God is reigning down judgement. The people have wandered away. Again.
The people that God is calling out have some grievous sins. And in their sin, they lost all sensitivity to others. (Vs 7: and cast off all pity) Things like ripping open pregnant women. Their evil seems to know no boundaries. Sound familiar? The hatred and anger seem to be all that drives them.
I cannot see much difference between their behavior and the behavior of many who rule today. Greed, and the pursuit of more never satisfies. Doing whatever it takes, harming whoever stands in their way. Lying, throwing around their might, crushing those who would object.
Some would ask, "Where is God? Why doesn't he wipe them out?" This is a question that the oppressed could have asked for centuries.
A few thoughts:
God has provided a way. Jesus. He is giving them and us a chance to repent. Even the oppressed do not stand by as innocents. The oppressed just want more too. Today, we follow the likes of Osteen and Furtick, because they preach a gospel that is not really a gospel at all, it is merely a ruse to follow a God who wants you to have "your best life NOW." If that is true, why do the oppressors exist?
I have heard so many prophesies leading up to yesterday's inauguration that Trump would be victorious. I believe it was stated by those who follow such a philosophy that God does not want us to suffer. But Biden was sworn in. Isn't this how God responded in the past? When people wandered away, He did not EVER say, "Perhaps what they need is more prosperity." No, oppression, captivity, calamity came to drive people from their possessions into their only assurance, which is found in the arms of God.
The difference here is in knowing the true character of God verses knowing a God who fits our desires. That is the God that most preach today. We only hear of the God who saves those in the loin's den, as we feel we all are, and not the God who led John the Baptist into a place where he would demonstrate his faith by being beheaded. God said that there was none greater than John in the kingdom (Mt 11:11), yet this is how the greatest dies? That does not preach well. That does not bring in customers.
It seems that is what has happened to Christianity. We are customers flocking to the church that best meets our needs through its programming, flocking to a God who loves us so much that He only wants what is good (in our own eyes) for us.
And we think we deserve salvation from oppression?
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