Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
The verse is God's stern answer to Israel's cry under Ammonite oppression after they admitted forsaking Him for Baalim. He recalled that He had repeatedly delivered Israel from its enemies despite repeated unfaithfulness, specifically naming rescue from the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites and Philistines. He charged Israel with abandoning Him and forsaking Him to serve other gods, Baalim and idols they had chosen.
He declared He would rescue them no more and in their trouble and distress sent them to seek rescue and deliverance from the deities they picked. The rebuke exposed those chosen gods as powerless and unable to save in the time of tribulation. Israel knew their idols could neither save nor destroy, yet persistent sin dulled their moral judgment and led them further from God.
The refusal drove Israel to a deeper, unconditional confession, asking God to do whatever He saw fit while pleading for present rescue, followed by practical reformation in removing foreign gods and serving the Lord, which moved God's loving heart with grief over Israel's misery. As a general warning, those who forsake God to serve chosen idols reap what they have sown for rejecting His calls and counsel, and will find those idols and worldly choices unable to deliver or relieve their distress in trouble. In the judgment, those who have given their time, means, or intellect to worldly gods will face the same answer when they plead for pardon: they must turn to the gods they chose.
Those who love husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sisters, or friends above God and prefer their favor by disregarding truth will be left to those they chose. Hate means a lesser degree of love, with supreme love owed to God and friends loved secondarily, and when family ties cause disobedience they love them more than Jesus and are not worthy of Him. In that fearful time when they need an arm stronger than any human arm of father, brother, or husband to protect and shield them, they will call upon Him that is mighty to save but He will not hear them. He will bid them lean upon those they preferred before Him and loved above Him, saying let them deliver and save you, and though He left His Father's glory and majesty, became poor, bore insult and mockery, and died a shameful death on the cross to save them from hopeless misery and death, this did not move them to obey and prefer His favor, so He will say I know you not; depart from me.
The verse is God's stern answer to Israel's cry under Ammonite oppression after they admitted forsaking Him for Baalim. He recalled that He had repeatedly delivered Israel from its enemies despite repeated unfaithfulness, specifically naming rescue from the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites and Philistines. He charged Israel with abandoning Him and forsaking Him to serve other gods, Baalim and idols they had chosen.
He declared He would rescue them no more and in their trouble and distress sent them to seek rescue and deliverance from the deities they picked. The rebuke exposed those chosen gods as powerless and unable to save in the time of tribulation. Israel knew their idols could neither save nor destroy, yet persistent sin dulled their moral judgment and led them further from God.
The refusal drove Israel to a deeper, unconditional confession, asking God to do whatever He saw fit while pleading for present rescue, followed by practical reformation in removing foreign gods and serving the Lord, which moved God's loving heart with grief over Israel's misery. As a general warning, those who forsake God to serve chosen idols reap what they have sown for rejecting His calls and counsel, and will find those idols and worldly choices unable to deliver or relieve their distress in trouble. In the judgment, those who have given their time, means, or intellect to worldly gods will face the same answer when they plead for pardon: they must turn to the gods they chose.
Those who love husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sisters, or friends above God and prefer their favor by disregarding truth will be left to those they chose. Hate means a lesser degree of love, with supreme love owed to God and friends loved secondarily, and when family ties cause disobedience they love them more than Jesus and are not worthy of Him. In that fearful time when they need an arm stronger than any human arm of father, brother, or husband to protect and shield them, they will call upon Him that is mighty to save but He will not hear them. He will bid them lean upon those they preferred before Him and loved above Him, saying let them deliver and save you, and though He left His Father's glory and majesty, became poor, bore insult and mockery, and died a shameful death on the cross to save them from hopeless misery and death, this did not move them to obey and prefer His favor, so He will say I know you not; depart from me.