Isaiah 3 vs Feminism

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. I am begging, I am pleading with someone to please explain to me what is the major disconnect between pastor standing behind pulpits and what the Book of Isaiah actually says. Why is there such a disconnect? Sermon after sermon after sermon that's preached on the Book of Isaiah has no actual connection to the words that are actually being used. Can someone explain to me what is going on? I don't get it, because here we are again today and once again I have my Bible open to the Book of Isaiah, where we have been opening over and over and over since what October of last year? I think October last year, and we've been looking at this and it is maddening at this point, like it's is it that complicated for a pastor simply to open say, everyone, open your Bibles to the Book of Isaiah, and guess what we're going to do today. We're going to actually study the Book of Isaiah based on the words that are actually used, and we're going to put them in their historical context, and we're not going to read things into it We're not going to force things into the text. We're gonna let the text speak for itself. I guess if you do that, everyone gets up and walks out of your church, going boom. We don't want to hear what the Book

1:34 of Isaiah actually says. We want you to read things into it because that makes for better preaching. I don't know. I give up. I give up, But here we are not what I intended to do today. No no, no, no no. I have plenty of others. I have plenty of other things to work on, plenty of other things to do, other things that would prefer to do. But the Book of Isaiah. So in your Bibles to the Book of Isaiah. Go ahead. And if you don't have the Sermonadio app open or the Sermonadio website open, go ahead and open that because I'm going to have you look something up and I'm going to have you downloaded. All right. But before we do all of that, all right, I'm going to take a deep breath, ladies and gentlemen.

2:20 Good afternoon. It is Tuesday, April the first, twenty twenty five. It is currently one one pm Central time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. So here is how we have arrived at this very moment. Starting last year, I begin to notice that sermons on the Book of Isaiah, especially sermons somewhere between Isaiah chapter forty and fifty five, constantly took the text and for some weird reason, made it about us, made it about the church. And I'm like, Isaiah forty through fifty five is not about me, it's not about you, it's not about the church. It's not about us. It's about Judah and Babylonian captivity. And Isaiah forty through fifty five is the book of consolation. It is the book of comfort, bringing comfort to those and Babylonian captivity. That's what it is about. That's where we have to begin. So we started trying to correct it.

3:29 We started trying to figure out where things went wrong. We traced it back to John Bunyan. We've done a lot of work and since then we've started our own verse by verse exegetical study of Isaiah forty through fifty five. We've made it to Isaiah chapter forty two, where on Sunday we spent two hours working on an observational outline, and we offered a completely new interpretation of Isaiah forty two that goes against pretty much everyone. But considering pretty much everyone doesn't handle Book of Isaiah correctly, then I don't know if I should even say, oh, we're offering a new interpretation. At this point, just trying to interpret interpret Isaiah. The Book of Isaiah correctly put you in the category of ooh, new, weird. You know, well, what is that that's unique? Now it's now unique, it's now weird, it's now considered. You're outside of the mainstream if you simply try to interpret the Book of Isaiah, I don't know anywhere remotely correctly. But okay, I won't get into all of that. But that's where this all started. Okay, So we've been working on working on it now today Tuesday, April.

4:38 The first My goal here wasn't to sit down and talk about the Book of Isaiah, because we spent two hours doing that on Sunday. I needed to go talk about, you know, the believer's victory over sin. We need to get back to that that whole storms of life metaphor. We needed to get back to that study guide. Or we could take another trip back to Sale and do some work on Salem. So I have like three separate things I could work on. But I made the mistake. Oh, I made the mistake. I decided to look at my sermon audio app and I wanted to look at new sermons.

5:19 A sermon that was published, I guess March the thirtieth, or that's when it was preached. I guess maybe it was uploaded today. I saw it in the new tab, all right. I saw it under the new sermon tab and I looked, and the first thing I saw was the title judgment on a feminist Nation. Judgment on a feminist Nation. I'm like, oh, I bet you. Someone obviously doesn't like feminism, and I'm assuming is going to now say that due to feminism, judgment is coming upon the United States of America. Now, I've only been told judgments coming upon the United States of America since I don't know the nineteen I don't know. It's over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Okay, we can get into that whole mindset of why preachers do that. But okay, so judgment on a feminist nation. So I'm like, all right, I bet you that's going to be somewhat political. It sounds like a sermon dealing with the culture wars. Do I even want to? And I got ready to scroll past it, and all of a sudden, I noticed underneath it it's from a series Old Testament prophets Isaiah, and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait wait wait Isaiah was speaking about judgment coming upon Israel upon Judah because they were a feminist nation? Or was Isaiah talking about judgment coming upon Babylon because they

