The Prophecy of Isaiah – Isaiah 3:16-20 – “The Lord Will Smite With A Scab…”

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The Lord Will Smite With A Scab The Crown of The Head of The Daughters of Zion

Isa 3:16  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:
Isa 3:17  Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
Isa 3:19  The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
Isa 3:20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

In our last study we were given the contrast between what could be expected by the righteous and by the wicked:

Isa 3:10  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Isa 3:11  Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

God has determined that His people will all first be spiritual daughters of spiritual harlots, who will lead His people astray and away from Him, before they become true to Him via the fiery trials which He ordained for us all before we were born and before any of our days were lived. He has every life written out for every person before any of us ever come to this earth:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

But a harlot is not faithful to her husband, and no harlot is subject to her husband’s leadership. If she were, she would not be a harlot. Yet it is out of this great harlot system, symbolized by both Egypt and Babylon, that God’s people must come. It is out of that system we are all delivered.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

We are the Lord’s ‘Zion’, but first we are a harlot who will not submit to Him or His laws. And that is what we are being told in today’s study:

Isa 3:16  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:

The first thing to know about this harlot we all are, is that we do not realize what our spiritual condition is. At first we actually have ourselves convinced that we are without need of anything and without sin:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

An adulterous woman always justifies her adultery. But that does not make her actions any the less unfaithful:

Pro 7:21  With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Pro 7:22  He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
Pro 7:23  Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

Spiritual adultery is typified by physical adultery for the very reason that it is so appealing to our flesh. “Her much fair speech” tells us that Christ died for our sins so we can continue in our sins. “Her much fair speech” appeals to our natural sheepish instinct to be accepted of our friends and families rather than to refuse to fight for God, family and country physically and take up our cross and fight for God, family and country spiritually. It is her “much fair speech” which tells us we are not following Christ if we do not keep the days, months, times and years of the traditions of men (Gal 4:9-19 and Col 2:8-17). It is the promises of much physical wealth if we tithe to her which is part of her “much fair speech” to which we have all yielded. It is her promise of being accepted of our families and communities which are “the flattering of her lips [and her] walking and mincing as she goes and making a tinkling with her feet”, because our “walk”, in scriptural terms, is our way of life. The doctrines of this adulterous harlot are ashamed of the doctrines of Christ. Her doctrines have us taking great pride in the very things that bring us to shame.

The apostle Paul warns us of the pull of the shameful doctrines of the “haughty daughters of Zion [who] walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes” in these words:

Php 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ
Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

The false doctrines of the harlot daughters of Zion are labeled “the enemies of the cross of Christ”. That is the perfect description of the damning doctrine of “the substitutionary atonement”, which teaches that Christ died in our stead so you and I need not die. The teaching is that Christ did everything for us, and all we need to do is to accept His sacrifice in our stead. To teach that Christ must also die daily within us (1Co 15:31), that we, too, must die to this world, is twisted into salvation by our own works. It matters not that the scriptures tell us that the works of those in whom Christ dwells are to be accounted only as “His workmanship… not of [our] works”.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The false doctrine of “the substitutionary atonement of Christ” is a very alluring ‘tinkling… ornament’ indeed, but it is a lie which will rob us of our very salvation in this age, as these verses of scripture demonstrate:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

We are just naturally repulsed by the doctrine of the cross of Christ in our own lives. It is ordained by God that we will first be a friend of this world, and we will first want to fit in with this world. That is what we all first do. In time though, we must be brought to see just how unfaithful we are by doing so because:

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

The revelation of Jesus Christ puts this same message in these terms:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

We “know not that [we] are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”. Like Adam and Eve we are blind to our own nakedness until the time comes to be given eyes to see our own naked condition:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

But we are not at first interested in “gold tried in the fire [or] white raiment”, simply because we still don’t think we need anything. At this time we still believe that we are righteous in and of ourselves. Like self-righteous Job we think we have our own integrity, and we are not about to humble ourselves and confess that we are ‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked’. At this point we are still clinging to what we suppose to be our own righteousness:

Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Just as the Lord dealt with Job, so He deals with his wayward wife:

Isa 3:17  Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

“Their secret parts” means ‘their nakedness’. Nakedness is a spiritual word for the sins we commit as a result of believing the lies of the adversary and the great harlot and her daughters.

