Isaiah 3:9-11 - Tell the righteous it will be well with them

3:9

Moreover, their sin was not hidden, but was done openly, it was even boasted about. We see the situation today. Sexual sin is boasted about, homosexuality is something to be proud of, sex before and outside marriage is seen as normal. Indeed, if you do not have sex before marriage you are thought of as odd, if you do not think homosexuality is something to be celebrated then you are hateful bigot. Now sexual sins were not the only sins of Sodom, but arrogance and a lack of concern for the poor were sins also (Ezek 16:49,50). There is incipient financial collapse, the gap between those at the top and bottom is ever widening. The result of all this will be that the West has brought disaster upon itself, just as Judah brought disaster upon herself.

3:10,11

God now tells the people what they need to know! The righteous will enjoy the fruits of their deeds, while the wicked will suffer disaster. When a society is collapsing it can seem that neither of these things are true. It can seem a waste of time to do good, in fact it can be the case that we will suffer for holding to God’s ways. Conversely, there will be some who are wicked who will seem to get away with it and make money. We are assured that this will be the case only for a time. In the end justice will be done. Here there is teaching that we need to take on board, especially as being a Christian becomes progressively more difficult in our society (but nowhere near as difficult as it is in many other societies). We rightly react against prosperity teaching, and on occasion I have a little rant against it in these posts, but the clear and consistent teaching of the Bible is that it is better to do good than to do evil. We also sometimes have the attitude that because we are accepted by God only because of His mercy and forgiveness then we should never wish judgement upon anyone. This is a mistaken view, and not a Biblical one. It is quite clear from the whole of the New Testament that evil will be punished. Of course, we should desire that everyone repents and turns to God, but we also need to know that those who do not will experience the judgement of God upon them.