Study Desk

"I know you, Ephraim, inside and out. Yes, Israel, I see right through you! Ephraim, you've played your sex-and-religion games long enough. All Israel is thoroughly polluted. They couldn't turn to God if they wanted to. Their evil life is a bad habit. Every breath they take is a whore's breath. They wouldn't recognize God if they saw me.

"Bloated by arrogance, big as a house, they're a public disgrace, The lot of them—Israel, Ephraim, Judah— lurching and weaving down their guilty streets. When they decide to get their lives together and go off looking for God once again, They'll find it's too late. I, God , will be long gone. They've played fast and loose with me for too long, filling the country with their bastard offspring. A plague of locusts will devastate their violated land.

"Every time I gave Israel a fresh start, wiped the slate clean and got them going again, Ephraim soon filled the slate with new sins, the treachery of Samaria written out in bold print. Two-faced and double-tongued, they steal you blind, pick you clean. It never crosses their mind that I keep account of their every crime. They're mud-spattered head to toe with the residue of sin. I see who they are and what they've done.

"They entertain the king with their evil circus, delight the princes with their acrobatic lies. They're a bunch of overheated adulterers, like an oven that holds its heat From the kneading of the dough to the rising of the bread. On the royal holiday the princes get drunk on wine and the frenzy of the mocking mob. They're like wood stoves, red-hot with lust. Through the night their passion is banked; in the morning it blazes up, flames hungrily licking. Murderous and volcanic, they incinerate their rulers. Their kings fall one by one, and no one pays any attention to me.

"Ephraim is bird-brained, mindless, clueless, First chirping after Egypt, then fluttering after Assyria. I'll throw my net over them. I'll clip their wings. I'll teach them to mind me! Doom! They've run away from home. Now they're really in trouble! They've defied me. And I'm supposed to help them while they feed me a line of lies? Instead of crying out to me in heartfelt prayer, they whoop it up in bed with their whores, Gash themselves bloody in their sex-and-religion orgies, but turn their backs on me. I'm the one who gave them good minds and healthy bodies, and how am I repaid? With evil scheming! They turn, but not to me— turn here, then there, like a weather vane. Their rulers will be cut down, murdered— just deserts for their mocking blasphemies. And the final sentence? Ridicule in the court of world opinion."

"Blow the trumpet! Sound the alarm! Vultures are circling over God's people Who have broken my covenant and defied my revelation. Predictably, Israel cries out, ‘My God! We know you!' But they don't act like it. Israel will have nothing to do with what's good, and now the enemy is after them.

"They crown kings, but without asking me. They set up princes but don't let me in on it. Instead, they make idols, using silver and gold, idols that will be their ruin. Throw that gold calf-god on the trash heap, Samaria! I'm seething with anger against that rubbish! How long before they shape up? And they're Israelites! A sculptor made that thing— it's not God. That Samaritan calf will be broken to bits. Look at them! Planting wind-seeds, they'll harvest tornadoes. Wheat with no head produces no flour. And even if it did, strangers would gulp it down. Israel is swallowed up and spit out. Among the pagans they're a piece of junk. They trotted off to Assyria: Why, even wild donkeys stick to their own kind, but donkey-Ephraim goes out and pays to get lovers. Now, because of their whoring life among the pagans, I'm going to gather them together and confront them. They're going to reap the consequences soon, feel what it's like to be oppressed by the big king.

"Ephraim has built a lot of altars, and then uses them for sinning. Can you believe it? Altars for sinning! I write out my revelation for them in detail and they pretend they can't read it. They offer sacrifices to me and then they feast on the meat. God is not pleased! I'm fed up—I'll keep remembering their guilt. I'll punish their sins and send them back to Egypt. Israel has forgotten his Maker and gotten busy making palaces. Judah has gone in for a lot of fortress cities. I'm sending fire on their cities to burn down their fortifications."

"Long ago when I came upon Israel, it was like finding grapes out in the desert. When I found your ancestors, it was like finding a fig tree bearing fruit for the first time. But when they arrived at Baal-peor, that pagan shrine, they took to sin like a pig to filth, wallowing in the mud with their newfound friends. Ephraim is fickle and scattered, like a flock of blackbirds, their beauty dissipated in confusion and clamor, Frenetic and noisy, frigid and barren, and nothing to show for it—neither conception nor childbirth. Even if they did give birth, I'd declare them unfit parents and take away their children! Yes indeed—a black day for them when I turn my back and walk off! I see Ephraim letting his children run wild. He might just as well take them and kill them outright!"

