“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

but make not a full end;

strip away her branches,

for they are not the LORD’s.” vs10

Even in wrath, God remembers mercy. He destroys the hypocrite because of his refusal to repent, but He mercifully saves the poor sinner. We could have all been destroyed and gone the way of Sodom, but He has a remnant according to the election of grace. This is God’s purpose in the world - to save as many as have been foreknown for no other reason than His mercy is greater than our sin. “In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace [Rom 11:5].”

You can come to Christ if you want to! The problem is nobody wants, so He humbles us, destroys others, and makes our way of escape. He will not let us perish, so He gets us the message of truth. “But we must always thank God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because from the beginning God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel [2 Thess 2:13].” Bless God for this! He gets the gospel to His elect, which is why I’m here and why every God-sent member of the body of Christ exists. We serve Him by serving others.

Secondly, God will humble us. He will make us see that we are sinners [vs17].

“They shall eat up your harvest and your food;

they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;

they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;

they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;

your fortified cities in which you trust

they shall beat down with the sword.”

He will not have mercy until we are low and brought down. He didn’t come for the righteous, so He whittles us into nothing, until our strength is gone, and then we cry out to Him. “The Lord will indeed vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one is left--slave or free. He will say: ‘Where are their gods, the ‘rock’ they found refuge in… See now that I alone am He; there is no God but Me [Deut 32:36-39].” We will not look to Him so long as power remains in our hands, but when we are dust and ashes - too weak for Satan and fearful of God’s wrath - then He will come down in power.

We are WEAK ENOUGH to be saved when we turn from self to Christ - from our will to His strength. Do not seek anything else or go any other way: He will only have mercy on the poor. It offends us that we must be helpless, but it is the way of holiness. He will destroy all who forsake this way and consume you in your rebellion! You fight God to your utter dismay!

Thirdly, you must be careful of false prophets. They are self-consumed and use us to further themselves [Jer 5:26].

“For wicked men are found among my people;

they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.

They set a trap;

they catch men.”

God is not mocked. He knows what is happening, but He will deliver His own from the tactics of Satan. The false shepherd shall not have God’s elect, because He gives us wisdom, reproves us by the Spirit, and teaches us the way to go. “The Lord is good and upright; therefore He shows sinners the way [Ps 25:8].” He is merciful to the ungodly, so the false prophet’s strength will be broken. God will come upon us with power, and we will see them for who they are, as we see Christ in imputed righteousness, eternal predestination, and holiness by the gospel. We will see Him, and our faces will shine [Ps 34:5].

Do not fear, but beware! Everything that glitters is not gold, and false prophets will come at you with fair speeches and fancy words! They’ll stir up the crowd. They’ll seem godly, but as you LOOK TO YOUR BIBLES, you’ll see they are frauds.