Israel has been rightly charged with idolatry and wickedness. She has forsaken her Deliverer and refused to return at His many invitations. Therefore, she is to be judged, and since the sin is terribly evil, so the judgment will be equally harsh! The way God will accomplish the correction and restoration of His child will be such that He is magnified! First, God will raise up the Assyrians to defeat and enslave Israel and the Babylonians to defeat and enslave Judah. In this way, God will prove Himself over men and nations! He upholds His sovereignty.
Second, the cruel, harsh reality of enslavement will drive a remnant to repentance! The purpose of judgment is not to annihilate, but rather to restore! They will realize the uselessness and emptiness of false gods, the wickedness of their rejection of God, and they will hunger for and cry out to God for salvation. In this way, He upholds His holiness.
Third, even though God’s children forget Him, He does not forget them! Judgment is not His final act toward them, but rather it is salvation from judgment! God is going to deliver! Salvation is coming. In this way, He upholds his grace.
Fourth, the ultimate purpose behind the judgment, captivity, and restoration is that Israel’s history will be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. Therefore, every nation will hear of the might and mercy of the One True God! God will not only have children from one ethnic group, but He will have children from EVERY ethnic group! In this way, He upholds His glory!
Salvation is coming, and that means a whole lot!
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