Since the desolation of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah was imminent, many prophets were sent by the Lord to proclaim this disaster beforehand and to exhort the people to repentance, so that at least some of them would convert and be preserved in this miserable future destruction of the people. The desolation of the kingdom of Israel fell in the sixth year of Hezekiah, for that is the ninth of sKing^ Hosea [2 Kings 17:6.]. About one hundred and fifty years after that the kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians, the city laid waste and the temple burned.
This calamity was first prophesied by Amos, who lived under Uzziah the father of Jotham. Hosea followed him and lived under Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz. Isaiah was in office for a longer time, for he also lived under Hezekiah. But Micah, the youngest of these, was not yet in office at the time of Uzziah. These prophets have completely one and the same way of teaching, because they preach about the desolation of the people and the abolition of the physical kingdom for the sake of sins, so that another, new and spiritual kingdom might be established through Christ.
The first part of the teaching belongs to the penance. The last is for the comfort of the godly, who, having suffered the same calamity, needed this spiritual comfort from the kingdom of Christ, through which they believed they would be in grace; for it is a kingdom of forgiveness of sins, of righteousness, and of eternal life. And since for the sake of this spiritual kingdom both kingdoms, Judah and Israel, were desolate, and the people scattered among the Gentiles, a remnant was preserved, that the promise of Christ might be sure, and the people sure, out of whom Christ should be born. This is the subject of the four prophets mentioned, one as well as the other, calling the people to repentance and comforting the godly, whom the common calamity also affected.
And here we are rightly reminded of the counsel of God, who always, when very great changes and exceedingly unfortunate times are imminent, used to remind people beforehand by the Word. Thus Noah preached a hundred and twenty years before the Flood, so that some would mend their ways and be saved. Before the last destruction
the synagogue, John, Christ and the apostles preached for more than forty years. And there is no doubt that the light of the Word that we have today will be followed by a certain calamity. For in addition to the other sins, there is also this, that the Word is neglected and despised by those who hear it and have it. The others who do not have it, as there are the pope, the bishops and many furious princes, persecute the word with the greatest cruelty. Do you think that God can see this and tolerate it longer? Since Germany is now ripe to suffer the punishments it deserves, we are reminded by the Word, so that at least some will mend their ways and either be saved in the coming calamity, or have something with which to comfort themselves in the common misfortune.
And it could almost seem as if the Jews had reason why they did not believe the preaching of the prophets. For there were the promises of the everlasting kingdom of David. Likewise, that the scepter should not be taken away from the tribe of Judah until the Messiah came. Against these promises the sermons of the prophets seemed to argue. Therefore, there was no lack of people who accused them as if they were lying spirits, as the examples of Jeremiah and others testify. And puffed up by the promises, which they had not rightly understood, they laughed at and despised the true prophets, as the papists do now, because they dream that they are the church, lean on the promises given to the church, and live quite securely.
And God with wonderful wisdom did both, that the threats of the prophets were not in vain, and yet also the promises were fulfilled. The people were led away captive, and yet there remained a light from the house of David, the captive Jehoiachin, who was delivered from the dungeon by EvilMerodach and kept royal [2 Kings 25:27]. Then it came to pass that the remnant of the people were restored, by whom the city and the temple were restored.
Reason does not understand this way in which God fulfills His promises, for
she thinks that God cares about the great number, and as she is ambitious, she thinks that God, for the sake of His glory, is doing everything magnificently. But God does not look at the great number; rather, for the sake of sin, He rejects a tremendously great multitude, so that He may keep His promises to a few believers.
In this way St. Paul discusses that God has not rejected His people, "for", he says [Rom. 11, 1.], "I am also an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham". This is admittedly a great thing, that he boasts this of his individual person, and yet meanwhile confesses that the whole people were cast out and rejected. But this is the way God acts, as Isaiah [Cap. 10, 22] testifies: "For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet shall the remnant of them be converted." The godless crowd of the Jews did not recognize this, therefore they surely despised the threats of the prophets and thought that God would not reject such a large number.
The papists do not have such a promise, and yet they boast that God will not abandon His Church. This is true, of course, but how do they want to prove that they are the Church? By standing in the highest dignity? By having the greater multitude on their side? But God does not look at the dignity, not at the great number, as the history of the Jews testifies. Therefore, they should abandon this security and humble themselves before God, since He could preserve His Church even if there were no pope, no bishop. Thus, after almost the entire kingdom of Judah and all that was high in the nation had been destroyed, he nevertheless received the tribe from which Christ was born, like an earlobe of a lamb torn out of the jaws of a wolf, as the prophet [Amos 3:12] speaks. For God is wont to act so marvelously that the wicked become ashamed and ashes and perish.
And this is also the reason why the prophets have veiled the future things in such a way that they seem to be in contradiction with themselves. The passage about the king Zedekiah gives a clear proof of this. Jeremiah
says of him ^Cap. 32, 4.], "He shall speak orally with ihin seeming king of Babels, and shall see him with his eyes." But Ezekiel says in the twelfth chapter [v. 12.], "His face shall be veiled, that he shall not see the land with any eye." Such contradictions the wicked have taken very fine notice of, and have reproached the prophets with them as certain proofs of falsehood. And yet it is true what
This is what Ezekiel said, because Zedekiah's eyes were put out and he could not see the land of Babylon, yet he saw the eyes of the king. This gave offense to the wicked, so that they suspected that the prophets had lied, but God uses this way to punish presumption with blindness. This is what I wanted to say in a few words about the content of this prophet.