The Oppression of God’s People

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths… 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: 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. 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, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels, The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 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 a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty” (Isa. 3:10-12,16-24). These words which were revealed to the prophet Isaiah, are some very serious things that God’s people today need to take a very long, hard, trembling look at. You don’t think these words are for the body of Christ? According to the main writer of the new testament scriptures, they are (Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 10:11,12). We should note in that passage that everything that the prophet said, he was saying TO God’s people, not to “the world,” as so many like to say.

Just for good measure let’s see what the main writer of the new testament scriptures instructed believers to do in regard to the kind of environment that Isaiah rebuked: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (II Cor. 6:14:18). Do you think that in that passage the apostle is not speaking of coming out from among God’s people who are acting like that? Then what is this? “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such TURN AWAY” (II Tim. 3:5). And this: “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Tit. 1:16). And this: “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; … Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such WITHDRAW THYSELF” (I Tim. 6:3,5). And this: “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet NOT altogether with the fornicators OF THIS WORLD, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is CALLED A BROTHER be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; WITH SUCH AN ONE no not to eat [worship]” (I Cor. 5:9-11).

Yes friend, the body of Christ today, by being under the erroneous traditions and doctrines of Christianity which allow for sin, is steeped in sin and in disbelief of the wholesome truth of God that his Spirit teaches to those who will follow it. The stark reality is that the ‘children’ and ‘women’ that rule over God’s people, have no capacity to judge the sins among them, as the apostle instructed the early elders to do; and the result is a divided, crippled, powerless body of Christ that is by and large devoid of the love of God. How is that? Because when sin is not only not judged, but it is also supported by doctrines that are not of God’s Spirit, then everyone becomes contaminated by it, and everyone becomes partakers of the judgments of God against the sins of his people. The apostle Paul confirmed these things heartily himself: “Your glorying [worship] is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (I Cor. 5:6). He was speaking here of sin being allowed in the congregation without being judged by the leadership. Do you actually think that this condition has improved in almost two thousand years time? If you think that, then you have just wasted five minutes of your time reading this article, because it is going to do you no good at all. But if you can see the handwriting on the wall, then the following is all that is left: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Rev. 22:11). Finally we have this: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). Amen.