THEOSISJerome of Stridon
And the Lord spoke to me, saying, Son of man, tell him, You are a defiled land, parched and lacking rain during the time of judgment. The plot of the prophets among her is like a roaring lion, seizing its prey; they have consumed souls, gained riches and rewards, and increased the number of widows in her midst. Her priests have disregarded My commandments and desecrated My sacred places. They have failed to differentiate between the sacred and the secular and have shown no discernment between the clean and the unclean, turning their gaze away from My Sabbaths, thus defiling Me in their midst. Her leaders are like wolves, tearing at the prey, shedding blood and destroying lives, driven by greed.
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Meanwhile, her prophets have dressed them in falsehood without a proper mixture, seeing empty visions and proclaiming falsehoods, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord has not spoken. They have unjustly accused the inhabitants of the land, violently robbed them, oppressed the poor and the needy, and mistreated the foreigner without justice. I sought for a man among them who would build a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. Therefore, I poured out My fury upon them and consumed them with the flames of My wrath. Their paths I turned back upon their own heads, says the Lord God. A discerning listener might inquire, What this injustice is that has tarnished the purity of silver, mingling it with copper, lead, tin, and iron? Thus, what is depicted through the imagery of the city and the crucible is also symbolized in the representation of the land, which was dry and did not receive rain. By rain, we refer to those of which it is said, We will command the cloud, that it shall not rain upon it (Isaiah 3:6); we expect it when we receive the rain of timely favor and late blessings, of which it is written, The rain of volition thou wilt give, O God, to thy possession (Psalm 67:10). However, the rain of wrath is that which one brings upon oneself through a multitude of transgressions. We wish to discern the meaning of the calamity of the city, the defilement of the earth hardened and overgrown with thorns and thistles.