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Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

Hear this word that the L ord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

You only have I known

of all the families of the earth;

therefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities.

Do two walk together

unless they have made an appointment?

Does a lion roar in the forest,

when it has no prey?

Does a young lion cry out from its den,

if it has caught nothing?

Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth,

when there is no trap for it?

Does a snare spring up from the ground,

when it has taken nothing?

Is a trumpet blown in a city,

and the people are not afraid?

Does disaster befall a city,

unless the L ord has done it?

Surely the Lord G od does nothing,

without revealing his secret

to his servants the prophets.

The lion has roared;

who will not fear?

The Lord G od has spoken;

who can but prophesy?

Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod,

and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,

and say, “Assemble yourselves on Mount Samaria,

and see what great tumults are within it,

and what oppressions are in its midst.”

They do not know how to do right, says the L ord,

those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.

Therefore thus says the Lord G od:

An adversary shall surround the land,

and strip you of your defense;

and your strongholds shall be plundered.

¹² Thus says the L ord: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.

Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,

says the Lord G od, the God of hosts:

On the day I punish Israel for its transgressions,

I will punish the altars of Bethel,

and the horns of the altar shall be cut off

and fall to the ground.

I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house;

and the houses of ivory shall perish,

and the great houses shall come to an end,

says the L ord.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Prophet wished doubtless by these words to confirm his own authority, for he saw that his doctrine was regarded with contempt: and it is probable that the words recited here were not only once delivered by him, but had been often repeated. We know how great was the pride and confidence of that people: it was therefore needful to beat it down, that they might be habituated to dread and fear, when God reproved them by his Prophets.

It was then the common mode of speaking, when he said, Hear the word which God has spoken concerning your, O children of Israel. He brings forward here the name of God, that they might know that they had not to do with a mortal man, or with a shepherd, such as he was. We then observe here, what I have just referred to, and that is, that the Prophet seeks to strengthen his authority as a teacher, that he might gain more respect among the people. But he adds, concerning the whole family which I brought up out of Egypt It is certain that this discourse was not addressed except to the ten tribes; why, then, does the Prophet speak here so generally? Even because the kingdom of Israel formed the greater portion of the race of Abraham, and on this account they boasted that the adoption continued to be possessed by them. Since, then, they despised the tribe of Judah, and the half-tribe of Benjamin, which was connected with it, and had ever boasted of their great number, the Prophet says here, by way of concession, that they were indeed the blessed seed, the posterity of Abraham; in a word, the elect people, whom God had redeemed from Egypt. Then the Prophet includes not here the kingdom of Judah, but concedes to the Israelites what they boasted, — that they were the elect people, the holy race of Abraham, the very nation which had been miraculously delivered. “Let, then,” he says, “all these boastings be granted, yet God will not, on this account, desist from executing his judgment upon them.”

We now apprehend the design of the Prophet: he first seeks to gain respect for his doctrine, and takes occasion to speak of his own vocation, that he brought nothing of his own, but only discharged faithfully the office committed to him; yea, that he was the organ of the Holy Spirit, and adduced nothing from his own mind, but only spoke what the Lord had commanded him. And then, as the Israelites, relying on their large number, thought that wrong was done them, when they were severely reprehended by the Prophets, and as there was an absurd rivalship between them and the kingdom of Judah, the Prophet concedes to them that for which they were foolishly proud; but, at the same time, he shows that they in vain confided in their number, inasmuch as God summoned them to judgment, though they were the elect people, and the holy seed, and the redeemed nation. These are the main points.