Background: Having seen His bride run off, leaving Him behind, along with her children of unfaithfulness, the Husband had repeatedly pursued her, paying the price to get her back home. But her unfaithfulness continued, so He confronted her directly:
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
Thoughts: God had given the land to Israel and provided bountifully for her, but she had polluted the land with sin and idolatry. the description in verse 2 above sounds all too familiar for our society as well - not just in the slums of our cities, but throughout our institutions and communities. Our land mourns. The rest of the chapter goes on to show how deeply sin had become ingrained even into the priests and prophets and proclaimed worship of God. It was that deeply embedded. Was there any hope? This sad saga was far from over.
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