Gen 3:10  And he [Adam] said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

2Ch 28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

Eze 23:29  And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

‘Smiting with a scab the crown of the head’ is the beginning of the revelation of our nakedness. It is chastening from our own Lord, and it is not accomplished at the snap of the fingers.  Being smitten “with a scab [on] the crown of the head” is just “the beginning of [the] sorrows” which are the predestined chastening of the kingdom of our rebellious old man who has  become “one flesh” with the great harlot and her daughters:

1Co 6:16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

Becoming disenchanted with the harlot with whom we have become “one flesh” is not something we do without first being put through the fiery trials which are necessary to bring us to want to become free of her hold upon us. As always we must endure the judgment of that permissive way of life. That experience is likened to fire throughout scripture:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shallbe made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

“The day [which] shall [make] manifest… every man’s work… by fire” is the same ‘day’ spoken of in our next verse:

Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 

“That day” is the day of judgment which is even now upon those who are being judged in this age. “The day” and “that day” are spoken of throughout scripture referring to the time of the judgment of the kingdom of our old man inwardly and of the kingdoms of this world dispensationally and outwardly. That is the nature of the Word of God which speaks of things that are not as though they were (Rom 4:17). The “tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon” all draw our attention to the harlot and not to her husband whom she despises.

Speaking earlier to these very same “daughters of Zion”, addressing them as ‘Judah and Jerusalem’, Isaiah said this:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 
Isa 1:7  Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

The Hebrew word ‘saharon‘ appears only three times in the Old Testament. Isaiah 3:18 is the only place ‘saharon‘ is translated “round tires”. The words “like the moon” are added by the translators.

H7720
שׂהרן
śahărôn
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
ornaments, 2
Jdg_8:21, Jdg_8:26
round tires, 1
Isa_3:18

Here are the two other entries of this Hebrew word ‘saharon‘ as they appear in Judges 8:

Jdg 8:21  Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments [H7720: saharon] that were on their camels’ necks.

Jdg 8:26  And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments [H7720: saharon], and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

Bravery

There is nothing ‘brave’ about these ‘ornaments’ which deceive and distract us. The Hebrew word ‘tiphara‘, which is translated ‘bravery’, appears 50 times in the Old Testament.

Here are the various ways this word is translated in the King James Version:

H8597
תּפארת  /  תּפארה
tiph’ârâh  /  tiph’ereth
Total KJV Occurrences: 50
glory, 22
1Ch_22:5, 1Ch_29:11, Psa_78:61, Psa_89:17, Pro_4:9, Pro_16:31, Pro_17:6, Pro_19:11, Pro_20:29, Isa_10:12 (2), Isa_20:5, Isa_46:13, Isa_60:7, Isa_60:19, Isa_62:3, Isa_63:15, Jer_13:11, Jer_13:18, Eze_24:25, Zec_12:7 (2)
beauty, 10
Exo_28:2, Exo_28:40, 2Ch_3:6, Psa_96:6, Isa_13:19, Isa_28:1, Isa_28:4-5 (2), Isa_44:13, Lam_2:1
beautiful, 6
Isa_52:1 (2), Isa_64:11, Jer_13:20, Jer_48:17, Eze_16:12, Eze_23:42
honour, 4
Deu_26:19, Jdg_4:9, Jer_33:8-9 (2)
fair, 3
Eze_16:17, Eze_16:39, Eze_23:26
glorious, 3
1Ch_29:13, Isa_63:12, Isa_63:14
bravery, 1
Isa_3:18
comely, 1
Isa_4:2

The words ‘glory’ and ‘glorious’ account for half of these entries and similar words account for all the rest, except for the word ‘bravery’ here in Isa 3:18. ‘Glory’ is the way it should be translated here in Isa 3:18. When we are told, “the Lord will take away the [‘tipharah‘ – glory] of their tinkling ornaments”, what we are being told is that God will manifest just how shameful these doctrines of this harlot are. These ornaments are symbols of all the lies which a harlot “with her much fair speech… [uses to] cause [us] to yield, [and] with the flattering of her lips [to] force [us]” to ignore the words of Truth (Pro 7:21). These ornaments are the “smooth things” we demand to hear from this harlot while we are under her spell.

