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2 Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
Therefore thus says the LORD:
behold, against this family I am devising disaster,
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you shall not walk haughtily,
for it will be a time of disaster.
In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
he changes the portion of my people;
how he removes it from me!
To an apostate he allots our fields.”
Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the LORD.
“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
“one should not preach of such things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
Has the LORD grown impatient?
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
But lately my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.
The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
Arise and go,
for this is no place to rest,
because of uncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
If a man should go about and utter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
I will gather the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
the LORD at their head.
(ESV)
People only want to hear what tickles their ears. They don’t want to hear the truth.
“Men haven’t changed much. They don’t want to hear really of the judgment of God that is to be meted out against a sinful generation. They want to hear, “All is well. All is going to be good. Don’t worry, it’s all going to work out. Cheer up! Keep your head up. Think positively because we’re going to come through on top.” People say, “Oh, tell me more, tell me more,” as the whole thing is going down the tubes. And so they don’t want to hear the truth. And God is rebuking them that they will not listen to His truth. They would rather hear a lie than the truth.”
Chuck Smith
God always takes what is left and begins a new work. He always focuses on the remnant who follow Him.
“But even from captivity God would restore His people, breaking the way through walls of difficulty. Our Breaker is the Lord Jesus who broke the way for us from the prison-house of death. Let us follow Him as He passes on His way to victory.”
F.B. Meyer
“In this blackest hour he looked forward with confidence to a fresh revelation of the God whom Israel had found to be their help in ages past.”
New International Commentary – OT
It’s always been about God. From beginning to end, He is the One who changes a human heart. He is the One who begins a good work. He is the One who goes to the cross to pay for our sin. God has always offered hope in the midst of sorrow and destruction. Can you believe this today?