1. Affliction is suffered to come upon the Saints in consequence of transgressions. (v2)
2. The Saints must be chastened and tried. (v4) (“Chastened” and “tried” are not synonymous.)
3. When the Saints are slow to listen to God, He is slow to listen to them in their afflictions. (v7-8)
4. Zion may be scattered without being “removed out of her place.” (v17) (Evidently gathering is not the same as “chosen,” and scattered is not the same as “cut off.”)
5. In this world our joy is not full, but in Christ our joy is full. (v36)
6. Care not for the body, but for the life of the soul. (v37)
7. When the salt has lost its savor, it is only good to be cast out and trod underfoot. (v39-40)
8. Those that exalt themselves shall be abased. (v42)
9. The parable of the vineyard and the slothful servants who were commanded to build a tower to protect it and then murmured until the enemy came and destroyed the place. (v43-54)
10. Importune for redress according to the law so everyone may be accountable and fully responsible for their own sins. (v76-78)
11. Keep taking grievances to judge, governor, then president, and if no help comes, then those wicked stewards will be cut off and the Lord will vex the nation. (v81-90)
12. The Lord will bring to pass His strange act and His strange work so that man may discern between the wicked and the righteous and be left without excuse. (v93-95)
The variety of ideas here indicates how well the Lord knew the complexity of the situation, that both righteous and wicked were suffering under the hands of other wicked people, for a variety of reasons, both deserved and undeserved. There is something in this revelation that would resonate with just about everybody.
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