This is what takes place within us, and this is what takes place outwardly in this world:

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

We are by nature “children who will not hear the law of the Lord”. Being “one flesh” with the harlot we naturally espouse her lies with the same zeal with which she expresses her lies. We do so because we “know not that [we] are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17).  We believe the lies she has told us, and therefore we are in total opposition to Christ and His doctrines. We willingly change, ‘Love thine enemies’ to ‘Fight for God, family, and country’. We just naturally change “You shall not do so unto the Lord your God” to ‘Christmas and Easter are not pagan because we keep them in honor to Christ’. We defend every type of perversion because the laws of the land dictate that we must, and we are more than willing to change “We ought to obey God rather than men” to ‘We ought to obey men rather than God’. Like the brazen harlot we are, we insist on keeping Christ’s name even as we continue to wear our lying harlot’s attire with all of its lying ornaments,  and we insist on eating our own lying food, rather than the truth of the ‘bread’ of the Word of God.

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Our last two verses list even more of the lying ornaments which we just naturally prefer over the glory of the truth and the nourishment of the food and the covering of the garments of righteousness, which we are given by our Lord.

Joh 6:48  I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 
Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Our last two verses are in contrast with “the fine linen [which] is the righteousness of saints”:

Isa 3:19  The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 

Chains

The Hebrew word translated ‘chains’ is ‘netiyphah’, and it actually means:

H5188
נְטִיפָה
neṭı̂yphâh
net-ee-faw’
From H5197; a pendant for the ears (especially of pearls): – chain, collar.

It is from the word:

H5197
נָטַף
nâṭaph
naw-taf’
A primitive root; to ooze, that is, distil gradually; by implication to fall in drops; figuratively to speak by inspiration: – drop (-ping), prophesy (-et).

So the Hebrew word ‘netiyphah‘, is much more accurately translated as ‘a pendant for the ears’, instead of ‘chains’. But what is interesting is that the root of this Hebrew word, which means ‘pendant for the ear’, means to ‘drop… words’, in the form of prophecy.

Here is where ‘nataph‘, the root of the word ‘netiphah‘, appears in the Old Testament:

H5197
נטף
nâṭaph
Total KJV Occurrences: 20
drop, 7
Pro_5:3, Son_4:11, Eze_20:46, Eze_21:2, Joe_3:18, Amo_7:16, Amo_9:13
dropped, 5
Jdg_5:4 (2), Job_29:22, Psa_68:8, Son_5:5
prophesy, 5
Mic_2:5-6 (4), Mic_2:11, Zec_13:3
dropping, 1
Son_5:13
drops, 1
Job_36:27
prophet, 1
Mic_2:11

Here are just one of these verses which is representative of every one of these 20 listed verses:

Pro 5:3  For the lips of a strange woman drop [H5197: nataph] as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4  But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5  Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

That is how the words of a harlot ‘drop’, and this, in contrast, is what Christ and His bride think of the words which ‘drop’ from each others’ mouths:

Son 4:11  Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

The words of the harlot and the words of Christ both seem like “honeycomb”, depending upon whom we are given ears to hear.

One more verse will demonstrate what is the root meaning of this Hebrew word which means ‘ a  pendant for the ears’. In this verse is both ‘nataph‘ and its root word ‘naba‘:

Amo 7:16  Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy [H5012, ‘naba’, to prophesy] not against Israel, and drop [H5197, nataph] not thy word against the house of Isaac.

If we are given pendants for the ears of a harlot, her lies will “drop as honey comb” on our ears, bringing us death. If we are given pendants for the ears that hear the truths of Christ, then His words too, will “drop as honeycomb” upon our ears, bringing us life.

Bracelets

The Hebrew word for bracelets is:

H8285
שֵׁרָה
shêrâh
shay-raw’
From H8324 in its original sense of pressing; a wrist band (as compact or clasping): – bracelet.

So the symbol agrees with the translation, but when we look at the root, we are again given a much deeper understanding of the spiritual significance of the Hebrew word ‘sherah‘. The root from which this Hebrew word ‘sherah‘ comes is:

H8324
שָׁרַר
shârar
shaw-rar’
A primitive root; to be hostile (only active participle an opponent): – enemy.

Here are the entries for this root word for ‘bracelets’:

H8324
שׁרר
shârar
Total KJV Occurrences: 5
enemies, 5
Psa_5:8, Psa_27:11, Psa_54:5, Psa_56:2, Psa_59:10

It appears five times, and it is translated consistently as ‘enemies’. As with every word, both ‘sherah‘ and its root ‘sharar‘ have both a positive and a negative application.

