34:12
The nobles and princes are the equivalent of what we might today call the “ruling elite”. There is a time when the “ruling elite” seem to hold sway in many areas of public life, eg finance, education, the media, government. But there will also come a time when there is nothing left for them to “rule” over.
34:13-15
We then get a picture of the place in terms of various life forms dwelling there. The cities and fortresses will be overrun with brambles and nettles, jackals and owls will dominate the cities. Civilisation will have collapsed, but other animals will find a home and dwell safely. So what does all this tell us? We live in a time when there is increasing disdain for the “ruling elite”, when “populism” is increasing common. There are two wrong reactions. The first is to show contempt for those who are rebelling, wanting nothing else but to go back to the cosy existence that the elite had before the “rebellion”. This is the reaction in the UK to Brexit, and in the US to Trump. The second wrong reaction is to see the overthrow of the elite as the answer to everything. Again there are many in the UK who think Brexit will solve everything, or in the US who see Trump as some sort of saviour. Both reactions are wrong and doomed to futility. The only constructive answer is to repent and turn to God. For it is rebellion against God that is the root of every problem, and returning to God is the only long lasting solution.
34:16,17
It seems that God is using the safe-keeping of the animals and birds as an indicator of His safe keeping of His people. Jesus did a similar thing when He said that God knows when even one sparrow falls from the sky. We see the operation of the word of God and the Spirit of God, just as we do in creation in Genesis 1.
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