The people of Samaria travel over to Crime City to worship the golden calf-god. They go all out, prancing and hollering, taken in by their showmen priests. They act so important around the calf-god, but are oblivious to the sham, the shame. They have plans to take it to Assyria, present it as a gift to the great king. And so Ephraim makes a fool of himself, disgraces Israel with his stupid idols.

"When Israel was only a child, I loved him. I called out, ‘My son!'—called him out of Egypt. But when others called him, he ran off and left me. He worshiped the popular sex gods, he played at religion with toy gods. Still, I stuck with him. I led Ephraim. I rescued him from human bondage, But he never acknowledged my help, never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon, That I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek, that I bent down to feed him. Now he wants to go back to Egypt or go over to Assyria— anything but return to me! That's why his cities are unsafe—the murder rate skyrockets and every plan to improve things falls to pieces. My people are hell-bent on leaving me. They pray to god Baal for help. He doesn't lift a finger to help them. But how can I give up on you, Ephraim? How can I turn you loose, Israel? How can I leave you to be ruined like Admah, devastated like luckless Zeboim? I can't bear to even think such thoughts. My insides churn in protest. And so I'm not going to act on my anger. I'm not going to destroy Ephraim. And why? Because I am God and not a human. I'm The Holy One and I'm here—in your very midst.

The businessmen engage in wholesale fraud. They love to rip people off! Ephraim boasted, "Look, I'm rich! I've made it big! And look how well I've covered my tracks: not a hint of fraud, not a sign of sin!"

God once let loose against Ephraim a terrifying sentence against Israel: Caught and convicted in the lewd sex-worship of Baal—they died! And now they're back in the sin business again, manufacturing god-images they can use, Religion customized to taste. Professionals see to it: Anything you want in a god you can get. Can you believe it? They sacrifice live babies to these dead gods— kill living babies and kiss golden calves! And now there's nothing left to these people: hollow men, desiccated women, Like scraps of paper blown down the street, like smoke in a gusty wind.

Religion Customized to Taste God once let loose against Ephraim a terrifying sentence against Israel: Caught and convicted in the lewd sex-worship of Baal—they died! And now they're back in the sin business again, manufacturing god-images they can use, Religion customized to taste. Professionals see to it: Anything you want in a god you can get. Can you believe it? They sacrifice live babies to these dead gods— kill living babies and kiss golden calves! And now there's nothing left to these people: hollow men, desiccated women, Like scraps of paper blown down the street, like smoke in a gusty wind. "I'm still your God , the God who saved you out of Egypt. I'm the only real God you've ever known. I'm the one and only God who delivers. I took care of you during the wilderness hard times, those years when you had nothing. I took care of you, took care of all your needs, gave you everything you needed. You were spoiled. You thought you didn't need me. You forgot me. "I'll charge them like a lion, like a leopard stalking in the brush. I'll jump them like a sow grizzly robbed of her cubs. I'll rip out their guts. Coyotes will make a meal of them. Crows will clean their bones. I'm going to destroy you, Israel. Who is going to stop me? Where is your trusty king you thought would save you? Where are all the local leaders you wanted so badly? All these rulers you insisted on having, demanding, ‘Give me a king! Give me leaders!'? Well, long ago I gave you a king, but I wasn't happy about it. Now, fed up, I've gotten rid of him. I have a detailed record of your infidelities— Ephraim's sin documented and stored in a safe-deposit box. "When birth pangs signaled it was time to be born, Ephraim was too stupid to come out of the womb. When the passage into life opened up, he didn't show. Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the end I'm abolishing regret, banishing sorrow, Even though Ephraim ran wild, the black sheep of the family. " God 's tornado is on its way, roaring out of the desert. It will devastate the country, leaving a trail of ruin and wreckage. The cities will be gutted, dear possessions gone for good. Now Samaria has to face the charges because she has rebelled against her God: Her people will be killed, babies smashed on the rocks, pregnant women ripped open."

