Isaiah 3:8 (ESV)
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
defying his glorious presence.
Defying God’s Glorious Presence
Israel is in a bad place. As we read the first six chapters of Isaiah’s prophecy we read of their rebellious nature in light of God’s glorious provision. God had given them all He could, and, yet, they rebelled:
Isaiah 1:2 (ESV)
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
God had given them the path to worship Him and they turned it into meaningless acts and empty and shallow phrases:
Isaiah 1:14-15 (ESV)
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
The worst thing they did, however, is stated in the above verse. Their rebellion had caused them to “defy God’s glorious presence.” God had come down and shown them His glory in many ways. Instead of acting in awe and in fright (see Isaiah’s response to God’s glory in chapter six), they despised His glory and turned it into shame. They were to be the representatives of God’s glory in the earth. They were to be the shining example of a people of God. Instead they not only diminished God’s glory, they were “bitter” toward it (the meaning of the Hebrew word translated “defying”). When we disobey God we turned bitter toward God. Note what the writer of Hebrews tell us:
Hebrews 12:15 (ESV)
15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
We can get to the place that we so disobey God that we become bitter toward His glorious presence. This is a warning to all who reject God. Disobedience leads to bitterness which leads to the wrath of God.
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