Study Desk

Announce to the forts of Assyria, announce to the forts of Egypt— Tell them, "Gather on the Samaritan mountains, take a good, hard look: what a snake pit of brutality and terror! They can't—or won't—do one thing right." God said so. "They stockpile violence and blight. Therefore"—this is God 's Word—"an enemy will surround the country. He'll strip you of your power and plunder your forts."

God 's Message: "In the same way that a shepherd trying to save a lamb from a lion Manages to recover just a pair of legs or the scrap of an ear, So will little be saved of the Israelites who live in Samaria— A couple of old chairs at most, the broken leg of a table.

"Listen and bring witness against Jacob's family"— this is God's Word, God -of-the-Angel-Armies! "Note well! The day I make Israel pay for its sins, pay for the sin-altars of worship at Bethel, The horned altars will all be dehorned and scattered around. I'll tear down the winter palace, smash the summer palace—all your fancy buildings. The luxury homes will be demolished, all those pretentious houses." God 's Decree.

"This is serious—I, God , have sworn by my holiness! Be well warned: Judgment Day is coming! They're going to rope you up and haul you off, keep the stragglers in line with cattle prods. They'll drag you through the ruined city walls, forcing you out single file, And kick you to kingdom come." God 's Decree.

"Come along to Bethel and sin! And then to Gilgal and sin some more! Bring your sacrifices for morning worship. Every third day bring your tithe. Burn pure sacrifices—thank offerings. Speak up—announce freewill offerings! That's the sort of religious show you Israelites just love." God 's Decree.

"You know, don't you, that I'm the One who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards, Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines? But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me." God 's Decree.

"Yes, and I'm the One who stopped the rains three months short of harvest. I'd make it rain on one village but not on another. I'd make it rain on one field but not on another—and that one would dry up. People would stagger from village to village crazed for water and never quenching their thirst. But you never got thirsty for me. You ignored me." God 's Decree.

"I hit your crops with disease and withered your orchards and gardens. Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees, but you continued to ignore me." God 's Decree.

"I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues, killed your choice young men and prize horses. The stink of rot in your camps was so strong that you held your noses— But you didn't notice me. You continued to ignore me." God 's Decree.

"I hit you with earthquake and fire, left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the flames. But you never looked my way. You continued to ignore me." God 's Decree.

"All this I have done to you, Israel, and this is why I have done it. Time's up, O Israel! Prepare to meet your God!"

Look who's here: Mountain-Shaper! Wind-Maker! He laid out the whole plot before Adam. He brings everything out of nothing, like dawn out of darkness. He strides across the alpine ridges. His name is God , God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

This is the Message, God 's Word: "The city that marches out with a thousand will end up with a hundred. The city that marches out with a hundred will end up with ten. Oh, family of Israel!"

God 's Message to the family of Israel: "Seek me and live. Don't fool around at those shrines of Bethel, Don't waste time taking trips to Gilgal, and don't bother going down to Beer-sheba. Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow and Bethel is all show, no substance."

So seek God and live! You don't want to end up with nothing to show for your life But a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground. For God will send just such a fire, and the firefighters will show up too late.

Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar and stomp righteousness into the mud. Do you realize where you are? You're in a cosmos star-flung with constellations by God, A world God wakes up each morning and puts to bed each night. God dips water from the ocean and gives the land a drink. God , God-revealed, does all this. And he can destroy it as easily as make it. He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.

Seek good and not evil— and live! You talk about God , the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, being your best friend. Well, live like it, and maybe it will happen.

Hate evil and love good, then work it out in the public square. Maybe God , the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will notice your remnant and be gracious.

Now again, my Master's Message, God , God-of-the-Angel-Armies: "Go out into the streets and lament loudly! Fill the malls and shops with cries of doom! Weep loudly, ‘Not me! Not us, Not now!' Empty offices, stores, factories, workplaces. Enlist everyone in the general lament. I want to hear it loud and clear when I make my visit." God 's Decree.

Woe to all of you who want God 's Judgment Day! Why would you want to see God , want him to come? When God comes, it will be bad news before it's good news, the worst of times, not the best of times. Here's what it's like: A man runs from a lion right into the jaws of a bear. A woman goes home after a hard day's work and is raped by a neighbor. At God 's coming we face hard reality, not fantasy— a black cloud with no silver lining.