The more they called them, The more they went from them They kept sacrificing to the Baals And burning incense to idols. When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. At dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off. Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness. Therefore a tumult will arise among your people, And all your fortresses will be destroyed, As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle, When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors, You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies. Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. When it is My desire, I will chastise them And the peoples will be gathered against them When they are bound for their double guilt.Įphraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, But I will come over her fair neck with a yoke I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, Jacob will harrow for himself.
Samaria will be cut off with her king Like a stick on the surface of the water.Īlso the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars Then they will say to the mountains, ``Cover us!" And to the hills, ``Fall on us!"įrom the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel There they stand! Will not the battle against the sons of iniquity overtake them in Gibeah? The thing itself will be carried to Assyria As tribute to King Jareb Ephraim will be seized with shame And Israel will be ashamed of its own counsel. Indeed, its people will mourn for it, And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it, Over its glory, since it has departed from it. The inhabitants of Samaria will fear For the calf of Beth-aven. They speak mere words, With worthless oaths they make covenants And judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. Surely now they will say, ``We have no king, For we do not revere the LORD. The LORD will break down their altars And destroy their sacred pillars. Their heart is faithless Now they must bear their guilt. The more his fruit, The more altars he made The richer his land, The better he made the sacred pillars. Israel is a luxuriant vine He produces fruit for himself. He redeems all things-even those that seem unredeemable. When our own hopes for the future weaken, we can remember God’s plan to make the “latter glory” greater also applies to us. Then He promised, “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former … in this place I will give peace” (2:4-9). Then He gave a word about waiting-saying that things would change “in a little while.” For them to see the glory ahead, God told them to take courage and work. He “stirred up the spirit” of Israel’s leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, and also did the same for the people (Hag. “I am with you,” God said, giving them the hope of His presence and power.
The people needed hope to renew their imaginations for the hard work ahead. They found ruins where their beautiful temple once stood, and rebuilding it seemed impossible. The Jews who returned to Jerusalem after almost 70 years in exile faced a similar dilemma. The farmer must hope for a good end, a rich harvest-and that hope fuels his hard work when the end is not in sight. But as the farmer looks at an unplowed field, the work begins in his imagination long before the first seed is ever planted. Farming requires hard work, from plowing to planting to harvest.
0 kommentar(er)
