Judah's Guilt and Judgement...
Verses 8 to 30!
So we move on now to the second section! From the images of a Vineyard, planted, cared for and grown. However the harvest was bitter. It was not as it should be. So the caretaker teares it down and starts again.
Verses 8 to 12 is a reflection and depiction of what the people were acting like in Judah at the time.
Buying up houses until there was no one left in the land surrounding. This is a story of greed in possessions through the use of great wealth. Often the bible talks about loving your neighbour and not saving up earthly treasures. But here the people are not loving their neighbours. They are buying up all the land they can own until there is no one left around them. 9 and 10 are a response to these actions. God swears an oath! A binding promise and God never breaks his promises in the bible. They have always been fulfilled. God is consistent and why should he be different here? God's oath is to destroy the prosperous empty houses, he will cause the vineyard to stop producing as much as it was built to and the crops will not grow. He is hitting them at their livelihood. Verses 11 and 12 speak of the people being constantly drunk, thinking only of drink and music and parties but not of the Lord. They do not even notice what he is doing to the lands he gave them.
13 to 15 God's people will be sent into exile from the land that he gave them because they have turned away from him. The great and honored will starve and the common people will die of thirst - possibly a reference to their loss of lively hood first and then the situation they will end up in during exile. The picture of the grave in verse 14 is strong. "Licking its lips in anticipation" -> death will come soon and swiftly and it will be satisfying to the grave. A large number of people will die. Death will not distinguish between classes or types of people they all face the same fate. Verse 15 confirms this "Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down." The arrogant will be humiliated they will have nothing to be arrogant about and will acknowledge how their actions have brought them shame.
16 and 17 is a bit more positive. The Lord's armies will be exalted and Gods holiness is displayed. "The lambs will find good pastures" and they will "feed among the ruins" So there won't be nothing left and God will allow some to remain. Often lambs and sheep as used to represent God's people in the bible. I'm not sure if that's what it is here but it well could be.
18 to 23 has the recurring word 'Sorrow'. This section describes the way that the people think and how it is so backwards from God. The people are mocking God and not understanding his ways. Thinking 'evil is good,' 'dark is light' and 'bitter is sweet'. They do not focus on the things of God but on themselves, putting themselves higher than God. 'Wise in their own eyes.' They are drunks and boastful about it. They take bribes and 'punish the innocent.' These actions are all self-fulfilling and not God fearing or God following at all.
24 through to 30 is again about God's response to these wicked actions from wicked people. God's response again is described as total death and destruction. It interesting to note in verse 29 that 'no one will be there to rescue them.' Its interesting because God rescues his people often in the bible but here he does not. It important to note that only God can rescue them but he does not because of the evil they have done in his eyes.
My God is a vengeful God and his ways are Right!
No comments:
Post a Comment