Isaiah continues to describe Judah and Jerusalem as a people that has provoked the Holy One unto anger. God is a loving God, but He is also a just God. The nation that has forgotten God is in danger of experiencing His wrath. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
In what ways did Judah and Jerusalem provoke the Holy One? Isaiah 3:8,9a explains, “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. 9) The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not.” The people spoke words that were against the LORD. The people’s doings were against the Lord. The pride and rebellion on the people’s faces were against the Lord. They committed sin openly like Sodom and made no attempt to hide it.
What is the terrible consequence of provoking the Holy One to anger? Isaiah 3:9b tells us, “Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” Their souls are in danger, and they are going to reap the consequences of their actions. “They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” (See Hosea 8:7) As it has often been said, “You reap what you sow. You reap later than you sow. You reap much more than you sow.” Whatever a nation sows, it will surely reap.
Is there a remedy for a nation that has provoked the Holy One unto anger? Yes, there is. It is found in Deuteronomy 30:20a, “That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days.” The remedy is to love the LORD God and not our own ways. The remedy is to obey God’s voice and not lean unto our own understanding. The remedy is to cleave unto God; that is, to be joined to Him, to stay hard fast by Him, to follow closely. Why? Because He is our life and the length of our days. There is no hope outside of Christ and the fear of God, “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” (Psalm 36:9)