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| 1 Behold, Jehovah maketh the land empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants. |
Behold the LORD – It is the Lord that makes the earth desolate. Truth on every subject is the voice of God. It is the dissemination of truth that prompts men to assert their equal rights and make desperate efforts to obtain them. R686. 6
Maketh the earth – The present social organization. R1813:6
Upside down – The upper crust, the proud, will be deposed and the lower classes, the humble and meek, will be exalted. R332:3
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| 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with him from whom usury is taken. |
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| 3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for Jehovah hath spoken this word. |
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| 4 The land mourneth, it fadeth away; the world languisheth, it fadeth away: the haughty people of the land do languish. |
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| 5 And the land is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; for they have violated the laws, changed the statute, broken the everlasting covenant. |
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| 6 Therefore doth the curse devour the earth, and they that dwell therein are held guilty; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are consumed, and few men are left. |
Few men left – A class of the world, not spirit-begotten, who will be preserved in the time of trouble: "Seek righteousness, seek meekness, it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zeph. 2:3) R5041:6; Q719:1
As the three Hebrews were preserved in the fiery furnace, so we expect some will be spared in the time of trouble. R5041:6; Q718:6
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| 7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all that were merry-hearted do sigh; |
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| 8 the mirth of tambours ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. |
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| 9 They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it. |
Strong drink – False doctrines. R3455:2; D614
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| 10 The city of solitude is broken down; every house is shut up, so that none entereth in. |
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| 11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone; |
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| 12 desolation remaineth in the city, and the gate is smitten, --a ruin. |
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| 13 For so will it be in the midst of the land among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive-tree, as the grape-gleanings when the vintage is done. |
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| 14 These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout for the majesty of Jehovah, they shall cry aloud from the sea. |
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| 15 Therefore glorify Jehovah in the east, the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the isles of the west. |
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| 16 From the end of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous! And I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously. |
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| 17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, inhabitant of the land. |
Fear – Verses 17 to 22 give a vivid description of the awful time of trouble. R5735:4
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| 18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the sound of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are open, and the foundations of the earth shake. |
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| 19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is completely dissolved, the earth is violently moved. |
The earth – The present old social structure. D558; R1813:6
Is utterly broken – In the time of trouble. D551; R1813:6
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| 20 The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunkard, and is shaken like a night hut; and its transgression is heavy upon it; and it falleth and shall not rise again. |
Reel to and fro – As a result of the judgments of the Lord falling heavily upon the wayward and disobedient. R1913:4
Like a drunkard – Vainly endeavoring to right itself, maintain a footing and re-establish itself. D551
Like a cottage – To clear the way for the new building of God. D558
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| 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. |
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| 22 And they shall be brought together, as an assemblage of prisoners for the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited. |
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| 23 And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts shall reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients in glory. |
Shall reign – When Christ and his glorified Church shall reign in righteousness. R2049:5
In mount Zion – The spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God. F363
Gloriously – "He must reign until he shall have put all enemies under his feet." (1 Cor. 15:25) R2049:6
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