“ ‘That is why I will bring disaster on Jeroboam’s house. I will destroy every male in his house, whether slave or freeman in Israel. I will burn down Jeroboam’s house. It will burn like manure until it is gone.
But the Lord was kind and merciful to the Israelites because of his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He didn’t want to destroy the Israelites, and even now he hasn’t turned away from them.
The Lord said, “I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard them crying out because of the slave drivers. I know how much they’re suffering.
In all their troubles he was troubled, and he was the Messenger who saved them. In his love and compassion he reclaimed them. He always held them and carried them in the past.
“ ‘I looked for someone among you who could build walls or stand in front of me by the gaps in the walls to defend the land and keep it from being destroyed. But I couldn’t find anyone.
The Lord will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their strength is gone and that no one is left, neither slaves nor free people.