5:11
The rich had made many plans, mostly at the expense of the poor. It is a feature of all societies, whether they are capitalist, socialist or social democratic, that the poor suffer. Look at the last financial crisis. It was not the rich bankers who really paid a price, but ordinary people. When taxes are raised it is rarely the rich who end up paying more, they find ways around the taxes. But the plans of the rich will come to nothing.
5:12,13
These judgements are not arbitrary, but are based on justice. The Lord knows the sins that the powerful had committed. This in fact is a great difference between the Biblical writings and other writings of the time. They give a clear condemnation of sin on the basis of justice. It was the righteous who were afflicted, and courts took bribes. So anyone with any sense kept silent, for to object was to court trouble. Today we see a similar situation with LGBT stuff. Most people know that trans ideology is nonsense, even dangerous nonsense, but few will say anything because they know they invite a torrent of abuse, possible even the loss of their job. “For it is an evil time”.
5:14
When God issues judgements the purpose is that people change their ways. There comes a point where people become so hard hearted that they will not hear and will not change, and at that point they are “given over” to their sin (see Romans 1:18-32). However, we need to recognise the initial purpose. The warnings and the judgements may sound very severe, and indeed they are, but the purpose is to bring people to their senses. So here Israel has received harsh words from the Lord, but now we get the call to “Seek good, not evil, that you may live”. God does not delight in people perishing (Ezek 18:23). The Israelites thought that God was “with them”, but He wasn’t, because of their evil behaviour. But if they turned to God in repentance, He would indeed be with them. If God is against us then we have no one to blame but ourselves.
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