I. The wages of sin (v1-11)
God has decided to take away all support from Jerusalem from Judah. They will be on their own. Judah will be on a downhill slope, leading to the siege and conquest by the Babylonians 140 years from the time of prophecy. During the siege, they will be left without food and water. In Jeremiah, women was described to have eaten their own babies to survive.
Judah was proud and self-confident, but God will humble them. All the high ranking people - in military, politics or religions - could not help the people. They will sell each other out, when the oppression became too terrible. They will look for someone who is rich and can lead, but no one will have anything, and no one will be willing to lead. Everyone will be occupied by preserving themselves.
"I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them" (v4) may be referring to the inexperience kings that will be ruling Judah in the days leading to the exile. After Hezekiah, all the subsequent kings were younger than 23 years old. Manasseh was twelve (2 Kings 21:1) and Josiah was only eight (2 Kings 22:1).
Judah had sinned openly, like the people of Sodom. They have brought their own ruins. However those who remained righteous will be preserved. (v10,11)
Applications: Our existence requires the support from the hand of God. If God were to remove His hands, we won't be able to survive as we are prone to self-destruction. Jesus is the bread of life and the living water that never runs dry, and He has offered them to us who believe, and they will never be taken away. (John 6:48)
II. Judgment of the rulers (v12-15)
In verse 12, God accuse these "infants" (inexperience) and "women" (weak) kings for oppression and for misleading the people. God will stand up and judge them, for they have destroyed the "vineyard", which refers to the people that God had planted in Israel. They have caused great oppression to the poor ("grinding the face of the poor" - v15)
Applications: Leaders hold a high level of accountability to the people whom they lead. They must answer to God for any abuse or corruption during their term.
III. Indictment of vain and worldly women (v16-26)
The "daughters of Zion" probably refers to the wives and daughters of the leaders and the rich, who adorn themselves with jewelry and clothes bought from corrupted money. So God will bring diseases that bring baldness ("scab") and expose their dignity ("secret parts"). It was well known that the Assyrians will strip their prisoners and make them walk to exile.
All the jewelry will be robbed by the invaders and all their fortunes and luxuries will be overturned and reversed. All their men (husbands, fathers) will be killed in the battle and there will be great mourning.
Applications: This reminds women of the faith to wear humbly and not boast, for their honor is not external but internal. As said in 1 Peter 3:3-4:
"Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God."
No comments:
Post a Comment