10:1,2
The condemnation of the nation continues, and the chapter division seems rather artificial here, and most versions do not have a section heading here. The state is criticised for issuing unjust decrees. These deprived the poor of their rights and robbed the poor (widows and the fatherless). This latter aspect may have included raising special taxes to pay tribute to Assyria. We see this phenomenon often enough in our own societies. Governments of whatever political persuasion will impose burdens on the people for all sorts of political ends. It is usually the poor who pay the most.
10:3,4
“What will you do on the day of reckoning?” Having an awareness of our final accountability to God is an essential element of good governance. When governments lose this and think they are only accountable to the people, or, worse, to themselves, then bad decisions proliferate. We can also apply the same principle to ourselves on a personal level. The powerful are deluded, for they think their power can deliver them from anything, and protect them from anything. It cannot protect them from God!
“Yet for all this, His anger is not turned away”.
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