1 Israel was a luxuriant vine,
yielding fruit for himself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he increased the altars.
The better his land produced,
the better he made the sacred pillars.
2 Their hearts are devious;
now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will break down their altars
and demolish their sacred pillars.

3 Surely now they will say,
“We have no king,
for we do not revere the LORD.
What can a king do for us?”
4 They speak mere words;
with false oaths they make covenants.
So judgment springs up
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

5 The people of Samaria will fear
for the calf of Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn
with its idolatrous priests—
those who rejoiced in its glory—
for it has been taken from them into exile.6 Yes, it will be carried to Assyria
as tribute to the great king.
Ephraim will be seized with shame;
Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
7 Samaria will be carried off with her king
like a twig on the surface of the water.
8 The high places of Aven will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel;
thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

REFLECTIONS

Written by James Davidson

The sentence that jumps out at me in this passage is the final one: “Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’” This describes the desperate attempt of unforgiven sinners to hide from the judgement of God. But they will not be able to. It’s even more sobering when you consider that the sins of Israel described in this passage are ordinary sins, common in our society today. For example, in v1, ‘As his fruit increased, he built more altars’: Israel became prosperous, but instead of thanking God for it and serving him gladly they served other gods. In v4 they break contracts and take each other to court. Sound familiar?

Revelation chapter 6 picks up this sentence and applies it to the final judgement.

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

When that day comes unforgiven sinners will not be able to hide from God’s judgement. Let’s praise God for the Lamb’s forgiveness and pray for opportunities to warn unbelievers of the judgement to come.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James is one of our Assistant Ministers.