Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory,
and stretch themselves upon their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the midst of the stall;
who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David, invent for themselves instruments of music--
who drink wine in bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.
Therefore they shall now be the first of those to go into exile;
and the revelry of those who stretch themselves shall pass away.
The Lord God has sworn by Himself
(says the Lord, the God of Hosts):
I abhor the pride of Jacob,
and hate his strongholds;
I will deliver up the city
and all that is in it.
And if ten men remain in the city, they shall die. And when a man's kinsman, who makes a pyre for him, shall take him up to bring his bones out of the house, and says to someone in the innermost parts of the house, "Is there anyone still with you?"-- He shall be answered, "No!" and told: "Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord!"
For behold, the Lord commands:
and the great House shall be smitten into fragments,
the little house into bits.
Do horses run upon rocks?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood--
You who rejoice in worthless things,
who say, "Have we not by our own strength
taken Karnaim for ourselves?"
For "Behold, I shall raise up against you a nation,
oh house of Israel," says the Lord, the God of Hosts,
"And they shall oppress you from the entrance of Hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah."
1 comment:
"I abhor the pride of Jacob,
and hate his strongholds."
"Jacob" is the person also called "Israel", who struggles with God. Jacob also represents the People alluded-to here, as well as all of us seeking to usurp Jacob's Birthright (thus proving ourselves to be his followers.) In which quest we make pillars, and images, and Temples; kingdoms, churches, Churches, and other nullities for our strongholds.
So far as we are christian, we know we have been called to follow the ultimate Loser.
'Jacob' cried out for a Savior, another man of blood like David, to defeat the brutal foreign idolaters oppressing his land and people...
But Israel received a king who refused to resist even his own enemies by violence, force, by any means except the voice of God in them. And so he died the most ignominious of deaths, betrayed by authorities who couldn't hear that Voice through their own thunderous determination to prevail...
And so we go repeatedly into Exile, where over and over we find Him.
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