Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
The verse portrays God's people in a backslidden condition, persecuted and defeated, handed over like sheep destined for slaughter and scattered among the nations. To be given like sheep appointed for meat is to be left defenseless before enemies bent on destruction. To be scattered among the heathen is to suffer defeat and dispersion outside their own land.
It describes the close of the kingdom of Judah, when Jerusalem was laid waste and the temple despoiled. Captives were slain at Riblah, and Zedekiah, the last king, was captured. Gedaliah was appointed governor and then slain through treachery, after which the remnant went down to Egypt against Jeremiah's counsel. Kindness was afterward shown to Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon, while God's people as a whole remained given over like sheep for meat and scattered among the heathen.
The same image of slaughter describes the suffering spoken of by Paul, yet it does not have the final word. Even under such trials, through Christ's love God's people are more than conquerors.
The verse portrays God's people in a backslidden condition, persecuted and defeated, handed over like sheep destined for slaughter and scattered among the nations. To be given like sheep appointed for meat is to be left defenseless before enemies bent on destruction. To be scattered among the heathen is to suffer defeat and dispersion outside their own land.
It describes the close of the kingdom of Judah, when Jerusalem was laid waste and the temple despoiled. Captives were slain at Riblah, and Zedekiah, the last king, was captured. Gedaliah was appointed governor and then slain through treachery, after which the remnant went down to Egypt against Jeremiah's counsel. Kindness was afterward shown to Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon, while God's people as a whole remained given over like sheep for meat and scattered among the heathen.
The same image of slaughter describes the suffering spoken of by Paul, yet it does not have the final word. Even under such trials, through Christ's love God's people are more than conquerors.