Study Desk

"As for you, Tyre and Sidon and Philistia, why should I bother with you? Are you trying to get back at me for something I did to you? If you are, forget it. I'll see to it that it boomerangs on you. You robbed me, cleaned me out of silver and gold, carted off everything valuable to furnish your own temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem into slavery to the Greeks in faraway places. But I'm going to reverse your crime. I'm going to free those slaves. I'll have done to you what you did to them: I'll sell your children as slaves to your neighbors, And they'll sell them to the far-off Sabeans." God 's Verdict.

Announce this to the godless nations: Prepare for battle! Soldiers at attention! Present arms! Advance! Turn your shovels into swords, turn your hoes into spears. Let the weak one throw out his chest and say, "I'm tough, I'm a fighter." Hurry up, pagans! Wherever you are, get a move on! Get your act together. Prepare to be shattered by God !

"Mass confusion, mob uproar— in Decision Valley! God 's Judgment Day has arrived in Decision Valley.

"The sky turns black, sun and moon go dark, stars burn out. God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem. Earth and sky quake in terror. But God is a safe hiding place, a granite safe house for the children of Israel. Then you'll know for sure that I'm your God , Living in Zion, my sacred mountain. Jerusalem will be a sacred city, posted: ‘ no trespassing .'

"What a day! Wine streaming off the mountains, Milk rivering out of the hills, water flowing everywhere in Judah, A fountain pouring out of God 's Sanctuary, watering all the parks and gardens! But Egypt will be reduced to weeds in a vacant lot, Edom turned into barren badlands, All because of brutalities to the Judean people, the atrocities and murders of helpless innocents. Meanwhile, Judah will be filled with people, Jerusalem inhabited forever. The sins I haven't already forgiven, I'll forgive." God has moved into Zion for good.

The Message: God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem! The thunderclap voice withers the pastures tended by shepherds, shrivels Mount Carmel's proud peak.

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 Gaza —make that four—I'm not putting up with her any longer. She deported whole towns and then sold the people to Edom. For that, I'm burning down the walls of Gaza, burning up all her forts. I'll banish the crime king from Ashdod, the vice boss from Ashkelon. I'll raise my fist against Ekron, and what's left of the Philistines will die." God 's Decree.

God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Tyre —make that four—I'm not putting up with her any longer. She deported whole towns to Edom, breaking the treaty she had with her kin. For that, I'm burning down the walls of Tyre, burning up all her forts."

God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Edom —make that four—I'm not putting up with her any longer. She hunts down her brother to murder him. She has no pity, she has no heart. Her anger rampages day and night. Her meanness never takes a timeout. For that, I'm burning down her capital, Teman, burning up the forts of Bozrah."

God 's Message: "Because of the three great sins of Ammon —make that four—I'm not putting up with her any longer. She ripped open pregnant women in Gilead to get more land for herself. For that, I'm burning down the walls of her capital, Rabbah, burning up her forts. Battle shouts! War whoops! with a tornado to finish things off! The king has been carted off to exile, the king and his princes with him." God 's Decree.

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.

"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.

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.

Listen to this, Israel. God is calling you to account—and I mean all of you, everyone connected with the family that he delivered out of Egypt. Listen!

Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren't going to the same place? Does a lion roar in the forest if there's no carcass to devour? Does a young lion growl with pleasure if he hasn't caught his supper? Does a bird fall to the ground if it hasn't been hit with a stone? Does a trap spring shut if nothing trips it? When the alarm goes off in the city, aren't people alarmed? And when disaster strikes the city, doesn't God stand behind it? The fact is, God , the Master, does nothing without first telling his prophets the whole story.

The lion has roared— who isn't frightened? God has spoken— what prophet can keep quiet?