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24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell, there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead of ca stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
“The interesting thing I learned from the footnotes is that “burning” in this verse is in reference to being branded as a slave. The Lord is warning Israel of their fate if they do not repent: destruction, poverty, and slavery. I supposed we can take that to be in both the spiritual and temporal sense.
I am always interested in the “why” question.”
“Why will the calamities prophesied come upon Israel? Here are the verses in this chapter that seem to answer that:”
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8 - 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.
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9 - 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.
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14 - The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
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15 - What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
16 - 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:
“My interpretation yields the following list of grievances against Israel:
----- The things they say and do are not in harmony with the gospel. (they are hypocrites)
----- They are open in their sinfulness, which is comparable to the sins of Sodom.
----- Instead of caring for the poor, they take from the poor to enrich themselves”
Illegal Israeli “Settlements”
----- “The rising generation is not humble and indulges in self-adornment and the appearance of wealth.”
“One of the most insidious things about sin is how subtle it comes upon us and how it justifies itself. I believe Isaiah wrote such clear and scathing rebukes because he wanted the people to wake up to what was really going on.”
Eric Jorgensen
http://betterbits.blogspot.com/2006/04/isaiah-3-sins-of-israel.html
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The Israeli army has destroyed over 350 homes and damaged 500 in the Rafah neighborhoods. This is being done to make way for a gigantic steel wall along the Egyptian border, on which Israel began construction in October 2002.
http://rafah.virtualactivism.net/details/demolitions.htm
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THANK YOU, CHERIFA SIRRY
FOR THE PICTURES OF RAFAH/January 20/08"
