14:1
At last we move on to some cheerier parts of the prophecy! And we are almost at the end. This is the pattern in Amos as well. So why do we have all this judgement first? It is because we need to realise the nature, seriousness and depth of our sin before we can understand the nature, seriousness and depth of God’s love and salvation. Israel’s sin is her downfall. If she had not sinned she would not be suffering the things she had suffered and would suffer. Her major problem is not that Assyria is against her, but that God is against her! Yet this is not a counsel of despair, it does not mean that all is lost, it means that she should return to the Lord.
14:2,3
She needed to acknowledge her sins and to repent. She needed to seek forgiveness. She needed to acknowledge that Assyria could not save her. it is our human nature to turn to anything as a source of salvation, anything except God. We need to admit the futility of this. She also needed to admit the futility of worshipping idols, all the things she had turned to as a source of salvation, and to renounce them completely.
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