As in the days of Ahaz, so my people have traded the fear of the Lord for the fear of temporal things. Ahaz constructed places of prayer in every home and every hovel, on every hill and under every tree. The temple that bore my name was not enough. He longed for me to be available at a whim. Like the false gods of Canaan, Ahaz taught the people to treat me as a common thing in Israel. No more purification, no more pilgrimage festivals, no more Torah. He wanted only the act of worship to suffice.
So, I abandoned Israel to her enemies. I gave my people over to the gods they had worshipped. Their high places and Asherah poles did battle for them, and their enemies swept over them as a flood.
But when my time of wrath was spent, I judged, too, the nation that had judged them. For a nation without mercy will receive no mercy, and a people without compassion will be shown no compassion.
As in the days of Ahaz, so are the days of my people today. Fear rules the land, doctrines of demons are preached from my pulpits, and my people are possessed by the spiritual forces of evil in league with the flesh.
And I have brought judgment on my people. Every hidden thing is being made known. And more than secrets will be unearthed in the days to come. Again, my people have built high places and called them centers of worship. Again my people have fashioned gods of their own choosing and worshipped them in my name.
For these sins, I am releasing the flood on my church. Not one stone will remain on top of another. This nation will fall from without and from within. The people will be feasting on each other when they are interrupted by ravenous lions. The vultures are gathering! Feed creatures of the earth, feed! For the feast is before you. The spoils of the earth have been brought into houses of prostitution, but none shall eat of their fruits. What has been gathered will be scattered. What has been ripened will become rotten. My people will not rest. Weariness will be their lot. For they feared the world and only flattered God.
But woe to the creatures who feed on them, and woe to those who pillage their stores. For I will not call innocent those who do violence to those under my judgment. When my wrath is spent, I will call to account every evil deed done against my people. To those who show mercy, mercy will be shown to them. And to those who bind the wounds of justice with compassion, with compassion I will bind their wounds.