6:51 were a feminist nation? Wait? Wait, wait, time out and wait a minute. The term feminism wasn't even used at that time. Are we not reading something? Okay? Wait, how did we get to Isaiah? What is going on? So then I noticed the text was Isaiah Chapter three, and I'm like, wait, Isaiah chapter three is about judgment on a feminist nation. And I'm like, oh no, no, no, no, this can't be happening. So here's what I want you to do now. Typically, typically what I would do as I would I would say, okay, the sermon is available in the sermons, you know, the sermon audio app the sermon audio website. I have downloaded it, and we're going to just start the review. And at this point we would just jump in and start the review, but I'm not going to do it that way. I'm gonna I don't even know if I'm going to review the sermon, because here's what's going to happen most likely. And now, I did have artificial intelligence do a analysis of the transcript, and AI ripped it apart. AI ripped it apart. I mean, AI was like, this thing is a mess. It pointed out factual errors, historical errors, philological errors, errors in logic, hermeneutical errors. It, I mean, it probably pointed out I don't like twenty things wrong in the sermon. It. AI did not was not happy with the sermon. It was just like, this has got plenty of problems. So I'm like, well, if I review this, I've got to find a way

8:24 to make this somewhat more profitable, right, something more profitable. Now, we may review it. We may review it, but here's where I would like to begin. First, I want you to go to the sermon audio app, and I want you to download it. Judgment on a Feminist Nation. Go download it right now. Download it I'm telling go download it. In fact, I'm looking at my screen right now, go download it? Right? Yes, okay, it looks like two of you have downloaded it. So thank you very much, two of you have downloaded it. I appreciate that. Okay. So, and I want you to listen to it on your own. I want you to draw your own conclusions, right, I want you to listen for yourself and I and look judgment on a feminist nation. I don't know if if men will hear it differently than women, so that'll be interesting to hear. Men may be like, yeah, judgment on a feminist nation, and women may be like, this is trash.

9:15 Maybe it's going to be viewed differently by different genders. I don't know. To me, I don't care how men feel about it and how women feel about it. I care about how does the sermon line up with the actual text, because I'm baffled on how we're talking about judgment on a feminist nation based off Isaiah three. I'm just I don't get it. So, but you go listen to the sermon on your own, please. And I'm just I'm begging you go listen to the sermon, Okay, let's get them. I don't care if it gives them nine thousand downloads. Everyone go to the sermon audio website Sermon Audio app. Look for judgment on a feminist nation. It's from a series Old Testament profits Isaiah. It's from Foundation Baptist Church. Right, go download it, you review it, you analyze it, you critique it. We're going to back way up now we will talk about the title of the of the of the title of the sermon, because even even Ai had Ai even had problems with that. But here's what I intend to do over the next Ever, how long, right, are you ready? Here's what we're going to do. It seems that in the sermon, even though at the beginning of the sermon, he basically says to read Isaiah three one through eight, but it appears that somewhere in the sermon is focused or he begin he begins to use verse twelve Isaiah chapter three, verse twelve.

10:44 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. Oh, my people, they which lead thee cause THEE to err and destroy the way of thy paths. Right now, here's the question. Is Isaiah chapter three, verse twelve, saying that Judah as for my people or Israel in general. Is this text saying that Israel or Judah is being judged due to feminism? Is Isaiah three twelve saying something about feminism? Does it have any and does it have any application to the culture war on feminism here in the United States of America? Does that have anything to do? Oh?

11:41 I don't like this feminism. I hear feminism. Oh, women just need to shut up and stay in the kitchen and be barefoot pregnant and cook me and bring me in and cook me a mill and bring it to me. That is that what it's about? Is that? Is that what Isaiah three even? Is he even is it related to that in any way, shape or form. I'm going to put forth the hypotheses that Isaiah three to twelve is not implying that feminism as we understand it today is part of the reason for God's judgment. It's not even implying it. I will go so far to say it's not stating it, it's not implying it. It's not explicitly saying it. I just I don't I'm going to put forth the hypothesis that it's not true. Now, I just told you the sermon to go listen to for yourself, right, So you can go listen to them put forth their argument.

12:37 All right. Just make sure you fact check everything said in the sermon, right. I won't go through all the issues, but you just just fact check everything, all right. So let's try to break this down. Let's just start with the concept feminism, right, because judgment on a feminist nation, that's the title of the sermon. So let's just start with the term feminism. Feminism is a modern concept. The term feminism typically is used to refer to a modern political and social movement for women's rights and equality, especially emerging from the nineteenth century onward. Isaiah Is writing in the eighth century BC and an ancient patriarchal society, the concept of modern feminism would have been unthinkable and non existent.

13:30 Im Poorting it into the text is a form of anacharism, forcing modern categories into ancient texts, and that's a hermeneutical error. It's a form of anacharism where you take a modern idea, a modern category and you place it back into an ancient text. That's a hermeneutical error. We do not do that. You don't take this modern concept. Go oh, let me throw it in here. Oh now, now it's here. Now let's use this text to condemn this modern concept. Well, that text has nothing to do with that modern concept because the modern concept doesn't exist. That's an acharism. We don't do that. The text concern in Isaiah three is on corruption, not gender. The issue in Isaiah three is that those in leadership, regardless of who they are, are corrupt and unjust and leading people astray. I mean, look at the text as for my people, children are their oppressors?

