Study Desk

But you, God , you have an eye for truth, don't you? You hit them hard, but it didn't faze them. You disciplined them, but they refused correction. Hardheaded, harder than rock, they wouldn't change. Then I said to myself, "Well, these are just poor people. They don't know any better. They were never taught anything about God . They never went to prayer meetings. I'll find some people from the best families. I'll talk to them. They'll know what's going on, the way God works. They'll know the score." But they were no better! Rebels all! Off doing their own thing. The invaders are ready to pounce and kill, like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf, Panthers on the prowl. The streets aren't safe anymore. And why? Because the people's sins are piled sky-high; their betrayals are past counting.

"Go down the rows of vineyards and rip out the vines, but not all of them. Leave a few. Prune back those vines! That growth didn't come from God ! They've betrayed me over and over again, Judah and Israel both." God 's Decree.

"They've spread lies about God . They've said, ‘There's nothing to him. Nothing bad will happen to us, neither famine nor war will come our way. The prophets are all windbags. They speak nothing but nonsense.'"

"Tell the house of Jacob this, put out this bulletin in Judah: Listen to this, you scatterbrains, airheads, With eyes that see but don't really look, and ears that hear but don't really listen. Why don't you honor me? Why aren't you in awe before me? Yes, me, who made the shorelines to contain the ocean waters. I drew a line in the sand that cannot be crossed. Waves roll in but cannot get through; breakers crash but that's the end of them. But this people—what a people! Uncontrollable, untameable runaways. It never occurs to them to say, ‘How can we honor our God with our lives, The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn and maintains the rhythm of the seasons, Who sets aside time each year for harvest and keeps everything running smoothly for us?' Of course you don't! Your bad behavior blinds you to all this. Your sins keep my blessings at a distance.

"Unspeakable! Sickening! What's happened in this country? Prophets preach lies and priests hire on as their assistants. And my people love it. They eat it up! But what will you do when it's time to pick up the pieces?"

"I've got something to say. Is anybody listening? I've a warning to post. Will anyone notice? It's hopeless! Their ears are stuffed with wax— deaf as a post, blind as a bat. It's hopeless! They've tuned out God . They don't want to hear from me. But I'm bursting with the wrath of God . I can't hold it in much longer. "So dump it on the children in the streets. Let it loose on the gangs of youth. For no one's exempt: Husbands and wives will be taken, the old and those ready to die; Their homes will be given away— all they own, even their loved ones— When I give the signal against all who live in this country." God 's Decree. "Everyone's after the dishonest dollar, little people and big people alike. Prophets and priests and everyone in between twist words and doctor truth. My people are broken—shattered!— and they put on Band-Aids, Saying, ‘It's not so bad. You'll be just fine.' But things are not ‘just fine'! Do you suppose they are embarrassed over this outrage? No, they have no shame. They don't even know how to blush. There's no hope for them. They've hit bottom and there's no getting up. As far as I'm concerned, they're finished." God has spoken. God 's Message yet again: "Go stand at the crossroads and look around. Ask for directions to the old road, The tried-and-true road. Then take it. Discover the right route for your souls. But they said, ‘Nothing doing. We aren't going that way.' I even provided watchmen for them to warn them, to set off the alarm. But the people said, ‘It's a false alarm. It doesn't concern us.' And so I'm calling in the nations as witnesses: ‘Watch, witnesses, what happens to them!' And, ‘Pay attention, Earth! Don't miss these bulletins.' I'm visiting catastrophe on this people, the end result of the games they've been playing with me. They've ignored everything I've said, had nothing but contempt for my teaching. What would I want with incense brought in from Sheba, rare spices from exotic places? Your burnt sacrifices in worship give me no pleasure. Your religious rituals mean nothing to me." So listen to this. Here's God 's verdict on your way of life: "Watch out! I'm putting roadblocks and barriers on the road you're taking. They'll send you sprawling, parents and children, neighbors and friends— and that will be the end of the lot of you." And listen to this verdict from God : "Look out! An invasion from the north, a mighty power on the move from a faraway place: Armed to the teeth, vicious and pitiless, Booming like sea storm and thunder—tramp, tramp, tramp— riding hard on war horses, In battle formation against you, dear Daughter Zion!" We've heard the news, and we're as limp as wet dishrags. We're paralyzed with fear. Terror has a death grip on our throats. Don't dare go outdoors! Don't leave the house! Death is on the prowl. Danger everywhere! "Dear Daughter Zion: Dress in black. Blacken your face with ashes. Weep most bitterly, as for an only child. The countdown has begun... six, five, four, three... The Terror is on us!" God gave me this task: "I have made you the examiner of my people, to examine and weigh their lives. They're a thickheaded, hard-nosed bunch, rotten to the core, the lot of them. Refining fires are cranked up to white heat, but the ore stays a lump, unchanged. It's useless to keep trying any longer. Nothing can refine evil out of them. Men will give up and call them ‘slag,' thrown on the slag heap by me, their God ."