This verse is typical of all five verses where this word is used:

Psa 5:8  Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies [H8324: sharar]; make thy way straight before my face.
Psa 5:9  For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

When the Lord is leading us” in [His] righteousness”, we are the enemy of the kingdom of our old man. But when our inward parts are “very wickedness, [our] throat is an open sepulcher”, and we are the enemy of the kingdom of God within us:

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

All of the ornaments we wear declare our spiritual state. If we use God’s ornaments to serve and honor the “idols of [our] hearts”, then God will answer us according to those idols (Eze 14:1-0). But if we come to Him and we come to His word with a broken and contrite heart, then He will give us pendants for ears that hear, and bracelets that will be Christ in us working His righteous works through our hands.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Mufflers

The Hebrew word for ‘mufflers’ is:

H7479
רַעֲלָה
ra‛ălâh
rah-al-aw’
Feminine of H7478; a long veil (as fluttering): – muffler.

Isaiah 3:19 is the only verse in all scripture where this word appears, but it is the feminine form of:

H7478
רַעַל
ra‛al
rah’-al
From H7477a reeling (from intoxication): – trembling.

The root of both of these words is:

H7477
רָעַל
râ‛al
raw-al’
A primitive root; to reel, that is, (figuratively) to brandish: – terribly shake.
Total KJV occurrences: 1

These three words appear just one time each in scripture, but they all carry the meaning of fluttering, reeling, trembling, shaking terribly.

The destruction of Nineveh typifies the destruction of the kingdom of our old man. Nineveh is used of God to destroy the kingdom of our old man while we are living the life of a harlot in rebellion against Christ, our true husband. But Nineveh typifies the ten horns and the ten kings on the head of the seven-headed beast we all are before we are destroyed. As these ten kings, we fight against our Lord at His coming, and it is through the “terrible shaking” and the destruction of the kingdom of our old man that the kingdom of Christ and His Father are birthed within us:

Isa 2:19  And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 

Isa 2:21  To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 

The destruction of the kingdom of our old man is a shaking which is the worst shaking of our life. We cannot enter into the temple in heaven until we have experienced that great earthquake. It will never be equaled because it signals the end of that kingdom within us, just as the kingdoms of this world will also come to their end:

Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 

Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

That is the result of the coming of Christ to take away “the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers” of the idols and doctrines of our rebellious old man (Isa 3:19)

Isa 3:20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

Bonnets

“Bonnets” are head coverings, and like ‘pendants for the ears’, they have both a negative and a positive application.

Here is the Hebrew word translated ‘bonnets’ here in Isa 3:20:

H6287
פְּאֵר
pe’êr
peh-ayr’
From H6286; an embellishment, that is, fancy head dress: – beauty, bonnet, goodly, ornament, tire.

Here are the entries for this word in the Old Testament:

H6287
פּאר
pe’êr
Total KJV Occurrences: 7
bonnets, 2
Isa_3:20, Eze_44:18
beauty, 1
Isa_61:3
goodly, 1
Exo_39:28
ornaments, 1
Isa_61:10
tire, 1
Eze_24:17
tires, 1
Eze_24:23

‘Tires’ and ‘bonnets’ are both headdresses. The only entry which is not translated as some sort of headdress is the word ‘beauty’ in Isa 61:3. More about Isa 61:3 later.

Here are an examples of the positive application of this Hebrew word ‘peer‘:

Exo 39:27  And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,
Exo 39:28  And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly [H6287: peer] bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,

Eze 44:18  They [Aaron and his sons] shall have linen bonnets [H6287: peerupon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

“Anything that causes sweat” is anything that gives any credit to our flesh for anything. And that includes our sins.

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

We are not even capable of sinning against God without “[His] hand and [His] counsel… working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

The “fine linen [which] is the righteousness of saints”, does not “cause to sweat” because it is Christ’s faith and His righteousness, which works within us, and neither our faith nor our works are attributed to us or to our flesh:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. [“It is God which” causes us to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling”, verse 12]

Rev 19:8  And to her [the bride of Christ, us – 2Co 11:2] was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

It was interesting to discover that an oft quoted verse of scripture is apparently not translated as accurately as it could be. As I pointed out earlier, the only time the Hebrew word ‘peer‘ H6287 is contrasted with ashes in this verse of Isaiah 61:

Isa 61:3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty [H6287: peer – fancy or glorious head dress] for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Ornaments of the legs,

The Hebrew word for ‘ornaments of the legs’ is:

H6807
צְעָדָה
tse‛âdâh
tseh-aw-daw’
Feminine of H6806; a march; (concretely) an (ornamental) ankle chain: – going, ornament of the legs.

