiah 3

Prophets and Kings

Chapter 27—Ahaz

PK 323.2

Solomon had written, “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child!” Ecclesiastes 10:16. Thus it was with the land of Judah. Through continued transgression her rulers had become as children. Isaiah called the attention of the people to the weakness of their position among the nations of earth, and he showed that this was the result of wickedness in high places. “Behold,” he said, “the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.” “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord.” Isaiah 3:1-4, 8.

PK 324.1

“They which lead thee,” the prophet continued, “cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Verse 12. During the reign of Ahaz this was literally true; for of him it is written: “He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom;” “yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 28:2, 3; 2 Kings 16:3.

From Splendor to Shadow

Chapter 27—Ahaz Almost Ruins the Kingdom

SS 170.4

Isaiah called the attention of the people to the weakness of their position among the nations and showed that this was the result of wickedness in high places: “The Lord, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah stay and staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skilful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and babes shall rule over them.” “For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen; because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord.” Isaiah 3:1-4, 8, RSV.

SS 171.1

“They which lead thee,” the prophet continued, “cause thee to err.” Verse 12. Of Ahaz it is written: “He walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” 2 Kings 16:3, RSV.

The Review and Herald

April 1, 1915

RH April 1, 1915, par. 5

Solomon had written, “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child!” Ecclesiastes 10:16. Thus it was with the land of Judah. Through continued transgression, her rulers had become as children. Isaiah called the attention of the people to the weakness of their position among the nations of earth; and he showed that this was the result of wickedness in high places. “Behold,” he said, “the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.... For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.” Isaiah 3:1-8.

RH April 1, 1915, par. 6

“They which lead thee.” the prophet continued, “cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Verse 12. During the reign of Ahaz this was literally true; for of him it is written: “He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom;” “yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.” 2 Chronicles 28:2, 3; 2 Kings 16:3, 4.

Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1

Chapter 56—Perilous Times

1T 270.1

The prophecy of Isaiah 3 was presented before me as applying to these last days, and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust and will long for an experience in the things of God, which they have failed to obtain.

Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4b

Perilous Times

4bSG 63.1

Isaiah 3, was presented before me. I was shown that this prophecy has its application to these last days; and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens, and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust, and long for an experience in the things of God, which they failed to obtain.

The Review and Herald

August 27, 1861

RH August 27, 1861, par. 2

Isaiah 3, was presented before me. I was shown that this prophecy has its application to these last days; and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this portion of Scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be christians, yet having no christian experience, and having borne no burdens, and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust, and long for an experience in the things of God, which they failed to obtain.

The Review and Herald

April 25, 1871

RH April 25, 1871, par. 4

Isaiah 3 was presented before me. I was shown that this prophecy has its application to these last days; and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens, and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust, and long for an experience in the things of God which they failed to obtain.

Testimony for the Church — No. 7

Perilous Times

T07 23.3

Isaiah 3 was presented before me. I was shown that this prophecy has its application to these last days; and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this Scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens, and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust, and long for an experience in the things of God, which they failed to obtain.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 11 (1896)

Lt 164, 1896

11LtMs, Lt 164, 1896, par. 7

The chapters we were reading in course were in Isaiah. He read with us, and the very portions of Scripture which specified his sin was read by himself. We thought we would give him every chance to make the application to his own case and this might awaken in him a remorse, but it did not seem to have the least influence. He did that night—after we labored with him a long while and then left him with Brother Rousseau and Brother Prescott—confess his sins of vileness, and the conditions were plainly stated, if he would break away at once, and return to New Zealand, we would furnish him money. But he said positively he would not go to New Zealand.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 132, 1898

13LtMs, Lt 132, 1898, par. 26

God chooses His workers from all classes of people, and imbues them with His own spirit. So it was in ancient times. The men and women of God’s selection were of intense earnestness, full of zeal. The last books of the Old Testament show us workers taken from the laborers in the field. Others were men of high ability and extensive learning, but the Lord gave them visions and messages. These men of the Old Testament spoke of the things transpiring in their day, and Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel not only spoke of things that concerned them as present truth, but their sight reached down to the future, and to what should occur in these last days.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 5 (1887-1888)

