“Egypt
Shall become
A desolation.
Edom
Shall become
A desolate wilderness.
They have done violence
To the people of Judah.
They have shed
Innocent blood
In their land.”
Egypt and Edom would become desolate and a wilderness because of the violence that they have done to Judah in shedding innocent blood. Edom would disappear, but Egypt still stands today
“Plead with your mother!
Plead!
She is not my wife!
I am not her husband!
She should put away
Her whoring
From her face.
She should put away
Her adultery
From between her breasts.
Otherwise,
I will strip her naked.
I will expose her
As in the day
She was born.
I will make her
Like a wilderness.
I will turn her
Into a parched land.
I will kill her
With thirst.”
Now the prophet Hosea really tore into Gomer. He told the children that Gomer was not his wife and that he was not her husband. Gomer had to stop her whoring ways. She continued to commit adultery, although she bore 3 children. Hosea had a punishment for her. He was going to strip her naked, so that she would be like the day she was born. He was going to turn her into a wilderness or a parched land. He was going to kill her with thirst. I guess that there was no reconciliation here. The verse numbering system is not the same here for various bibles, since the Bible of Jerusalem has this at the end of the chapter.
“‘Though you rejoice,
Though you exult,
O plunderers of my heritage,
Though you frisk about
Like a heifer
On the grass,
Though you neigh
Like stallions,
Your mother
Shall be utterly shamed.
She who bore you
Shall be disgraced.
O!
She shall be
The last of the nations,
A wilderness,
A dry land,
A desert.
Because of the wrath
Of Yahweh,
She shall not be inhabited.
But she shall be
An utter desolation.
Everyone who passes
By Babylon
Shall be appalled.
They will hiss
Because of all her wounds.”
Then Yahweh via Jeremiah taunted Babylon, by indicating how they thought that they were superior with their plundering and rejoicing. They were like young heifers and stallions doing whatever they wanted to do. Now their mothers will be shamed and disgraced. They will become the last of the countries, as their land will become a wilderness, a dry land, like a desert. The wrath of Yahweh will not be held back. Babylon will be deserted and become an utter desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be appalled. They will hiss at all the wounds that they would see.
“‘Why do you complain against me?
You have all rebelled against me.’
Says Yahweh.
‘In vain
I have struck down your children.
They accepted no correction.
Your own sword devoured your prophets
Like a ravening lion.
You!
O generation!
Behold the word of Yahweh!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel?
Have I been a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say?
‘We are free.
We will come to you no more.’
Can a girl forget her ornaments?
Can a bride forget her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me.
They have done so for days without number.’”
The Israelites had rejected Yahweh. They complained and rebelled against him. Their children would not take any kind of correction. They killed his prophets with a sword. Was Yahweh a wilderness or darkness to the Israelites? Why did they say that they were free? They no longer came to Yahweh. How could this happen? Would a girl forget her jeweled ornaments? Would a bride forget her clothing attire? Yet these people have forgotten Yahweh for many unnumbered days.
“Your holy cities
Have become a wilderness.
Zion has become a wilderness.
Jerusalem has become desolation.
Our holy beautiful house,
Where our ancestors praised you,
Has been burned by fire.
All our pleasant places
Have become ruins.
After all this,
Will you restrain yourself?
O Yahweh!
Will you keep silent?
Will you punish us so severely?”
This prophet wanted an end to the desolation in Jerusalem. The holy city had become a wilderness. Zion or Jerusalem was desolate. The beautiful house that his ancestors had worshipped in had been burned by fire, so that it lay in ruins with many other pleasant places. He wanted Yahweh to act and not be silent. Why had he punished them so severely?
“The congregation assembled to be ready for battle. They assembled to pray and ask for mercy and compassion.
‘Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness.
Not one of her children went in or out.
The sanctuary was trampled down.
The sons of aliens held the citadel.
It was a lodging place for the gentiles.
Joy was taken from Jacob,
The flute and the harp ceased to play.’”
The Israelites gathered to pray. As they readied for the battle, they prayed for mercy and compassion. They lamented the situation in Jerusalem which had become a wilderness. No one went in or out as the sanctuary was trampled. The sons of aliens were in the citadel in Jerusalem. There no longer was joy from the land of Jacob as the flute and the harp ceased to play, just like the day the music stopped.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 