The Lord has sworn by His very being, says the Lord God of Hosts, I will abhor every affront to Jacob, I will detest his towns, and I will bring ruin to the city and all its inhabitants. It will happen that if ten men remain in one dwelling, they too shall die. Their families will strive to remove the bones from the residence, asking those inside, Is there anyone more? The response will be negative, and the outside voice will instruct him to be silent, saying, Do not invoke the name of the Lord. For these reasons, depicted through prophetic utterances—who indulge on beds of ivory, nap on luxurious couches, feast on lambs from the flock, and bullocks from the stall—while they sing to the melodies of harps and drink from bowls, utterly disregarding the suffering of the people of Joseph—the Lord now proclaims: Because they have done such and such, they shall be carried away among the first of those who are moved.
The implication is clear: the judgment will arrive without delay, and the prophecy pertains to ages yet to come. My words announce what is imminent, that they will lead the throng of exiles, that is, the rulers and dignitaries, to whom it was previously said, Hear this word, you pampered heifers of the mountain of Samaria. Thus it is again proclaimed, Woe unto you who dwell in Zion, who take pride in the hill of Samaria, you nobles, you leaders of nations, who luxuriate in the house of Israel. You, the affluent, shall be the first to bear the chains of captivity, as it is written in Ezekiel, Begin from My sanctuary—not from the saints, as many presume, but following the desecration of the sacred temple. For the mighty shall suffer anguish, and more will be demanded from whom much has been given. It shall be declared, the circle of those engaged in self-indulgence will be annihilated—those who united only in their delight for pleasures and shared feasts; they shall all meet the same fate, so that for those who sought similar excesses, the punishment remains equal.
The LXX translates, the neighing of the horse at Ephraim will cease, though this is absent from the Hebrew and will be addressed in the allegorical interpretation to follow. The Lord swore by Himself, or in Hebrew, by His very being, as written in Isaiah: your new moons, your sabbaths, and your feasts, My soul hates. This does not imply that God possesses a soul in the human sense, but indicates His communication regarding human attributes. It is not surprising to attribute the notion of a soul, as He is also described with lesser parts: feet, hands, and womb. If faced with arguments asserting that Christ lacked a human soul, propose that the validation of a soul in Christ exists as much as the validity of His body. In God the Father, these terms do not refer to physical parts but signify actions; similarly, the soul does not denote His essence, but rather the innermost intentions and designs through which God reveals His purposes.
Thus, the Lord God of Hosts, signifying Sabaoth, affirmed His loathing for the pride of Jacob and condemned his abodes. Here Jacob stands for either the ten tribes or the entirety of the twelve. He will betray the city with its people—this could refer to either Samaria or Jerusalem, or both. This reflects a time post the Lord's coming and suffering, when God abhorred all the pride and offenses of Jacob, who was known to be the son of a carpenter and accused of being a Samaritan possessed by a demon; consequently, Jerusalem and its inhabitants were handed over to Roman armies. The intensity of God's wrath is such that even if ten individuals remain in one house, they shall perish, and a relative or neighbor will incinerate the remains to retrieve the bones, as carrying whole bodies will be impractical due to the multitude of deaths. When wearied from the task, he will inquire whether there are any corpses remaining, and the response will be, It is complete; I have none left for burial. Before he swears that none remain, the questioner, aware that there are no further corpses, will instruct him, Be silent, and do not invoke the name of the Lord. This indicates that even when faced with extreme calamity, they were unwilling to acknowledge the name of the Lord, such that Israel's disregard was so profound, they felt unworthy to utter His name even in a casual oath.
Having established the historical context, let us now delve into the allegorical interpretation. Those in authority among the heretics, who exploit My people for their self-indulgence and exhibit no concern for the plight of Joseph, shall be the first to face judgment, and Ephraim will cease to hear the sound of the horse, comprehended in Scripture in dual fashion: either denoting the arrogance and might of the wicked or relating to unrestrained desires. Concerning the pride and company of the unrighteous, it is said, some ride chariots, while others ride horses, and the horse is a source of rescue. Kings of Israel are commanded not to accumulate horses (Deuteronomy 17:16). In Job, we see the voice of the horse likened to the sound of a trumpet. Zechariah further confirms this, witnessing the coming of the Savior: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; herald the arrival of your king, who is just, and brings salvation, humble, riding on a donkey, on a colt. He will cut off chariots from Ephraim and horses from Jerusalem.
The recklessness of excessive desire is represented by a horse, as noted in Jeremiah, who illustrated lascivious and adulterous acts. The coming of Christ and the divine wrath will dismantle the power of such wild desires. The Lord Himself asserts, being unable to swear by anything higher, that He detests all heretical evildoers and despises their settlements. All their declarations offend God’s righteousness and deserve divine disdain. He will obliterate the city along with its councils, encompassing both the populace and its teachers, and if but ten remain (if they were in Sodom and Gomorrah, the city would not have faced destruction), they will all meet with death that leads to condemnation, as Ezekiel states: The soul that sins shall die. Their remains will be interred by their relatives, of whom it is said, let the dead bury their dead. Yet the one outside, who does not engage with the dead but seeks to remove them from the dwelling, commands the one who incinerates the corpses, reducing them to ashes, to remain silent and refrain from desecrating the holy name of God with dead lips. For God admonishes the sinner: How can you proclaim My righteousness and bear My covenant with your mouth? Therefore, we must also ensure we are not like the dead burying the dead, but rather, we must be alive and help restore life to those who are spiritually dead. Should we fail in this duty, the admonition to be silent shall apply to us, as we would be deemed unworthy of invoking the name of God.
THEOSIS