Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, And say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, And see what unrest is in her, And what oppression is among them."
It was no figure of speech. God avenges, as He comforts, not in word, but in deed. The triumph of those enemies David had especially deprecated, “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumised triumph” 2 Samuel 1:20. To these Israel was to be a gazingstock. They were like “the woman set in the midst John 8:3, amid one encircling sea of accusing insulting faces, with none to pity, none to intercede, none to show mercy to them who “had shewed no mercy.” Faint image of the shame of that Day, when not people’s deeds only, but “the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed” Romans 2:16, and “they shall begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us” Luke 23:30; and of that “shame” there will be no end, for it is “everlasting” Daniel 12:2.