God’s Word for You
Isaiah 3:4-5 Shall the children rule
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, December 15, 2024
4 I will give them boys as their officials, and mere children will rule over them. 5 The people will oppress each other, man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young man will behave arrogantly against the elder, and the dishonorable against the honorable.
Just as God will take away the usual rulers (both legitimate and illegitimate), he will permit the wrong ones, those who have no wisdom, no experience, no compassion, and no respect, to become leaders and rulers in their place. Immature boys, children, and arrogant youths will rule. Here is chaos in Judah; those unfit to rule will rule, “Brats,” (says one French translation), “who will govern according to their whims.”
The main function of government is the protection and well-being of the people; boys and immature leaders never understand this. They mistakenly think that the rulers should sit on the top of the heap, like a sow wallowing in pleasant mud, and all should serve like slaves, rather than the government serving all.
What is the result when the governing authorities have no respect for their positions, responsibilities, or people? The rule of government collapses, and as Isaiah foresees, using God’s own words, “People will oppress each other, man against man, neighbor against neighbor.” There will be no respect for law, nor even for common sense.
This is a hard statement to comprehend. God is not the author of sin, and yet here he permits a sinful thing to take place. More than this, he places the children in our verse into their positions of authority, but this is a punishment, not a blessing. The fact that God may concur in the physical act of a sin does not make him the author of that sin. Man must not ask, “Why does God permit sin if he hates it?” We do not sit in judgment of God. “God is not the creator, author, or cause of sin, but by the instigation of the devil through one man, sin has entered into the world” (Formula of Concord). When a man is tempted, he is not forced to sin, but is able to say, as a faithful child of God, “I will not do it.”
Therefore, what about these children who will be led in to lead? Under the Fourth Commandment, a child is given a singular task by God: to honor his parents and those others that God has placed in authority over him. This includes his pastor, his teachers, his employer as he grows old enough to try out his first job, and others.
We confess in our Large Catechism: “If they wish to serve God with truly good works, they must do what is pleasing to their fathers and mothers, or to those who have parental authority over them. Every child who knows and does this has, in the first place, the great comfort of being able joyfully to boast in the face of all who are occupied with works of their own choice: ‘See, this work is well pleasing to my God in heaven. This I know for certain’” (Large Catechism I:115).
The prophet uncovers a sin that is not here addressed as a sin. The child who is thrust into a position of power is only wise if he says, as Jeremiah did, “Ah, LORD God! I really do not know how to speak! I am only a child!” (Jeremiah 1:6). He is only wise if he listens to a wise counselor or advisor who helps him to do the dreadful task of leading before he is equipped to lead.
This is also a judgment on the parents of such children, for they sinned so much that the Lord removed them for their positions and left no one to fill their places but some children. Therefore it is also not our place to say, “How terrible of God to do this to these poor children,” but to say, “What sinners their parents were, to bring the Lord to such a boiling point of judgment that he removed them all from their God-given tasks, like Korah, Dathan, and the others, who were swallowed by the desert floor leaving a couple of repentant children behind.” For Korah’s rebellion left survivors who teach us a lesson in humility and faithful service. They became servants of the tabernacle and wrote music for worship, but they allowed themselves only to be known as “The Sons of Korah” (Psalms 42-49 and 84-88).
We who are parents beg God to forgive our sins, and not to lead our children into temptation on account of our sins, nor for any other reason. For the devil keeps after us, and if he can poke his foul head in through a crack, the rest of him will slither in after. Pray for help and for strength. Pray for God to be merciful.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.