14:46 Does that just kind of ring a little weird? Children are their oppressors? Now, I know we want to read that into Look at children today, they're out of control. It's not about today. For crying out loud, Okay, what do you think is happening there? Just think about this reading that children are their oppressors and women rule over them. Oh, my people, they which lead the cause thee to err and destroy the way of the paths of thy paths. I'm sorry, not the paths of thy paths. I want to be accurate. What do you think is happening here? Well, I don't think the text is. It's not about gender.

15:30 It's not about age. I think it's about corruption, all right. The issue in Isaiah three is that those in leadership, regardless of who they are, are corrupt unjustin leading people astray. I believe this is kind of my hypothesis that women and children are used symbolically to represent inversion and disorder in the cultural understanding of authority, not as a judgment on women or even feminism. The pivotal line in Isaiah three twelve is is they which lead thee cause THEE to err and destroy the way of thy paths. That's the pivotal line. That's the central issue. It is, uh, that's the central issue. False failed leadership. It's not based on the gender nor the age of the leadership. It's based off they're false they they are failed leaders. It's using this in a symbolic way. Obviously children are not actually oppressing them. That's obviously not being used in a very wooden, literal way. You see, the reasons for judgment are explicit and they're not gender based. Isaiah three and chapters one through five give a list of reasons for judgments.

16:54 Let me let's go through some of them. Injustice and oppression, look at Isaiah chapter one, verse twenty three. Isaiah Chapter one, verse twenty three. Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards. They judge not the fatherless. Neither doth cause of the widow come unto them. The princes, not the princesses. The princes all right. So the problem here is injustice and oppression. Look at chapter three.

17:34 Look at chapter three, verse fourteen. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof. For you have eaten up the vineyard. The spoil of the poor is in your house. What mean ye that ye beat beat my people to pieces and grind the faces of the poor? Saith the Lord, God of host One of the reasons for judgment is injustice and oppression. That's the issue, and that's the issue in a number of places. A second reason for judgment is pride and arrogance. Look at Isaiah chapter two. Isaiah chapter two. The lofty looks of man should be humbled, and the haughtiness of men should be bowed down, and the Lord alone should be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up and should be brought low. These are the reasons for judgment, injustice and oppression, pride and arrogance. But hey, we're going to do a sermon, and we're going to take from this text. Look, it's feminism. How about Isaiah chapter two, verse eight. How about Isaiah chapter two, verse eight.

18:51 Their land also is full of idols. They worship the works of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. Oh wait, Oh, it's idolatry. So why is the reason for judgment in this section against Judah. Well, if we just take chapters one through five this context here where chapter three shows up right in the middle, it's injustice and oppression, it's pride and arrogance. It's idolatry. How about Isaiah three sixteen through twenty four. How about Isaiah three sixteen through twenty four. Moreover, the Lord said, because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and minting as they go and making a tinkling with their 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 calls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers, mufflers, the bonnets and ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear rings and the rings and the 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 veils. And it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell there should be stink, and instead of a girdle a rent, and instead of of

20:24 well set hair, baldness, and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sydcloth, and burning instead of beauty. All right, a lot of different words that we would have to look up to get the exact meaning, but you get the idea. What's going on here. He's going after them, judgments coming because of their luxury and their self indulgence, while the poor suffer and people are oppressed. Many of them set around and luxury and indulgence, and they have and they have and they want more. And it uses all of this type of ornament and different types of dress and jewelry to show that luxury. I've read through that very quickly in the King james US's terms that we would have to slow down and look up. But you can look at it any translation and get the basic idea, not about feminism, about luxury and self indulgence, all right. Isaiah chapter one, verse four. Isaiah chapter one, verse four, Awe sinful nation, a people laden with the iniquity, a seat of evildoers, children that are corruptors. They are forsaken the Lord. They have proved provoke the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They're gone away backward. Now, if you look at Isaiah one four through five, Isaiah five twenty four, they're being judged because of rejection of God's law and prophetic voice. So Isaiah three. And if you take up that section Isaiah one through five, they get a list of clear reasons for judgment and justice and oppression, pride and arrogance, idolatry, luxury and self indulgence, rejection, of

21:59 God's law, rejection of the prophetic voice. Right, none of these are feminism. There's nothing here even resembling feminism. It has nothing to do with feminism. So why doesn't feminism fit the text? Even if someone personally opposes feminism, even if you hate it, you despise it, you think it, feminism as one of the greatest evils to ever fall upon the history of humankind. Using Isaiah three to argue that feminism brings judgment is philologically unsound. It attributes to God what he didn't say. It's textually unfaithful, it's twisting the context and harmoneutically irresponsible because it misleads others about what scripture actually teaches. The chapter is about spiritual rebellion, social and justice, and failed leadership. It's not about gender ideology.

