Jehovah shattered the rebels and sinners together and terminated those who forsook Him (1:28). He caused them to be like a dried-up terebinth (or, oak) and like a garden that lacks water (vv. 29-30). God would also cause the strong man to become tow and his work a spark, and both the strong man and his work would burn together (v. 31).
Jehovah took away from Jerusalem and from Judah every kind of support—all the support of bread and all the support of water (3:1). He also took away from them all the leaders, such as the judge, the prophet, and the elder, leaving them no rulers (vv. 2-4). The people were then oppressed each by the other, and no one was willing to be the leader, because of the shortage of bread and clothing (vv. 5-7; 4:1).
As part of His chastisement of His people, God took away from them all their leaders, leaving them with no rulers. To have no ruler is God's chastisement. If a family does not have a ruler, that family will be in chaos. In such a family there would be neither father nor mother, neither elder brother nor elder sister. No one would be able to exercise any ruling, and the family would be in a pitiful situation. Likewise, if in a church there were no leading ones, that church would be in chaos.
It is significant that Isaiah links the ruler with the food supply. To be a ruler, you must feed the people. If you do not feed them, they will rebel. In the church, if there is no feeding, there is no ruling; and no ruling results in no food. Ruling and feeding go together as a pair. Ruling produces feeding, and feeding issues in ruling. If a church is well nourished, there surely must be proper ruling in that church. But when there is fighting in the church, this indicates that there is a shortage of food and of ruling. Ruling and feeding are not only a pair—they also work together in a cycle and give rise to each other. Thus, if there is feeding, there is ruling; and if there is ruling, there is feeding. When there is the proper feeding in the church life, everything will be in order.