A City Full of Lies "Run for your lives, children of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem, and now! Give a blast on the ram's horn in Blastville. Send up smoke signals from Smoketown. Doom pours out of the north— massive terror! I have likened my dear daughter Zion to a lovely meadow. Well, now ‘shepherds' from the north have discovered her and brought in their flocks of soldiers. They've pitched camp all around her, and plan where they'll ‘graze.' And then, ‘Prepare to attack! The fight is on! To arms! We'll strike at noon! Oh, it's too late? Day is dying? Evening shadows are upon us? Well, up anyway! We'll attack by night and tear apart her defenses stone by stone.'" God -of-the-Angel-Armies gave the orders: "Chop down her trees. Build a siege ramp against Jerusalem, A city full of brutality, bursting with violence. Just as a well holds a good supply of water, she supplies wickedness nonstop. The streets echo the cries: ‘Violence! Rape!' Victims, bleeding and moaning, lie all over the place. You're in deep trouble, Jerusalem. You've pushed me to the limit. You're on the brink of being wiped out, being turned into a ghost town." More orders from God -of-the-Angel-Armies: "Time's up! Harvest the grapes for judgment. Salvage what's left of Israel. Go back over the vines. Pick them clean, every last grape. "I've got something to say. Is anybody listening? I've a warning to post. Will anyone notice? It's hopeless! Their ears are stuffed with wax— deaf as a post, blind as a bat. It's hopeless! They've tuned out God . They don't want to hear from me. But I'm bursting with the wrath of God . I can't hold it in much longer. "So dump it on the children in the streets. Let it loose on the gangs of youth. For no one's exempt: Husbands and wives will be taken, the old and those ready to die; Their homes will be given away— all they own, even their loved ones— When I give the signal against all who live in this country." God 's Decree.

"Everyone's after the dishonest dollar, little people and big people alike. Prophets and priests and everyone in between twist words and doctor truth. My people are broken—shattered!— and they put on Band-Aids, Saying, ‘It's not so bad. You'll be just fine.' But things are not ‘just fine'! Do you suppose they are embarrassed over this outrage? No, they have no shame. They don't even know how to blush. There's no hope for them. They've hit bottom and there's no getting up. As far as I'm concerned, they're finished." God has spoken.

God 's Message yet again: "Go stand at the crossroads and look around. Ask for directions to the old road, The tried-and-true road. Then take it. Discover the right route for your souls. But they said, ‘Nothing doing. We aren't going that way.' I even provided watchmen for them to warn them, to set off the alarm. But the people said, ‘It's a false alarm. It doesn't concern us.' And so I'm calling in the nations as witnesses: ‘Watch, witnesses, what happens to them!' And, ‘Pay attention, Earth! Don't miss these bulletins.' I'm visiting catastrophe on this people, the end result of the games they've been playing with me. They've ignored everything I've said, had nothing but contempt for my teaching. What would I want with incense brought in from Sheba, rare spices from exotic places? Your burnt sacrifices in worship give me no pleasure. Your religious rituals mean nothing to me."

