Woe to Oppressors
Woe to those who adevise wickednessAnd plot evil on their beds!bWhen morning comes, they practice evilBecause it is in the cpower of their hands.Ps 36:4; Is 32:7; Nah 1:11Hos 7:6, 7Gen 31:29; Deut 28:32; Prov 3:272 They acovet fields and bseize them,And houses, and take them away.They coppress and rob a man and his house,A man and his inheritance. Is 5:8; Ex 20:17; Lev 25:23ff.Jer 22:17; Amos 8:4Is 5:81 Kin 21:1-15
3 Therefore, thus says the LORD,“Behold, I am aplanning against this bfamily a disaster Like a noose from which you ccannot remove your necks;Nor will you be able to walk dhaughtily and erect,For it will be an eevil time of subjugation to the invaders.Deut 28:48; Jer 18:11Jer 8:3; Amos 3:1, 2Lam 1:14; 5:5Is 2:11, 12Amos 5:13
4 “On that day they shall atake up a taunting, deriding parable against youAnd bwail with a doleful and bitter song of mourning and say,‘We are completely cdestroyed!God exchanges the inheritance of my people;How He removes it from me!He ddivides our fields to the rebellious our captors.’Hab 2:6Jer 9:10, 17-21; Mic 1:8Is 6:11; 24:3; Jer 4:13Jer 6:12; 8:105 “Therefore, you will have no one astretching a measuring line dividing the common landFor you by lot in the assembly of the LORD. Rev 21:27Num 34:13, 16-29; Deut 32:8; Josh 18:4, 10
6 ‘aDo not speak out,’ so they speak out.But if they do bnot speak out concerning these things,cReproaches will not be turned back.Is 30:10; Amos 2:12; 7:16Is 29:10; Mic 3:6Mic 6:167 “Is it being said, O house of Jacob:‘Is the Spirit of the LORD aimpatient?Or are these prophesied judgments His doings?’Do not My words bdo goodTo the one cwalking uprightly?Is 50:2; 59:1Ps 119:65, 68, 116; Jer 15:16Ps 15:2; 84:118 “But lately My people have stood up as an aenemy and have made Me their antagonist.You bstrip the ornaments off the garmentOf those cunsuspecting passers-by,Like those returned from war.Jer 12:8Mic 3:2, 3; 7:2, 3Ps 120:6, 79 “You aevict the women of My people,Each one from her pleasant house;From her young, fatherless children you take away My bsplendor and blessing forever by putting them among the pagans, away from Me.Jer 10:20Ezek 39:21; Hab 2:1410 “Arise and depart because the captivity is inevitable,For this land is not the place aof restBecause of the bdefilement that brings destruction,A painful and terrible destruction.Deut 12:9Ps 106:3811 “If a man walking in a afalse spirit spouting deceptionShould lie and say,‘I will prophesy to you O Israel of bwine and liquor ,’He would be the acceptable spokesman of cthis people. Jer 5:31Jer 5:31Is 28:7Is 30:10, 11
12 “I shall most certainly aassemble all of you, O Jacob;I shall surely gather the bremnant of Israel.I shall bring them together like sheep in the fold multiplying the nation;Like a flock in the midst of its pasture.The place will swarm with many people and hum loudly with noise.Mic 4:6, 7Mic 5:7, 8; 7:1813 “The 1breaker the Messiah, who opens the way shall go up before them liberating them.They will break out, pass through the gate and go out;So their King goes on before them,The LORD at their head.” Ex 23:20, 21; 33:14; Is 63:8, 9; Hos 3:5; Amos 9:11The prophets repeatedly revealed the full extent of God’s coming judgment and salvation. God would punish His rebellious people but would afterward redeem them. Israel would be sent into exile, but a remnant of the people would return. The Messiah, the One who breaks open the way, shall lead them back and shall restore the kingdom of David.