Jump Start # 3998
Isaiah 3:2 “The mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder.”
As the nation of God was moving away from the Lord, getting heavily involved with idolatry and making alliances with other nations, God’s wrath and punishment began to be poured out upon the people. God had pleaded with the people to return and be faithful to Him. They ignored the Lord. They joyfully embraced error, mocking God and demonstrating that they had very little faith.
As this chapter of Isaiah opens, God does not send fire from Heaven. He does not rise up a nation to slay the people. No pestilence was sent. Instead, one by one, God removed key people from the nation. Our verse begins this long list of people removed. The warrior. The mighty man. The judge. The Prophet. The diviner. The elder. The captain of fifty. The honorable man. The counselor. The skilled craftsmen.
Others use these words: all their heroes and soldiers, judges, prophets, elders, army officers, high officials,, advisers.
One might think, how is that punishment? What God removed was experience, wisdom and leadership. The voice that warns was now silent. Those that knew what direction to follow were no longer around. And, as the NLT states it, “I will make boys their leaders.”
Since the nation was determined to follow the path deep into the woods of idolatry, God was going to allow that to happen. The nation would follow the impulses of those lacking wisdom and experience. They would chase after the novel, the new and the exciting. They would quickly remove from their hearts any remembrance of worshipping the Lord the Biblical way. Dancing with the devil would become their theme in life as they headed straight to a path of moral, spiritual and eternal doom.
Later, in the N.T. a similar picture is found. In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false” (2:11). Why would God do that? The previous verse says that they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
Remove the leaders and the sheep scatter. Remove the experience and the inexperienced take over. Remove wisdom and fools will guide them.
We ought to see layers of lessons here for us:
First, there is a reason that the shepherds in God’s kingdom are also called “elders.” Elder, not simply in age, but in experiences, wisdom and understanding. They’ve seen things before. They’ve gone done that same path before. They wear the battle scars of fighting the good fight of faith. They have seen the same error that is repackaged and presented as something new. It’s not new. These seasoned leaders have dealt with this before. They understand patience. They understand thinking things through. They know that some people need to fix their own problems and not every problem ought to become a church problem.
And, when that is missing, spiritual boys become the leaders. The immature set the course for the church. If feelings are hurt, they leave. If they don’t get their way, they leave. They must be coddled, pampered, given attention and praised or they will pout, fuss and leave. And, the immature will make more mistakes simply because they do not have the wisdom nor the experience as others. This is why states do not allow a twelve year old to drive a car. He may be tall enough to reach the pedals and look through the windshield, but he lacks wisdom, judgment and maturity to be allowed behind a wheel of a car.
In Paul’s instructions about overseers he wrote, “and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6). Wisdom, experience and maturity will keep that from happening. But when boys become leaders, it’s a sure thing.
Second, one of the great values senior saints add to a congregation is their time with the Lord. There are those who have been faithfully walking with the Lord for four, five, or six decades. That’s a ton of sermons. That’s a lot of Bible classes. That’s a lot of personal time in the Bible. How many prayers have they said? How many good times and bad times have they been through? They’ve seen preachers come and go. They have seen the fluctuations of a congregation. They know a thing or two. They don’t run on emotion. They don’t get easily excited. They have built their faith upon the strong and powerful passages of God’s word. They know.
Younger men need to spend some time with senior saints. Young preachers ought to go out to eat with older preachers on a regular basis. When we wrap ourselves around those of our age only, we may fail to get the perspectives, the insights and the observations of those who are older. Ignoring the insights and advice from senior saints is a dangerous trend that some are now on. Trouble is coming. Those with age see it. Those who are younger think they have all the answers. The distinctive nature of the Gospel and God’s kingdom is becoming blurred by some and what the Bible considers out of bounds, some are erasing the lines and closing their eyes and ears to what those around them are warning about.
Third, Rehoboam wouldn’t pay attention to the older counselors that his father, Solomon had used. Instead, he listened to those his age. Raise the taxes, they advised. So he did. It split the kingdom. The younger men weren’t wise. And, when we are influenced by those who are immature, inexperienced and lacking wisdom, we will be guided into mistakes, error and trouble.
Removing the leadership from the nation was a form of God’s punishment. Without the voice of wisdom, the nation would wander recklessly into the arms of the devil. The youth provide the passion and the power of a congregation. The experienced provided direction and insight. Both are needed. Both are essential. Don’t try to operate just on one. Don’t try to remove one. We need them both.
Why is it that when prison doors opened suddenly in a dark Philippian jail, that no one ran? The leadership, experience and influence of an older Paul prevailed. There is something to this.
Removing the voice of experience…something we need to think about. Don’t get rid of the preacher just because he is old. Find ways to use him and tap into his wealth of experience and wisdom.
A nation, or a church, or a family that lacks experienced guidance, wisdom and maturity is on a sure course of trouble and turmoil.
Roger