When God begins to swear by himself then I would think that His decision was being set in stone. Israel was no longer being called by the special name given to Jacob. God was just calling them Jacob. They had lost their special place in His heart by the actions of their sin.
Verse 9 and verse 10 help to illustrate this thought. If ten men are in a house and the house is called to judgment, then those ten will die. The ten represent the ten tribes that left to form their own nation. God would not spare one tribe. They were all equally guilty for the sin of their nation because they all bear the name given to them by God. If one tribe thinks it has escaped judgment, it should remain silent because praising God would be jumping to conclusions. Their demise was definite.
If the entire nation embraces a sinful law (allowing abortion to continue, for example) and one state decides to stand against the law, the entire nation is still guilty and the one state will also suffer for the national sin. This is the best way I can describe this thought.
The tribes of Judah and Benjamin would be left to clean up – but they soon would face the same judgment. Imagine going to clean up after a disaster knowing you will soon be facing the same penalty! Don’t you imagine you would change your behaviors? I am not saying Judah did the clean up but if they had any remorse, then you would think they needed to change in some manner.
In verse 11, God gives the command for what destruction should befall Israel. Their homes would be demolished. Then in verse 12 God asks an obvious question. A person would not run a horse on rocky crags unless they intend to injure it. A person would not plow rocky crags because it’s rock and would not yield any harvest. Yet that is how Israel had treated justice and righteousness. Their brand of justice was as worthless as trying to injure a good horse or plowing in a field of futility. The bitter righteousness they grew was as enjoyable as cliff diving without a parachute…
These same Israelites rejoiced in nothing (Lo Debar). They claimed to have conquered others of great strength yet God says their boasts are over nothing. Israel had forgotten who truly led them in victory. They had forgotten the multiple times God acted to defeat enemies. They had forgotten the numerous times God lengthen days in order to give the Israelites more time to hammer their foes. They had forgotten the marching of the Lord’s armies as God’s angels went before them to destroy whole armies. They had forgotten God.
As a result, the people of Israel in their arrogance would suffer at the hands of a stronger, more powerful nation. This nation would oppress Israel from the beginning of their journey all the way to the end. What a hopeless future.
- How do arrogant people affect you? Are you arrogant?
- How does your future look? Where do you find hope?
- Is America (the United States) on the path of arrogance that will lead them to a hopeless future? How are you becoming involved?
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