23:01 It's not about feminist it's not about feminism. So let's look at Isaiah three twelve. Now, we already kind of did a little bit in its broader context. Judah is going to be judged, and there's lots of reasons given. There's lots of reasons given. So let's look at Now let's kind of go ahead and once again try to set this up in a historical context. We kind of looked a little bit of its textual context, and we'll do that again. Let's try to just dig in so that we can try to understand this correctly. Now, I know at times I'm saying this in a very kind of dogmatic way, but let me make sure I'm trying to set forth at least an interpretive hypothesis that you're going to listen to the sermon and you may disagree with me, but I'm trying to give you all the context and trying to challenge this. Okay, So how about a historical context. Isaiah three is part of a larger unit, Isaiah one through five. That's why I was referencing Isaiah one through five and those things I was showing you that lists the reasons for judgment. Those are the reasons for judgment that are listed, and you could probably find more.

24:09 So Isaiah three is a part of a larger unit that pronounces judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for their rebellion against God. The setting is eighth century BC, likely during the reigns of Issaiah, Jotham, AHAs and Hazekiah. The nation is marked by injustice, pride, idolatry, and a disregard for God's law. That's that's what the nation is marked by injustice, pride, idolatry, and a disregard for God's law. That's what I just went through the list showing you, and I gave you the text to even demonstrate that. So even if you want to try to argue something about feminism, by no means it's the sole reason, Okay, and not only that. Isaiah three twelve is not about feminism. God's response to this situation. Well, it's basically it's judgment. God says he will remove competent leadership and chaos and immaturity will rise in their care and their place. So when verse twelve says children are their oppressors, it's not literal children ruling.

25:10 It is describing a breakdown of mature leadership and social order. Right, So I mean, just right there, you know you've got to stop and go. It's not literal children ruling over them. Now we know, it's it's trying to describe something. So there's kind of the historical context. Jude is going to be judged. Where do that? What's that judgment ultimately amount to going into Babylonian Captivity, chapter thirty nine. Then you have forty through fifty five are the words of comfort to those in captivity. So let's break the verse down. All right, let's just take Isaiah three twelve and break the first down. Children are the oppressors. This seems to be metaphorical and or maybe a little bit of political imagery.

25:56 Children here symbolizes rulers who are immature, in competent, or reckless, not necessarily biologically young. This reflects what was stated earlier in Isaiah three to four. I will make boys their princess, and infants shall rule over them. Right, there's the broader there's the broader context. Now women will rule over them. This has often been misinterpreted or misapplied. It is best understood not as a blanket condemnation of female leadership, but as a rhetorical parallel to the mention of children. So it's a rhetorical device being utilized here, children women, children women. In other words, the leadership is not in that culture.

26:39 Children and women would not be in positions of leadership. That would be the concept. So something is the whole leadership is going to lead them astray? Right in this culture, women were not typically in positions of civil leadership. I think we could agree to that. So this is a way of saying, though who not equipped or intended to lead are doing so, it is a sign of societal breakdown. It may also refer to the influence of court women are royal mothers, uh if you if you compare Athalayah and Second King's eleven, who in times of national decline occasionally seized power. Right, that's Athaliah and Second King's eleven.

27:23 So it could be referring to that as well. Possibly that leads That will lead then to the last part. Right, They which lead the causes THEE to err or err and destroy the way of thy paths. This is the main clause. This is if you're reading Isaiah three twelve. This is the main clause. The leaders, whoever they are, are misleading the people. The emphasis is not so much on the gender or age of the leaders. It is on their corruption and their failure. That's Isaiah three twelve. As for my people, children are their oppressors. Women rule over them? Oh, my people, They which lead THEE cause THEE to err and destroy the way of the past.

28:10 That's the key to the whole verse. It's not talking about Oh, you gotta focus on the age. You gotta focus on the gender. Now you focus on the fact that they're misleading you and destroying the path that you're supposed to be walking in. They're leading you into error. It's the they are the wrong kind of leader. They are leading you in error. It's not a statement about age and gender. The real indictment is not against women, but against a society where the natural order has understood and ancient Israel has collapsed due to their sin. This passage points to the consequences of rebellion and the need for righteous leadership, which in the broader prophetic and Messionic context, anticipates the coming of the righteous branch Isaiah four to two and Isaiah eleven one. Now, what is this passage not saying. It's not teaching that all female leadership is sinful or for forbidden. Scripture affirms women like Deborah, Hulda, Esther, Priscilla and leadership or influence. It's not a treaty, a treatise on gender roles. That's not Isaiah's point. His point is judgment on failed corrupt leadership, whoever it may be.

29:27 It's not an endorsement for patriarchal dominance as a sign of righteousness. The emphasis is on God's righteous order, not on reinforcing human hierarchies. That's not what it's about. Isaiah three twelve. So I asked Ai give me a summary. I asked AI for a summary. And again, all of that I just gave you was my hermeneutical hypothesis. I'm not being dogmatic. I know i'm sounding dogmatic. I'm not trying to be I'm just trying to say, hey, here's a different way of looking at it. Go listen to the sermon and draw your own conclusion, and we will review the sermon at some point. Isaiah three twelve in context, is a poetic and prophetic description of societal or social and political collapse under divine judgment. The reference to children and women are symbolic of immature and disordered leadership, not an indictment of women themselves or a doctrinal stance against their leadership roles. Their real target is the corrupt leaders who mislead God's people. The emphasis is not on the identity of the leader's age or gender, but on the failure of leadership and the consequences of falling corrupt and competent or un goodly rulers. That is what it's about, all right. Isaiah's real concern is not ultimately about who is leading. It's about what kind of leadership is being provided?

