God then calls on Judah to look at other nations. They all worshipped false gods, yet they remained faithful to them. They did not change the "gods" that they worshipped, even though they did nothing and were worthless. Israel, on the other hand, had experienced direct salvation from their God yet had abandoned Him. He had proved that He could save them, but they chose to turn to worthless idols instead when danger threatened.
So the people had committed two sins. They had abandoned the Lord, the spring of living water, and had instead dug cisterns that cannot hold water. This is the perversity of human nature. We do well to consider this, especially when we feel threatened. We should consider what we know the Lord has already done for us. He is the source of living water and will continue to be so. Whatever situation you are facing right now, the Lord will be a source of help if you turn too Him.
Israel was not meant to be a slave, yet had become so because of her insistence on abandoning the Lord and seeking help from other nations and other gods. Neither are we meant to be slaves.
Israel wilfully turned away from God, just as the whole human race has wilfully rejected the Lord. Yet she did not realise what she had done, she was blind. The idols were bits of wood and stone, no good for anything. Israel's stupidity was now found out.
In all this chapter we see the utter perversity of human nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment