God wants Israel to be His witness, His proof to the world. However, Israel fails repeatedly, yet God still promises to work in them and bring back the faithful to Himself. God says he forgives for His own sake not because we deserve it.
I note here that it seems like God is flipping back and forth first saying one thing and then something seemingly quite different. The reason is that the messages written together were not always delivered right after the next one. Time passes and the situation changes in the life of Israel. These prophecies are all true but should not necessarily be seen as given in one sitting. God isn't changing His mind in just a few sentences because it may be that the people, circumstances, and times have changed. I bring this up now because we see in this chapter three different messages, one of encouragement, one of promise, and one of correction. We may read them in one sitting but like I said, they weren't given in one sitting.
Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash
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