Isaiah 3:8

"For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory."

This is by no stretch of imagination related to any physical destruction of Jerusalem which is alleged to have occurred at any time in the lifetime of Isaiah. No! "The verb tenses which express completed action (as in this verse) are perfects of certainty."[6] Therefore, Isaiah 3:8 is a predictive prophecy of what was appointed by God to be executed upon Judah and Jerusalem about a century after Isaiah died.

Another significant revelation of this verse is the reason or cause for all of the wretchedness and incompetence just mentioned. All of it was due to their "tongue and their doings" being against Jehovah. "After the skeptic has had his fling, he is left stranded in the wasteland he has helped to produce."[7]

Archer pointed out that the literal translation here is, "Jerusalem is stumbled and fallen; her coming destruction had already been decided upon by God, even though it was not to be consummated till nearly 150 years afterward."[8]

"To provoke the eyes of his glory ..." "This is an unusual metaphor, meaning `provoking God to look on them with anger.'"[9]