Dawn
Foreign nations still dominate the text and we need to continue to think of them as we did yesterday. Notice the comprehensiveness as judgement is passed on Assyria in the north, Ethiopia in the south, Philistia to the west, and Moab and Ammon to the east.
Imagine a group of people, small and feeling very insignificant, surrounded by a mix of great powers and unhelpful friends and relations who have never missed an opportunity to keep them down (vv 8, 10). For more years than they can count they have felt hemmed in on every side, like living on an island or in a prison from which there was no escape. They grew up in an atmosphere that led them to assume that everything had to be just as it was. But now, things are beginning to change. This could be just their moment to come out on top. To enter into their feelings the ‘trick’ is to identify their enemies and see if we have anything in common.
Start inside the family with Moab and Ammon, descendants of Lot’s incestuous relationships with his daughters, and Judah’s traditional enemies. Well might their taunts and boasts hurt. Think where they came from. Moab is the part of the family you may tolerate but you certainly don’t want lectures from. The Ammonites had formed a coalition with the Philistines as far back as Jephthah (Judges 10-11) and defeated the Israelites soon after they entered the land, and Ammonite culture was continuing to develop when the political fortunes of Judah were in decline. Neither is an enemy we want to destroy, but their very existence is a constant reminder of those many traditional irritations and infiltrations which have been with us for a long time and which we have never come to terms with. To see them put in their place would be a great joy. Assyria is the ‘big brother (or sister)’ who wants to run all the family. Ethiopia is unpopular because she was once an ally of Hezekiah.
As the empire begins to crumble God’s people are ready to make a bid for independence. They know that chaos is Yahweh’s opportunity. Renewal is round the corner as they hope for survivors and a Remnant (v 9).