8 Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.
9 The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.” Comment: – Is this stating that God is against wealth? How is wealth seen by God? Certainly according to this God is against wealth becoming an obsession/an idol. Some think that God is against the wealthy, but I think that God is against wealth replacing Him as the centre of your life. Sometimes, but not always, following God makes you choose a less wealthy pathway, but sometimes He wants you to be wealthy in order to use it in His service.
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 They have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
or see the work of his hands. – Comment: Certainly God is against a pleasure seeking, narcissistic, decadent lifestyle. He judges the Jews for living like that. How does our society measure up?
13 Therefore my people go into exile
for lack of knowledge;
their honored men go hungry,
and their multitude is parched with thirst. – the temporal effect on the masses
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth beyond measure, – the eternal effect on the guilty.
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,
her revelers and he who exults in her.
15 Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.
16 But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. – God’s character.
17 Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. – Comment: – The land promised to Israel will become again a land for wandering shepherds. The Jews beautiful, multiple dwellings as seen at the beginning of the passage will be inhabited by wandering Arab nomads!
Proverbs 2: 20-22 – So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.
Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, that following You means Liberty and Life not License and Loss!
As I read it! 