Therefore the Lord declares, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes.
I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy. – This is a very clear statement of intent! Lye is used to clean. It is a strong caustic cleaning agent and I think its use here is described to get blood staining out of the cloth of life to bring it back to pristine whiteness! Alloys have been made by mixing basic metals to form such things as bronze and brass, a process which necessitated all the ‘rubbish’ to be removed by melting and the rubbish was either burnt or floated to the top and scraped off. In making a Holy Nation for Himself God wanted all the dross removed!
And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. – The primary purpose, the first ‘if’ of yesterday’s passage was to bring things back to God’s perfect way. It was a plan of restoration and fulfillment!
But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. – But if people chose the second ‘if’ that is if they refuse God’s way, then the consequences are very, very unpleasant.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. – in the worship of forbidden gods of the surrounding nations people performed sexual acts and even the offering of their children in sacrifice to idols, the trees under which they lay and the pleasant gardens prepared for heretical worship would be destroyed!
For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water.
And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them. – this all sounds a little ‘hellish’! Is hell truly a reality!
Ecclesiastes 12: 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. – it couldn’t be clearer!
Prayer: Thank You, Father God, for forgiveness and restoration made possible via the Cross and Jesus.
As I read it! 