Study Desk

God 's Message came to me as follows: "If a man's wife walks out on him And marries another man, can he take her back as if nothing had happened? Wouldn't that raise a huge stink in the land? And isn't that what you've done— ‘whored' your way with god after god? And now you want to come back as if nothing had happened." God 's Decree.

God spoke to me during the reign of King Josiah: "You have noticed, haven't you, how fickle Israel has visited every hill and grove of trees as a whore at large? I assumed that after she had gotten it out of her system, she'd come back, but she didn't. Her flighty sister, Judah, saw what she did. She also saw that because of fickle Israel's loose morals I threw her out, gave her her walking papers. But that didn't faze flighty sister Judah. She went out, big as you please, and took up a whore's life also. She took up cheap sex-and-religion as a sideline diversion, an indulgent recreation, and used anything and anyone, flouting sanity and sanctity alike, stinking up the country. And not once in all this did flighty sister Judah even give me a nod, although she made a show of it from time to time." God 's Decree.

Then God told me, "Fickle Israel was a good sight better than flighty Judah. Go and preach this message. Face north toward Israel and say:

""Turn back, fickle Israel. I'm not just hanging back to punish you. I'm committed in love to you. My anger doesn't seethe nonstop. Just admit your guilt. Admit your God-defiance. Admit to your promiscuous life with casual partners, pulling strangers into the sex-and-religion groves While turning a deaf ear to me.'" God 's Decree. "Come back, wandering children!" God 's Decree. "I, yes I, am your true husband. I'll pick you out one by one— This one from the city, these two from the country— and bring you to Zion. I'll give you good shepherd-rulers who rule my way, who rule you with intelligence and wisdom.

"And this is what will happen: You will increase and prosper in the land. The time will come"— God 's Decree!—"when no one will say any longer, ‘Oh, for the good old days! Remember the Ark of the Covenant?' It won't even occur to anyone to say it—‘the good old days.' The so-called good old days of the Ark are gone for good.

"Jerusalem will be the new Ark—‘ God 's Throne.' All the godless nations, no longer stuck in the ruts of their evil ways, will gather there to honor God .

"I planned what I'd say if you returned to me: ‘Good! I'll bring you back into the family. I'll give you choice land, land that the godless nations would die for.' And I imagined that you would say, ‘Dear father!' and would never again go off and leave me. But no luck. Like a false-hearted woman walking out on her husband, you, the whole family of Israel, have proven false to me." God 's Decree.

The sound of voices comes drifting out of the hills, the unhappy sound of Israel's crying, Israel lamenting the wasted years, never once giving her God a thought. "Come back, wandering children! I can heal your wanderlust!"

"We're here! We've come back to you. You're our own true God ! All that popular religion was a cheap lie, duped crowds buying up the latest in gods. We're back! Back to our true God , the salvation of Israel. The Fraud picked us clean, swindled us of what our ancestors bequeathed us, Gypped us out of our inheritance— God-blessed flocks and God-given children. We made our bed and now lie in it, all tangled up in the dirty sheets of dishonor. All because we sinned against our God , we and our fathers and mothers. From the time we took our first steps, said our first words, we've been rebels, disobeying the voice of our God ."

"If you want to come back, O Israel, you must really come back to me. You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia and not wander away from me anymore. Then you can say words like, ‘As God lives...' and have them mean something true and just and right. And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing and find something in Israel to write home about."

Here's another Message from God to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: "Plow your unplowed fields, but then don't plant weeds in the soil! Yes, circumcise your lives for God's sake. Plow your unplowed hearts, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. Prevent fire—the fire of my anger— for once it starts it can't be put out. Your wicked ways are fuel for the fire.

"Sound the alarm in Judah, broadcast the news in Jerusalem. Say, ‘Blow the ram's horn trumpet through the land!' Shout out—a bullhorn bellow!— ‘Close ranks! Run for your lives to the shelters!' Send up a flare warning Zion: ‘Not a minute to lose! Don't sit on your hands!' Disaster's descending from the north. I set it off! When it lands, it will shake the foundations. Invaders have pounced like a lion from its cover, ready to rip nations to shreds, Leaving your land in wrack and ruin, your cities in rubble, abandoned. Dress in funereal black. Weep and wail, For God 's sledgehammer anger has slammed into us head-on.

"When this happens" — God 's Decree— "King and princes will lose heart; priests will be baffled and prophets stand dumbfounded."

Then I said, "Alas, Master God ! You've fed lies to this people, this Jerusalem. You assured them, ‘All is well, don't worry,' at the very moment when the sword was at their throats."

What's this? A messenger from Dan? Bad news from Ephraim's hills! Make the report public. Broadcast the news to Jerusalem: "Invaders from far off are raising war cries against Judah's towns. They're all over her, like a dog on a bone. And why? Because she rebelled against me." God 's Decree.

I looked at the earth— it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness. I looked at the skies, and not a star to be seen. I looked at the mountains— they were trembling like aspen leaves, And all the hills rocking back and forth in the wind. I looked—what's this! Not a man or woman in sight, and not a bird to be seen in the skies. I looked—this can't be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up. All the towns were ghost towns. And all this because of God , because of the blazing anger of God .

Yes, this is God 's Word on the matter: "The whole country will be laid waste— still it won't be the end of the world. The earth will mourn and the skies lament Because I've given my word and won't take it back. I've decided and won't change my mind."

"Patrol Jerusalem's streets. Look around. Take note. Search the market squares. See if you can find one man, one woman, A single soul who does what is right and tries to live a true life. I want to forgive that person." God 's Decree. "But if all they do is say, ‘As sure as God lives...' they're nothing but a bunch of liars."

But you, God , you have an eye for truth, don't you? You hit them hard, but it didn't faze them. You disciplined them, but they refused correction. Hardheaded, harder than rock, they wouldn't change. Then I said to myself, "Well, these are just poor people. They don't know any better. They were never taught anything about God . They never went to prayer meetings. I'll find some people from the best families. I'll talk to them. They'll know what's going on, the way God works. They'll know the score." But they were no better! Rebels all! Off doing their own thing. The invaders are ready to pounce and kill, like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf, Panthers on the prowl. The streets aren't safe anymore. And why? Because the people's sins are piled sky-high; their betrayals are past counting.

"Why should I even bother with you any longer? Your children wander off, leaving me, Taking up with gods that aren't even gods. I satisfied their deepest needs, and then they went off with the ‘sacred' whores, left me for orgies in sex shrines! A bunch of well-groomed, lusty stallions, each one pawing and snorting for his neighbor's wife. Do you think I'm going to stand around and do nothing?" God 's Decree. "Don't you think I'll take serious measures against a people like this?