It is with our feet and our legs that we walk. Our walk is either in the service of our flesh, and therefore in the service of the adversary, or else it is in the service of Christ and His Father.

Here are the only three entries in scripture for this Hebrew word:

H6807
צעדה
tse‛âdâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
going, 2
2Sa_5:24, 1Ch_14:15
ornaments of the legs, 1
Isa_3:20

The two other places in scripture where this word is used, 2Sa 5:24, and 1Ch 14:15, are both telling the same story about David doing battle with the Philistines. The Philistines typify us in Babylon. We are in the land of promise without being baptized in either the Red Sea or the Jordan, and we are there without the benefit of being circumcised. David typifies Christ, “the Son of David” within us, battling against our old man and his kingdom.

Notice how this word translated “ornaments of the legs” is used in these two accounts of David warring against the Philistines:

2Sa 5:23  And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.
2Sa 5:24  And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going [H6807: tse‛âdâh] in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
2Sa 5:25  And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.

When our ‘goings’ are obedient to the Lord’s words, we, too, can ‘smite the Philistines”, and when they are not obedient, God will take away our ‘goings’.

As always, while it is a different Hebrew word in this verse, the message is always the same. Whether we are obedient or disobedient is actually a work of God within us:

Pro 20:24  Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

The tablets

To deal with this symbol of “the tablets” as one of the many things the Lord is taking away from us as we “fall into the ground and die”, I am compelled to show you this entire verse with all the Strong’s numbers.

Isa 3:20  The bonnets,H6287 and the ornaments of the legs,H6807 and the headbands,H7196 and the tablets,H1004 H5315 and the earrings,H3908

Notice there are two numbers after the phase “and the tablets”. That phrase “the tablets” is another instance of a translation which is out of line with how these Hebrew words are generally translated.

The first number is 1004, and it has nothing to do with ‘tablets’, as we define that word in modern English.

Here is Strong’s definition of that word:

H1004
בַּיִת
bayith
bah’-yith
Probably from H1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.): – court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings. home[born], [winter]house (-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within (-out).
Total KJV occurrences: 2053

As you can see this word is very common throughout the Old Testament, and it is generally translated as ‘house’.  That is a far cry from the modern English word ‘tablets’. 

When we look at the root of this word, it means “to build”, and it is used to speak of building a family as well as a house. In fact the word ‘house’ in the Old Testament often refers to a family, as in “the house of David… the house of Saul”, etc.

Here is a verse in which this word ‘bayith‘ is translated two different ways in the same verse:

  1Ch 10:10  And they put his armour in the house [H1004: bayith] of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple [H1004: bayith] of Dagon.

Now let’s look at the definition of the second Hebrew word which has been translated with this single English word ‘tablets’:

H5315
נֶפֶשׁ
nephesh
neh’-fesh
From H5314; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): – any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.
Total KJV occurrences: 753

As you can see this, too, is a very common word, and it is most commonly translated as ‘soul’, as in:

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [H5315: nephesh].

Putting these two Hebrew words together, what we are really being told is that God is taking away from our rebellious old man his very life and the clay house in which he dwells. All of it is in complete accord with these two sections of scripture:

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

There is no hope extended for our rebellious old man or for our physical bodies of flesh and blood. Millions of sermons to the contrary will not change the Truth of those two verses of scripture. That which is flesh is flesh, and that which is spirit is spirit, and while we are indeed sown a natural body, we are raised a spiritual body:

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered [Nicodemus], Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

The earrings 

The word translated ‘earrings’ here in Isa 3:20 is the Hebrew word:

H3908
לַחַשׁ
lachash
lakh’-ash
From H3907; properly a whisper, that is, by implication (in a good sense) a private prayer(in a bad one) an incantation; concretely an amulet: – charmed, earring, enchantment, orator, prayer.

Here is an example of this word ‘lachash’ in a good sense:

Isa 26:16  LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer [H3908: lachashwhen thy chastening was upon them.

Our verse we are ending with is an example of the negative application of this word ‘lachash‘. “The Lord will take away… the errings… [the incantations or the prayers we pray in opposition to our Lord while we are in Babylon.

Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away…
Isa 3:20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings [the incantations],

In short, the Lord is burning out all the wood, hay and stubble, and in doing so, He is bringing forth a new man who will, in the end, be in a glorified spiritual body.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

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