What happened to our Country?

 Read Isaiah 3.

God announced that Judah would lose everything as a kingdom.  Their basic needs of bread and water would be taken away.  They would not be able to find a leader.  There would be a complete breakdown of society.

Why?  What prompted this decision?
"...because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence." (v.8b)

1. They forgot that God is the Owner of all things.
Judah reached a point where they thought life and the country belonged to them.  They thought they got here on their own and they could say and do whatever they wanted without any accountability. 

2. They forgot that God is the Sustainer of all things.  
So, when the nation openly defied Him and then chose to ignore Him, God simply withheld His support and supply.  Notice how pervasive His sustenance is to people.  It is total.

3. They forgot that God is Omnipresent.
They not only decided not to give God His rightful glory, but they disregarded even His very presence.  They lived as though God did not exist.  Like Sodom, they showed no shame for their sin.  The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8, "For God has not called us for impurity but in holiness.  Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you."

There are two separate messages to individuals within the nation.
"Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them." (v.10)
Even though the kingdom of Judah would collapse, God will take care of His own.  Under pressure?  Yes.  But He will provide and protect those who say and do what is right according to the word of God.  Namely, this became true of men such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when the Babylonians took them from Judah in the captivity.  This is a consistent principle of God's loving care of the godly throughout the Scriptures.

"Woe to the wicked!  It shall be ill with him." (v.11)
Not everyone will experience the blessings of God, have their prayers answered, and spend forever with Him.  Those who defy God will pay an awful price both here and in eternity.