Scriptural Reasoning

‘The moment a community is told, in God’s name, that they are most excellent, therefore most favored, the decline into idolatry is swift.’

Isaiah 33

:7
הֵ֚ן אֶרְאֶלָּ֔ם צָעֲק֖וּ חֻ֑צָה מַלְאֲכֵ֣י שָׁל֔וֹם מַ֖ר יִבְכָּיֽוּן׃
Hark! The Arielites cry aloud;
Shalom’s messengers weep bitterly.

:8
נָשַׁ֣מּוּ מְסִלּ֔וֹת שָׁבַ֖ת עֹבֵ֣ר אֹ֑רַח הֵפֵ֤ר בְּרִית֙ מָאַ֣ס עָרִ֔ים לֹ֥א חָשַׁ֖ב אֱנֽוֹשׁ׃
Highways are desolate,
Wayfarers have ceased.
A covenant has been renounced,
Cities rejected
Mortals despised.

:9
אָבַ֤ל אֻמְלְלָה֙ אָ֔רֶץ הֶחְפִּ֥יר לְבָנ֖וֹן קָמַ֑ל הָיָ֤ה הַשָּׁרוֹן֙ כָּֽעֲרָבָ֔ה וְנֹעֵ֥ר בָּשָׁ֖ן וְכַרְמֶֽל׃ {ס}
The land is wilted and withered;
Lebanon disgraced and moldering,
Sharon is become like a desert,
And Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.