Ms 1, 1888

5LtMs, Ms 1, 1888, par. 12

“Moreover, the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks, and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.” [Isaiah 3:16, 17.] “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings is against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory. The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it not. Woe unto their souls! 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.” [Verses 8-11.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 14a, 1893

8LtMs, Lt 14a, 1893, par. 2

Sunday, July 23, 1893. I have spent but little time in sleep the past night. I have been studying what course to pursue to save the soul of Christie. That which makes his case so difficult is that he either has very faint convictions of what constitutes sin, or he is so accustomed to sin that conscience has ceased to warn, to convict, and reprove. We read in (Isaiah 3:9, 10), “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.”

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 13, 1893

8LtMs, Lt 13, 1893, par. 1

“The show 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.” [Isaiah 3:9, 10.] “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! ... Therefore as fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” [Isaiah 5:20, 21, 24.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Ms 43, 1891

7LtMs, Ms 43, 1891, par. 8

(Isaiah 3:9-11): “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.” But “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.”

Conflict and Courage

What Fruit? January 4

CC 10.4

“The curse causeless shall not come” (Proverbs 26:2). “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him.... Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him” (Isaiah 3:10, 11). “Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts” (Jeremiah 6:19). Terrible is this truth, and deeply should it be impressed. Every deed reacts upon the doer. Never a human being but may recognize, in the evils that curse his life, fruitage of his own sowing. Yet even thus we are not without hope....

Education

Chapter 16—Bible Biographies

Ed 146.4

“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him.... Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:10, 11.

Special Testimonies On Education

Chapter 12—Character Building

SpTEd 77.1

“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.” Isaiah 3:10, 11.

The Great Controversy

Chapter 33—The First Great Deception

GC 540.3

The Lord declares by the prophet Isaiah: “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him.” “Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:10, 11. “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times,” says the wise man, “and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him: but it shall not be well with the wicked.” Ecclesiastes 8:12, 13. And Paul testifies that the sinner is treasuring up unto himself “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds;” “tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil.” Romans 2:5, 6, 9.

The Great Controversy (1888 ed.)

Chapter 33—The First Great Deception

GC88 540.4

The Lord declares by the prophet Isaiah, “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him.” “Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” [Isaiah 3:10, 11.] “Though a sinner do evil a hundred times,” says the wise man, “and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him; but it shall not be well with the wicked.” [Ecclesiastes 8:12, 13.] And Paul testifies that the sinner is treasuring up unto himself “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds;” “tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil.” [Romans 2:5, 6, 9.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 1 (1844 - 1868)

Lt 20, 1861

1LtMs, Lt 20, 1861, par. 11

You have followed in a blind course. You have been blind to the condition of your own family—no weight of the truth resting upon your children, far from God, feeling no individual responsibility, having no living principle within them to separate from the world. You suffer them to appear in hoops and hats. The mother must please the children; the father must please them both. Your family do not exert a good and saving influence. I was pointed to this text in (Isaiah 3:12): “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.” Women and children rule in these perilous times, and they are unconsecrated and lead the wrong way. I saw that it was time for God to work and set things in order.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 1 (1844 - 1868)

Lt 16, 1861

1LtMs, Lt 16, 1861, par. 25

I was shown Isa. 3:12: “As for my people, children are their oppressors and women rule over them.” I saw that this text applies to these last days of peril. Children are not generally controlled. They are suffered to come up with their wills unsubdued. They are indulged in pride and at last the parents must yield to them. Children receive the sympathy of their mothers, and the mothers affect the fathers. Satan comes more readily to the women and children and works through them to influence the fathers, and then unitedly, without an opposing influence, they imperceptibly slide downward, and yet have a name to live; but they are dead. No name, I saw, of such stands registered in the book of life. Their professions are the same, yet God never counts by the profession. The acts, the works, the fruits testify to whom they belong. They are servants of the world, slaves to fashion, and the opinions of unbelievers have much weight with them. Those who have moral courage and the living principle within them will decide to be peculiar, to take their position and stand firmly.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 5 (1887-1888)

