Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
The verse is addressed to the house of Israel as a summons to hear the word which the Lord speaks to them. It opens and introduces the divine warning that follows. That warning is not to learn or follow the way of the heathen nations.
More specifically, the warning forbids adopting the heathen way and forbids fearing or being dismayed at the signs in the heavens in the manner of the heathen. The summons to heed God's word stands against turning to teachings that deny God and treat His word with contempt. It rebukes those who claim to be Christians and profess to believe the truth while drinking from polluted sources of unbelief. By teaching and example such persons draw others away from pure refreshing truth likened to cold waters from the snows of Lebanon, and though claiming to be wise they show themselves to be fools.
The call to heed sets forth the Lord as the true God, the living God and everlasting King, at whose wrath the earth trembles and whose indignation the nations cannot endure. He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. At His voice He commands the multitude of waters in the heavens, brings vapors from the ends of the earth, makes lightning with rain, and brings wind from His storehouses. In contrast, the gods that did not make heaven and earth shall perish from the earth and from under heaven. Every maker of idols is ignorant and put to shame, because his cast image is falsehood with no breath in it, a vanity and erring work that shall perish at the time of reckoning. The Portion of Jacob is not like idols, for He is the maker of all things, Israel is His allotted inheritance, and His name is the Lord of hosts.
The verse is addressed to the house of Israel as a summons to hear the word which the Lord speaks to them. It opens and introduces the divine warning that follows. That warning is not to learn or follow the way of the heathen nations.
More specifically, the warning forbids adopting the heathen way and forbids fearing or being dismayed at the signs in the heavens in the manner of the heathen. The summons to heed God's word stands against turning to teachings that deny God and treat His word with contempt. It rebukes those who claim to be Christians and profess to believe the truth while drinking from polluted sources of unbelief. By teaching and example such persons draw others away from pure refreshing truth likened to cold waters from the snows of Lebanon, and though claiming to be wise they show themselves to be fools.
The call to heed sets forth the Lord as the true God, the living God and everlasting King, at whose wrath the earth trembles and whose indignation the nations cannot endure. He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. At His voice He commands the multitude of waters in the heavens, brings vapors from the ends of the earth, makes lightning with rain, and brings wind from His storehouses. In contrast, the gods that did not make heaven and earth shall perish from the earth and from under heaven. Every maker of idols is ignorant and put to shame, because his cast image is falsehood with no breath in it, a vanity and erring work that shall perish at the time of reckoning. The Portion of Jacob is not like idols, for He is the maker of all things, Israel is His allotted inheritance, and His name is the Lord of hosts.