30:55 Is it destructive, deceptive, and spiritually ruin? Right, The descriptions children and women are simply literary devices. These terms function as symbols of societal disorder. Children immature women in this context is just showing a breakdown in normal order. It's not a statement on female capability or dignity. Right. So when you come to the title of discernment Judgment on Feminist Nation, I asked Ai, how should we understand this title judgment on Feminist Nation? Since the title is on a sermon based on Isaiah three. This is what Ai says.

31:53 It's massively misleading, it's still logically inaccurate, and it's hermoneutically flawed for several reasons. Now, now I'm gonna use this. I'm gonna use specifically Ai for this, right because I had Ai. So I tried to help me, and AI went back and forth and try to formulate a hermeneutical hypothesis. So what I just spent thirty minutes giving you as my hermeneutical hypotheses. I had to do a lot of just reading it, but we tried to break it down, all right, So then that summary was all Ai, and then this is all AI, trying to make sure I draw the distinction as best as possible. But because I wanted AI like, what do you think about the sermon title?

32:36 Because for me the sermon title itself, I didn't give it much thought until I saw, wait, this is on Isaiah three. Whoa whoa, whoa whah, whoa whoa whoah. Wait, that's not what this chapter is about, or not even what that verse is saying. So this is what AI says, it misrepresents the biblical passage. Isaiah three is not about feminism. The chapter addresses the judgment of Judah and Jerusalem for their rebellion against God and justice, suppression of the poor, idolatry, and social disorder. The mention of women ruling in Isaiah three is descriptive, It's not prescriptive. It's part of a broader poetic portrayal of societal collapse, not a doctrinal condemnation of female leadership. To label the chapter as a rebuke of feminism is to impose a modern political term onto an ancient prophetic text. This is a classic case of Isogesus reading into the text rather than Exegesus drawing from the text. So Ais already condemned this sermon for using anacharism and using is Jesus. All of those are hermeneutical errors. However, you watch how popular a sermon condemning feminism based off Isaiah three will be in the majority of churches. Ai goes on to say it reflects a political and cultural bias rather than a biblical message. The sermon turns Isaiah three into a culture war manifesto, using feminism as a scapegoat for national decline. No biblical definition of feminism is offered.

34:11 There's no engagement with the fact that scripture includes godly, strong, and even leading women Debra Esther, ruth Lydia, Priscilla. The title leverages fear and blame rather than biblical clarity and gospel centered analysis. Next, it misidentifies the cause of judgment. According to Isaiah, Judah is judged because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord. They're arrogant, unjust, unrepentant. They oppress the poor, defy God's word, and walk in pride again. All of the things I said, I gave you a list of all the scriptures going from Isaiah one through five, and I didn't even do an extensive study. I just looked up things quickly. AI pulls up the same things. It just pulls all from chapter three. The title false narrows falsely narrows God's judgment to one social factor, feminism, while Isaiah speaks broadly and theologically about sin, rebellion, and covenant breaking. AI goes on to say the title misleads the listener. A person encountering the sermon title would expect an exegetical treatment of modern feminism and light of scripture, a careful philological critique of ideologies from a biblical worldview.

35:25 What do they get? A sermon that equates female leadership with divine judgment without scriptural warrant, A blending of political commentary, conspiracy rhetoric all right, and it names a lot of things in the sermon. This distorts the hearer's understanding of the nature of God's judgment and the function of biblical prophecy. And then it says it undermines the gospel. By making feminism the central issue, it turns the problem of sin into a gender political critique, distracts from the core biblical message God's called a repentance trust in His mercy and righteousness through Christ alone. There is no redemptive hope for women or men, only condemnation based on external and cultural observations. Right, And it goes on to say a lot more. So I was left with hmm, Okay, this thing is a mess, all right, this thing is a mess. Isaiah three is not about this. And again, if you just read Isaiah three twelve, it's not the issue with the leadership is what they do. It's not. It's just showing that the leadership it's using a poetic wasting. The leadership is in capable.

36:32 They're they're corrupt, they they're false, they're fraudulent, and they are leading you into error and they're basically destroying the right path. That's the point. So then I was just like, hmm, well does the Bible. I was just curious, does the Bible show a nation being judged because of feminism? Does the Bible warn that judgment will come due to feminism or anything like that? So I asked Ai Basically, hey, does the Bible show a nation being judged? Does it even warn that judgment will come due to feminism or anything like it? Right, Here's what AI does. First, it defines what feminism is, of course, which we've already defined.

37:23 Feminism is a modern concept, not a Biblical one. It relates to social, political, and economic movements aimed at securing rights and equality for women. The first wave begin again in the nineteenth century of the suffrage property rights, followed by later waves focusing on workplace equality, reproductive rights, and gender identity. Because feminism is modern, post biblical phenomenon, it's never mentioned or directly addressed in Scripture Number two. What does the Bible actually say about national judgment? When God judges nations? And scripture, the reasons are clear and they are repeatedly stated. Here seems to be the real causes of judgment. Seeing across the Old Testament, everybody ready for number one? What do you think everybody should get? Number one? Idolatry?