Lt 10, 1888

5LtMs, Lt 10, 1888, par. 20

The Scriptures say, “As for my people, children are their oppressors and women rule over them.” Isaiah 3:12. “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hands of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.” Ezekiel 16:49, 50.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Ms 51, 1893

8LtMs, Ms 51, 1893, par. 11

“Oh, house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?” [Isaiah 2:5, 22.] “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” [Psalm 146:3-5.] “O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” [Isaiah 3:12.]

From Splendor to Shadow

Isaiah Sent When God’s Purposes Seemed to Be Failing

SS 162.3

But the dangers from without were not so serious as the dangers from within. By their apostasy and rebellion the people who should have been light bearers among the nations were inviting the judgments of God. Many of the evils of the northern kingdom, which had been denounced by Hosea and Amos, were fast corrupting Judah. In their desire for gain, men were adding house to house and field to field. See Isaiah 5:8. Justice was perverted, and no pity was shown the poor. God declared, “The spoil of the poor is in your houses.” Isaiah 3:14. Even magistrates turned a deaf ear to the cries of the poor, the widows, and the fatherless. See Isaiah 10:1, 2.

SS 162.4

With wealth came love of display, drunkenness, and revelry. See Isaiah 2:11, 12; 3:16, 18-23; 5:22, 11, 12. And idolatry itself no longer provoked surprise. See Isaiah 2:8, 9. The few who remained true to God were tempted to give way to despair. It seemed as if God’s purpose for Israel was about to fail.

Prophets and Kings

Chapter 25—The Call of Isaiah

PK 306.1

The outlook was particularly discouraging as regards the social conditions of the people. In their desire for gain, men were adding house to house and field to field. See Isaiah 5:8. Justice was perverted, and no pity was shown the poor. Of these evils God declared, “The spoil of the poor is in your houses.” “Ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.” Isaiah 3:14, 15. Even the magistrates, whose duty it was to protect the helpless, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and needy, the widows and the fatherless. See Isaiah 10:1, 2.

PK 306.2

With oppression and wealth came pride and love of display, gross drunkenness, and a spirit of revelry. See Isaiah 2:11, 12; 3:16, 18-23; 5:22, 11, 12. And in Isaiah’s day idolatry itself no longer provoked surprise. See Isaiah 2:8, 9. Iniquitous practices had become so prevalent among all classes that the few who remained true to God were often tempted to lose heart and to give way to discouragement and despair. It seemed as if God’s purpose for Israel were about to fail and that the rebellious nation was to suffer a fate similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Review and Herald

March 4, 1915

RH March 4, 1915, par. 9

The outlook was particularly discouraging as regards the social conditions of the people. In their desire for gain, men were adding house to house and field to field. See Isaiah 5:8. Justice was perverted, and no pity was shown the poor. Of these evils God declared: “The spoil of the poor is in your houses.... Ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.” Chap. 3:14, 15. Even the magistrates, whose duty it was to protect the helpless, had turned a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and needy, the widows and the fatherless. Chap. 10:1, 2.

RH March 4, 1915, par. 11

In the third chapter of Isaiah’s prophecy mention is made of the prevailing pride of the “daughters of Zion,” with “their tinkling ornaments, ... the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, ... and the headbands, and the tabrets, and the earrings, the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.” Chap. 3:18-23. How different this picture from that portrayed by the apostle Peter of the God-fearing woman, who, estimating at its real value the “outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel,” chooses rather to cultivate beauty of soul, “even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” It was “after this manner in the old time” that “the holy women ... who trusted in God, adorned themselves;” and their “chaste conversion coupled with fear” (1 Peter 3:1-5), as revealed in daily life, was ever a standing rebuke to their sisters who followed after folly.