Sometimes God’s judgment falls swiftly and with immediate finality.  Sometimes it comes like a succession of waves from an approaching storm—first gentle, then progressively more destructive.  Or it may come like a rainstorm—welcomed at first, until it continues unabated and inundates with flood waters.  Such was the case in Judah before the Babylonian captivity.  Drop by drop God’s judgment began falling, unrecognized as judgment until the Babylonian army burst like a storm on the nation with a vast irrepressible flood.  Isaiah mentions at least seven elements of God’s judgment on Israel, elements which bear a striking resemblance to developments that can be seen in the United States today.  When the following seven circumstances are prevalent, it is safe to say that God is in the process of judging sin.

                1.  Children rule.  “And I [“the Lord God” {v. 1}] will make mere lads their princes, and capricious children will rule over them” (Isa. 3: 4).  While minors do not literally rule in governmental positions, yet they rule in many homes by virtue of parents who cede their God-given authority to the whims, wiles, and waywardness of their children.  What is right, proper discipline, and biblical values have fallen prey to the wishes of children.  On the government level, much legislation is passed in order to placate a rabble-rousing group of college-aged protesters, young people old enough to qualify chronologically as adults but retaining the attitude of irresponsible children.

                2.  Neighbors oppress.  “And the people will be oppressed, each one by another, and each one by his neighbor” (v. 5a).  America has become the most litigious society in the world.  Whereas once it was common for neighbors to help each other out, today it seems that many people are just waiting for an opportunity to sue a neighbor; when there’s no just cause, many are not above manufacturing one.  I heard today of a vegan who had sued her neighbor because she couldn’t endure the smell of meat being barbecued outdoors.  The lawsuits against Christians who are trying to conduct themselves in accord with Scripture are becoming legion.

                3.  The young disrespect their elders.  Isaiah paints a dramatic picture:  “the youth will storm against the elder” (v. 5b).  Public schools seem often to encourage students to disrespect their parents—not that it’s necessary to teach them to do so.  It is increasingly difficult to go to a grocery store, a restaurant, a park, or any other public place without encountering little children screaming at their parents, who act bewildered and helpless to do anything about it.  No authority figure remains immune from attack by youth, whether parents, clergy, teachers, employers, or police officers.

                4.  The dishonorable attack the honorable.  “The inferior [will storm] against the honorable” (v. 5c).  Those who attempt to uphold the law or who stand for morality find themselves buried under a vicious barrage of assaults.  Criminals, illegal aliens (law breakers by definition), fornicators, adulterers, abortionists, and mothers who murder their own babies revile those who would protect life, insist on domestic peace and tranquility, and uphold biblical morality.  The inmates are running the prison.

                5.  Sexual perversion prevails.  “They display their sin like Sodom; they do not even conceal it.  Woe to them!” (v. 9).  Sexual perversion has existed since the Fall.  But when such sins become commonplace, when they become accepted—even fashionable—in “polite society,” when they “come out of the closet” woe is about to come.

                6.  Women rule.  “O My people! . . . women rule over them” (v. 12a).  It is God’s plan that the governmental affairs of a nation be conducted by men.  That is not to say that women are incapable of exercising wise judgment, but rather that God has designated men to fulfill that function.  Even where women rule well and under God’s direction (e. g., Judge Deborah), their ascension consistently indicates a general declension in the moral fiber of a society.  When God uses women in positions of governmental authority (as He sometimes does), He seems to be exposing the moral decline of the men in that society.

                7.  Leaders mislead.  “O my people!  Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths” (v. 12b).  It would be almost easier to fall into the Pacific Ocean without getting wet than to miss the multitudinous examples of this trait in our present society.  No exhibits need be set forth.

                We are not ripe for judgment here in the United States.  We are already experiencing God’s wrath.  The waves have yet to reach their full destructive capacity, but they will.  In the meantime, believers should recognize the apostasy and warn others to escape the wrath to come.