38:10 Everybody should get number two? In justice and oppression of the poor number three, violence and bloodshed number four, pride and arrogance number five, and morality and unrepentant thin those seems to be the ones mentioned over and over and over and over and over and over again. And remember though, the issue, and I cannot state this enough, whenever you're talking about Judah, are talking about Israel. You're talking either divided kingdom or them united as just Israel. You have to realize you're dealing with a nation that was under a specific covenant with God that said if you do this, great, If you don't do this, or if you do the right, then everything's great. If you do the wrong, everything's going to be bad. So much of the Old Testament is just that covenant concept playing out over and over and over again. You can't impose that concept on the United States of America or any other nation because we're not under that covenant. It's not even that complicated to figure out.

39:14 And in the Bible, women in leadership doesn't seem to be presented as a reason for judgment Deborah Judges four through five. Deborah was a prophetess and judge of Israel, raised up by God to lead and deliver the nation. There is no condemnation of Deborah in the text. In fact, she's a hero of the faith and blessing to the people. Holda Huldah Holda was a prophetess consulted by King Josiah. Her prophecy led to national repentance and reform. Again, no hint of judgment due to her position at Second Kings twenty two. I believe you have Esther. Esther's bravery saved the Jewish people. She held great influence. Her leadership is depicted as an instrument to God's providential care. Nowhere are these women, or the men or nations around them, judged for their leadership or prominence. As we have discussed, some try to use verses like Isaiah three twelve to argue that women ruling is a curse, but that is miscle misreading the poetic language, ignoring the actual cause of judgment, and forcing modern political agenda into the text. Isaiah three point twelve is describing the collapse of wise leadership, not prescribing male only rule or condemning women and authority. Rather than warning against feminism. The Bible calls all people, men and women, to righteousness, justice, humility, and faithfulness. Leaders are judged by character and obedience, not their gender. So in conclusion, nowhere in scripture do we find a nation being judged

40:45 for feminism, female leadership, or a woman having influence. Every time a nation is judged, the root causes are idolatry and justice, oppression, pride and morality, and a rejection of God's word. And I think in most cases when it's talking about the judgment upon Israel or Judah, it's because of a direct violation of the covenant which they are in with God and which they have. Certain things they're supposed to do and certain things are not supposed to do. If they do the right thing, they get blessing it they don't, they get the curse. That's the story of Israel in the Old Testament. Judgment judgment, judgment, judgment, because they cannot keep God's law, which is a philologically clear lesson that nobody can. And so that's why we need Christ, and that's why they there's going to be a new covenant made. A new covenant is made with Israel. So Isaiah three is not about feminism. It's not about that in any way, shape or form. Now did you go download the sermon? Did you? If you haven't, I'm doing okay.

41:58 A couple of other of you have download the sermon. Look for the sermon Judgment on a feminist nation, all right, Foundation Baptist Church, you can listen to their approach. Now everything I've said, let me make it very clear. I've stated things in a dogmatic, assertive way. But I'm offering you a hypothesis, a hermita interpretive hypothesis that needs to be challenged and needs to be tested. That's what I have done. Now, AI does not like the sermon, all right.

42:39 If I was to go and in fact, I can go back to AI. I didn't copy it. Let me see if I can find it. I gave AI the the transcript. Let me see if I can find it. It's a Is it all the way at the top because it's long? Okay, yes, all right? All right? So AI gives me one two three factual errors in the sermon, gives me one two three. Logical errors in the sermon, gives me one two three. Philological errors in the sermon.

43:20 Gives me one two three hermeneutical errors in the sermon. All right. So it says this sermon contains significant interpretive, factual, logical, and philological problems. It misuses Isaiah three by applying it without a proper historical or theological boundary to modern America. It demonstrates gender bias under the guise of biblical fidelity, ignoring broader scriptural teaching. It leans heavily into political ideology, which may alienate hearers and blur the gospel message. So it had some serious problems with the sermon. Now that's AI.

44:03 That's AI. Now you may say it it's it's logical. Well, I think typically AI is pretty good at finding logical errors because you have the logical fallacies. You can tell if a sermon's committing a logical fallacy. It's It's going to be hard for you to say AI is wrong, because it's going to get the factual errors usually pretty right. And it's also going to do very good pointing out it's uh, it's uh philological errors and it's hermaoneutical errors. I probably could ask it for more. There's a lot of errors. But now I will tell you to do this when you listen. Don't allow any logical error, don't allow any factual error. Don't allow any of that to stop you from seeing. Strip that all the way. Let me stay it this way. Strip all of that away, and at the end, see how they handle the text right.

