For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
For this gird with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel and Jerusalem has not turned back from them. The lion of the surrounding passage is Babylon, the first of the world empires shown in Daniel's vision. That anger rests on persisting in wickedness, for union with the world is spiritual adultery and rejection of God. The prophecies around the verse denounce sin in awful terms and express heartfelt sorrow over transgression, making a touching appeal to return to God which the mass of the people ignore.
Jerusalem's destruction here is a faint shadow of a greater desolation of the last days, so the warning reaches beyond ancient Jerusalem to the church and the world just before Christ's second coming. In that time widespread corruption calls for the Lord's personal visitation to destroy evil. The chapter warns of a coming time just before the day of the Lord when all the nations prepare for the great battle of Armageddon, and that preparation carried to its end means the destruction of earthly kingdoms. The fierce anger is not turned back while governments bow the people under tremendous war burdens to build ever greater battleships, even alongside peace congresses and cries of peace.
After the wicked are slain at Christ's coming the earth is left desolate and without people. In that emptied earth Satan and his fallen angels have no one to tempt during the thousand years. The verse thus points to awful confusion and trouble coming upon the earth when people are no longer worthy of God's favor.
For this gird with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel and Jerusalem has not turned back from them. The lion of the surrounding passage is Babylon, the first of the world empires shown in Daniel's vision. That anger rests on persisting in wickedness, for union with the world is spiritual adultery and rejection of God. The prophecies around the verse denounce sin in awful terms and express heartfelt sorrow over transgression, making a touching appeal to return to God which the mass of the people ignore.
Jerusalem's destruction here is a faint shadow of a greater desolation of the last days, so the warning reaches beyond ancient Jerusalem to the church and the world just before Christ's second coming. In that time widespread corruption calls for the Lord's personal visitation to destroy evil. The chapter warns of a coming time just before the day of the Lord when all the nations prepare for the great battle of Armageddon, and that preparation carried to its end means the destruction of earthly kingdoms. The fierce anger is not turned back while governments bow the people under tremendous war burdens to build ever greater battleships, even alongside peace congresses and cries of peace.
After the wicked are slain at Christ's coming the earth is left desolate and without people. In that emptied earth Satan and his fallen angels have no one to tempt during the thousand years. The verse thus points to awful confusion and trouble coming upon the earth when people are no longer worthy of God's favor.