It is sobering in many ways to see prophecies that we have talked about for decades suddenly taking form right in front of our very own eyes. We have been well informed through scripture and the teaching of it, but the sudden reality we see around us is still startling. The most sobering aspect of the forewarned changes, however, is the corresponding implications of societal breakdown to follow.
Consider this prophecy of God through Isaiah. “Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him” (Isaiah 3:11). This prophecy has been addressed to the descendants of Israel, so it will affect the modern-day nations of that lineage. The word “woe” is a passionate expression that signals grief, sorrow, or weeping. In other words, hard times will come upon those who have forgotten God because they will reap evil for the godless actions they have chosen.
What are the actions that they have chosen? “As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths” (Isaiah 3:12). In a nutshell, their disconnection with God and His law has netted them the destruction of sound government nationally and within the family as well. The Israelitish people will therefore be oppressed by their own choices that disregard God’s sovereignty as well as His wisdom.
By God’s authority, we know that children are to be in subjection to their parents. We know that a woman is to be subject to her husband. The husband is to be subject to Christ, just as Christ is subject to our Father. We know that the entire family is to be subject to one another in the fear of God. God’s way is not about a dictatorship within the family. It is a mutual subjection to one another that is based on God’s law and its principles. There are differing levels of authority within the family, but one standard that each member submits to in faith. But when that faith in God is displaced, oppression will soon follow.
Significantly, there is legislation being put forward for passage presently in the UK that is prophetically chilling. According to Breitbart News, the “Covert Human Intelligence Source Bill” would allow “intelligence services and police, to recruit children as covert human intelligence sources — spies, essentially. Children aged 16-17 could even be used to spy on their own parents and afforded certain protections to break the law while doing so.” Even if the initial idea might be to stop crimes within the home — crimes that sound-minded people would all agree were truly crimes — where would such action stop?
Breitbart, in another piece titled, “Schools Advised to Alert Social Service If Parents Stop Sons From Wearing Skirts” points to another potential avenue for children spies. Gender identification could be taken out of God’s and therefore out of parents’ hands, resulting in a Sodom-like culture, one that generates its own demise through its self-devised oppression.
The prophecy we have referenced in Isaiah is unfolding now. It is especially sobering as we witness the societal breakdown to come. Though it is not a pleasant thing to have to endure, we should take heart in what God reminds us of. “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings” (Isaiah 3:10).
Marshall Stiver