44:54 They can get they can make all of those mistakes and still be handling the text better than I am. All right, let's make that very clear. Just because a sermon has fifteen mistakes in it, when you strip away all of that at its very core, it could still be handling the text accurately, right, don't get that. So you could listen to a sermon and the guy the pastor mispronounces something seventy five different ways, gets this wrong, gets references wrong, confuses this with this, makes nine hundred mistakes. But when you strip it all away, they still handle the text correctly. All right. Don't ever allow those other mistakes to immediately condemn the way the text is being handled. Right.

45:38 It comes down to how is the text being handled? Is Isaiah three about feminism? Isaiah three even indicating that Judah was judged because of feminism? Should feminism even come up as a word when you're teaching Isaiah three? Is Isaiah three twelve making an argument against you know, hey, you got to have be the right age, in the right gender to be in leadership. Or is it about the fact that these leaders are causing the people to error and destroy the way of his of God's paths? How should it be read. Now, what I want to do is start playing the sermons. Say what I want to do is this.

46:22 It's Isaiah chapter three, on to read through verse eight here, just to give us a context of the passage as we continue looking at God's judgment upon a nation. Is Isaiah chapter three, Notice versus one and following for behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts. I want to just jump right into the sermon. You notice how low the volume is. That's even with me artificially amplifying it. What is the deal with pastors in that way they record their sermons? I don't get it. Okay, but all right, So but I'm not going to do that because I tried to work through that in a number of different ways. So what did we do. Let's go back and look at all the things we did. Here's what we did. We considered Isaiah three twelve and the chapter as a whole. And what we discovered is that we don't believe. I don't believe my hypotheses. It's not saying that Judah is being judged due to feminism, and I don't believe it's not even implying that feminism is a part of the reason for God's judgment. So we broke down feminism and we broke down the text is the text concern is corruption, not gender. We looked at the reasons for judgment are explicit and we talked about them and justice, suppression, pride, arrogance, idolatry, luxury, and self indulgence. The luxury section was all kinds of you know, descriptions of clothing and jewelry that I probably did not say everything correctly, but you get the basic idea and a rejection of God's law. None of these are feminism or anything resembling it. We talked about why feminism doesn't fit in the text, and we looked at a conclusion.

47:53 We then went and looked at Isaiah three twelve and its historical context. We looked at its textual and we did a literary analysis of the text. We broke it down into three basically. We broke it down basically into three lines. Basically, children are the oppressors. Women rule over them. They which lead the cause thee to error and destroy the way of the paths. We broke it down into these three lines. We looked at the thiological and canonical context to some degree. We looked at what it's not saying. And then we basically continue to look at Isaiah three twelve, and we looked at the descriptions of children and women as literary devices. We looked at the philological message to some degree. A lot of this I went through really quick.

48:42 Then we went through the title of the sermon itself. We talked about how it misrepresents the biblical passage. It reflects a political and cultural bias rather than a biblical message. It misidentifies the cause of judgment, It misleads the listener, and it undermines the gospel. And then we looked at in the Bible is anywhere, like, Hey, you're all being judged because of feminism. You got that woman over there in leadership. That's the end. And I heard Christians say this, if Hillary gets elected, it's the end of America because God will judge a nation with a woman president. It's against God's Where's Oh? I heard that over and over and over. We can't have a woman president because it's against God's wheer's we'll all go to hell. It's the end. Okay, all of this just cons drives me crazy. So we broke it all down so that at least you have a better understanding of Isaiah three twelve. I wanted to get to the sermon, but what I've done so I flipped it in reverse. Typically we would do all of this after we review the sermon, or in the midst of reviewing the sermon. I decided, no, why sit there and review the sermon, get frustrated and get irritated. I just will go ahead and kind of give you my take on it. And I've already pointed out AI's take on it. AI completely rips it into shreds. And and I know some of you are like, well, give him one of your sermons I gave. I gave Ai my sermon from Sunday. I gave A. I do I give Ai my messages all the time, all the time, and

50:14 tell me it will rip mine apart too if it if it doesn't like it, and I tell it to be to be, to be aggressive, mean, nasty, tell me I'm an idiot. I can take it all right, So don't don't think I don't so, because when after we gave our kind of new interpretation of Isaiah forty two, I gave Ai to critique it in AI. Well, in that particular case, thought that what we did was pretty impressive. So and again that whole interpretation we did in Isaiah forty two is because of someone in the church, not necessarily because of me. They just handed it to me and I ran with it. So yeah, the issue is is I to me, the real issue is it's not even about what you think about feminism. So where everyone's going to miss the point? They're like, oh, you're supporting feminism.

51:01 The issue isn't feminism. The issue is Isaiah three. Isaiah three. In fact, the very first thing Ai says, you want to hear, the very first thing, Ai says, I could play the audio of this, but here we go. Ai says, the Fall of Judah five eighty six BC is referenced as a precise template for interpreting modern America. While moral parallels are often made in preaching, drawing a one to one historical equivalence is problematic. America is not a covenant nation like Israel and is never mentioned in scripture. So the first factual error, or one of the factual errors the Ai mentioned, is that this sermon is historical misapplication.

