Isaiah on Tuesday: Facades

This week, Isaiah turns his attention to the women of Zion (v. 3:14-4:1) calling them "haughty", yet I think Isaiah is making a broader cultural statement. In his narrative, the women have adorned themselves with finery, jewelry and perfume and draw attention to themselves, "flirting with their eyes." It seems to me that the underlying issue at hand here is that these women had devalued themselves, thinking that beauty and worth was somehow derived from outward adornments rather than their innate selves. Additionally, the implication seems to be that those they were seeking were interested only in these outward things. I get the picture of a marketplace hawker calling out to potential customers, "Look at these fine wares! Come see for yourselves!"

The judgment is two-fold: the women disguise their true beauty under an artificial veneer and the men continue the cycle. As in the marketplace, supply follows demand. In Isaiah's vision, this will bring a total stripping of outward beauty. The jewelry will be removed, hair will fall out, a stench will replace perfume. The facade that was built up will be removed and what is left is the true person, though bereft of any conventional attractiveness. It is a rare person that ca n look beyond such a surface to see the inward radiance - if such a radiance remains. It is also a rare person that is able to shine through the marred surface and not succumb to the judgments of those around them.

For me the lesson of this passage is this: do not trust in outward appearances, mine or somebody else's. If I seek to hide myself behind clothes or other possessions, I will find that those things will fade away. The thing I had sought to hide me only exposes my weakness further. I separate myself from my fellow humans as well as God, by pretending I am something other than who he made me. No matter how hard we try, we are not who we pretend to be. The flip-side of this, of course, is that I must look past other people's facades as well. Some of those are self-created, others are unwanted. In both cases, I must be willing to try to look with a "God's-eye view." Regardless of our seeming appearance, whether ugly or fine, we are made in God's image. Christ had great compassion on the poor and the sick and saw the inward poverty of the tax-collector and Pharisees. His vision was clear, is mine?

"Those who look to [God] are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." (Psalm 34:5)