God gave me this task: "I have made you the examiner of my people, to examine and weigh their lives. They're a thickheaded, hard-nosed bunch, rotten to the core, the lot of them. Refining fires are cranked up to white heat, but the ore stays a lump, unchanged. It's useless to keep trying any longer. Nothing can refine evil out of them. Men will give up and call them ‘slag,' thrown on the slag heap by me, their God ."

"But is it me they're hurting?" God 's Decree! "Aren't they just hurting themselves? Exposing themselves shamefully? Making themselves ridiculous?

"The Message from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel's God: ‘Go ahead! Put your burnt offerings with all your other sacrificial offerings and make a good meal for yourselves. I sure don't want them! When I delivered your ancestors out of Egypt, I never said anything to them about wanting burnt offerings and sacrifices as such. But I did say this, commanded this: "Obey me. Do what I say and I will be your God and you will be my people. Live the way I tell you. Do what I command so that your lives will go well."

"‘But do you think they listened? Not a word of it. They did just what they wanted to do, indulged any and every evil whim and got worse day by day. From the time your ancestors left the land of Egypt until now, I've supplied a steady stream of my servants the prophets, but do you think the people listened? Not once. Stubborn as mules and worse than their ancestors!'

"Tell them all this, but don't expect them to listen. Call out to them, but don't expect an answer. Tell them, ‘You are the nation that wouldn't obey God , that refused all discipline. Truth has disappeared. There's not a trace of it left in your mouths.

"But soon, very soon"— God 's Decree!—"the names Topheth and Ben-hinnom will no longer be used. They'll call the place what it is: Murder Meadow. Corpses will be stacked up in Topheth because there's no room left to bury them! Corpses abandoned in the open air, fed on by crows and coyotes, who have the run of the place. And I'll empty both smiles and laughter from the villages of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. No wedding songs, no holiday sounds. Dead silence."

"Tell them this, God 's Message: "‘Do people fall down and not get up? Or take the wrong road and then just keep going? So why does this people go backward, and just keep on going—backward! They stubbornly hold on to their illusions, refuse to change direction. I listened carefully but heard not so much as a whisper. No one expressed one word of regret. Not a single "I'm sorry" did I hear. They just kept at it, blindly and stupidly banging their heads against a brick wall. Cranes know when it's time to move south for winter. And robins, warblers, and bluebirds know when it's time to come back again. But my people? My people know nothing, not the first thing of God and his rule.

"‘How can you say, "We know the score. We're the proud owners of God 's revelation"? Look where it's gotten you—stuck in illusion. Your religion experts have taken you for a ride! Your know-it-alls will be unmasked, caught and shown up for what they are. Look at them! They know everything but God 's Word. Do you call that "knowing"?

"‘So here's what will happen to the know-it-alls: I'll make them wifeless and homeless. Everyone's after the dishonest dollar, little people and big people alike. Prophets and priests and everyone in between twist words and doctor truth. My dear Daughter—my people—broken, shattered, and yet they put on Band-Aids, Saying, "It's not so bad. You'll be just fine." But things are not "just fine"! Do you suppose they are embarrassed over this outrage? Not really. They have no shame. They don't even know how to blush. There's no hope for them. They've hit bottom and there's no getting up. As far as I'm concerned, they're finished.'" God has spoken.

"‘I went out to see if I could salvage anything'" — God 's Decree— "‘but found nothing: Not a grape, not a fig, just a few withered leaves. I'm taking back everything I gave them.'"

So why are we sitting here, doing nothing? Let's get organized. Let's go to the big city and at least die fighting. We've gotten God 's ultimatum: We're damned if we do and damned if we don't— damned because of our sin against him. We hoped things would turn out for the best, but it didn't happen that way. We were waiting around for healing— and terror showed up! From Dan at the northern borders we hear the hooves of horses, Horses galloping, horses neighing. The ground shudders and quakes. They're going to swallow up the whole country. Towns and people alike—fodder for war.