52:05 It goes on to say, a misapplication of covenant theology. The preacher implies America holds a similar covenant status before God is ancient Israel that is not supported by scripture. No New Testament teaching suggests any modern nation inherits Israel's covenantal standing. And it goes on to say that it over allegorizes and modernizes the text. Isaiah's message is historic and prophetic concerning Judah. Applying every detail to contemporary America economic policy, political parties, and women mayors distorts the original context and intention. Not only that the preacher reads personal and political views into the passage, particularly around feminism, COVID restrictions, and economic theory, rather than drawing meaning from the text itself.

52:58 And then it goes on it missueses Isaiah three by applying it without proper historical or theological boundaries to a modern America. It's about that. I don't care if the if the person wants to yell and scream about oh, women mayors, there's there are mayors in this country that are women. Oh my goodness, we're in trouble. I know we can't have a can't have a female mayor. Nope, can't have a female governor. I guess we can have a female center. We can't have females in leadership. Make them all shut up and go home. Oh man, unbelievable, unbelievable.

53:41 But you listen to the sermon yourself. You listen again, I am begging you to go listen to the sermon yourself. You draw your own conclusion. Don't take it. I'm I'm just trying to take a part. How Ai breaks it down, But I'm trying to get you. And again, see that's one of the reasons I'm already doing it. One of the reasons that did not want to review the sermon is because that's exactly what would happen. I just made the mistake. I took the bait. See AI points out some of the things that says, and I just start, Oh, we're going to talk about stinking COVID restrictions again, Oh my goodness, the World Economic Form and we're gonna go conspiracy theories. Are we going to talk about Charles Swab and all this? I mean, it's going to sound like an episode of Alex Jones. See, I would get so caught up in all of that, just lose my ever living mind of how pastors do this nonsense from the pulpit And then guess what you would miss, you would miss an actual explanation of Isaiah chapter three. That's why I started with Isaiah three and didn't review the sermon, because it would sound like I'm reviewing an episode of Alex Jones for the most part, and I don't care to get into all of that. People want to argue all day COVID restrictions in the World Economic Form the world because I think the I think the sermon actually mentions the World Economic form according to AI. Let me look here, yes, the World Economic Form. It makes statements like Putin was a WEF World Economic Form young global leader.

55:04 That this is often repeated in conspiracy circles but not verifiable through WEF or World Economic Form records. Some listed names, Bill Gates, Angela Merkle are not confirmed alumni of this specific program, so it has to go through all these claims that are made. Talks about Trump's business records again, talks about COVID restrictions female mayors, Like, No, if I get into that, we'll never get to Isaiah three. I don't care about any of that. I don't care. I don't care if the man who doesn't want a woman to ever leave the house, and that she can't lead anything. I don't care. I really don't care that you guys fight that. What I care is using Isaiah three in a proper way. That's what I care about. As far as this message. I'm not saying I don't care about those other issues in the right context, and may have strong arguments against some of that kind of crazy thinking, but I just care about people the Book of Isaiah, stop misreading it. And it's not about stinking America, man, so tired of that. It's about Judah. Why do they get judged the way they do because they're in a covenant relationship with God, a specific covenant with specific rules and specific instructions and specific blessings and specific punishments assigned to them. It can't transfer that to America, man, I don't understand that. If Christians can't figure that out, you

56:38 know what, then that means the entire seminary industrial complex is a failure. Bible colleges are a failure, Bible institutes are a failure, and churches are a failure. There were a better chance of never going to church, never going to Bible college, never going to seminary, and never reading a commentary and just learn how to read the Bible. Yeah, just mad over it. That's what I was trying to avoid. But what did I just do at the fifty three minute mark? I took the bait? Did I not? I took the bait. I was trying to avoid that. And we see this and within Christian literature that go to Isaiah and you know, oh, nine to eleven, it's September the eleventh, two thousand and one. It's in the Book of Isaiah. Whitn't that the harbinger did that? Nonsense? Oh? Look, Isaiah's telling us what's coming to America. What's coming? Isaiah's not about America. Oh, but there's parallels. Even if there's parallels, what's happening in there to Judah is based off the Covenant relationship. Now I'm just repeating myself because I'm trying to repeat myself in a calmer way to say, see, he calmed down. But it's just at some point you just get so it's just like, what's the point anymore?

58:04 I'm telling It's like it's like yelling at a brick wall. Never going to change. I'm never gonna change it. I'm never I'm not gonna make any impact on it. I'm telling you. The more i'm the more sermons I listen to, and the more sermons I engage, the more I realize that there is no point in doing Christian broadcasting. There's no point in preaching sermons. There's no point because you Christianity is what Christianity is, and there is no fixing it, changing it, or impacting it. It's just maddening. And this Isaiah thing is driving me. Man who knew that in what October of twenty twenty four that just thinking about talking about some things that Isaiah was going to lead to all of this. Now we're in April and it just doesn't stop. All Right, I give up. I quit.

59:01 Thanks for listening, everyone, have a great day. I'm retiring. This is the end of the Theology Central broadcasts or in the Theology Central podcast. All content will probably be deleted in the next i don't know, a couple of hours. Thanks for listening. God bless