What a day! Doomsday! God 's Judgment Day has come. The Strong God has arrived. This is serious business! Food is just a memory at our tables, as are joy and singing from God's Sanctuary. The seeds in the field are dead, barns deserted, Grain silos abandoned. Who needs them? The crops have failed! The farm animals groan—oh, how they groan! The cattle mill around. There's nothing for them to eat. Not even the sheep find anything.

The invaders charge. They climb barricades. Nothing stops them. Each soldier does what he's told, so disciplined, so determined. They don't get in each other's way. Each one knows his job and does it. Undaunted and fearless, unswerving, unstoppable. They storm the city, swarm its defenses, Loot the houses, breaking down doors, smashing windows. They arrive like an earthquake, sweep through like a tornado. Sun and moon turn out their lights, stars black out. God himself bellows in thunder as he commands his forces. Look at the size of that army! And the strength of those who obey him! God 's Judgment Day—great and terrible. Who can possibly survive this?

"In those days, yes, at that very time when I put life back together again for Judah and Jerusalem, I'll assemble all the godless nations. I'll lead them down into Judgment Valley And put them all on trial, and judge them one and all because of their treatment of my own people Israel. They scattered my people all over the pagan world and grabbed my land for themselves. They threw dice for my people and used them for barter. They would trade a boy for a whore, sell a girl for a bottle of wine when they wanted a drink.

God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Damascus —make that four—I'm not putting up with her any longer. She pounded Gilead to a pulp, pounded her senseless with iron hammers and mauls. For that, I'm setting the palace of Hazael on fire. I'm torching Ben-hadad's forts. I'm going to smash the Damascus gates and banish the crime king who lives in Sin Valley, the vice boss who gives orders from Paradise Palace. The people of the land will be sent back to where they came from—to Kir." God 's Decree.

God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Israel —make that four—I'm not putting up with them any longer. They buy and sell upstanding people. People for them are only things—ways of making money. They'd sell a poor man for a pair of shoes. They'd sell their own grandmother! They grind the penniless into the dirt, shove the luckless into the ditch. Everyone and his brother sleeps with the ‘sacred whore'— a sacrilege against my Holy Name. Stuff they've extorted from the poor is piled up at the shrine of their god, While they sit around drinking wine they've conned from their victims.

God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Moab —make that four—I'm not putting up with her any longer. She violated the corpse of Edom's king, burning it to cinders. For that, I'm burning down Moab, burning down the forts of Kerioth. Moab will die in the shouting, go out in the blare of war trumpets. I'll remove the king from the center and kill all his princes with him." God 's Decree. God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Judah —make that four—I'm not putting up with them any longer. They rejected God 's revelation, refused to keep my commands. But they swallowed the same old lies that got their ancestors onto dead-end roads. For that, I'm burning down Judah, burning down all the forts of Jerusalem." God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Israel —make that four—I'm not putting up with them any longer. They buy and sell upstanding people. People for them are only things—ways of making money. They'd sell a poor man for a pair of shoes. They'd sell their own grandmother! They grind the penniless into the dirt, shove the luckless into the ditch. Everyone and his brother sleeps with the ‘sacred whore'— a sacrilege against my Holy Name. Stuff they've extorted from the poor is piled up at the shrine of their god, While they sit around drinking wine they've conned from their victims. "In contrast, I was always on your side. I destroyed the Amorites who confronted you, Amorites with the stature of great cedars, tough as thick oaks. I destroyed them from the top branches down. I destroyed them from the roots up. And yes, I'm the One who delivered you from Egypt, led you safely through the wilderness for forty years And then handed you the country of the Amorites like a piece of cake on a platter. I raised up some of your young men to be prophets, set aside your best youth for training in holiness. Isn't this so, Israel?" God 's Decree. "But you made the youth-in-training break training, and you told the young prophets, ‘Don't prophesy!' You're too much for me. I'm hard-pressed—to the breaking point. I'm like a wagon piled high and overloaded, creaking and groaning. "When I go into action, what will you do? There's no place to run no matter how fast you run. The strength of the strong won't count. Fighters won't make it. Skilled archers won't make it. Fast runners won't make it. Chariot drivers won't make it. Even the bravest of all your warriors Won't make it. He'll run off for dear life, stripped naked." God 's Decree.