Obviously the people are not in a good place. G-d wants the people to come back to Him and do Teshuva so He doesn't have to punish them but the people are stubborn. The people are even said to have been worse than the people of Yisrael because they should have learned from what had happened to Yisrael. The people were not all worshipping Avodoah Zara but their relationship with G-d was like worship of the Baal. They only prayed when they wanted something. The people were corrupt. The only righteous people cowered in their houses. The people used G-d's name when they lied and committed adultery. They did not recognize G-d and were taking advantage of the downtrodden (poor, orphans etc). The people were trying to to trap their fellow man like trappers for animals and their houses were full of trickery like the trappers cages are full of birds (Perek Hay). The people just don't care about justice. Now because they have served foreign gods, they will now serve foreign nations. G-d does not want to punish them but by perek 11 He realizes He has no choice. The people have abandoned G-d therefore they have also abandoned the Brit. G-d even tells them that they can cry to their "gods" but they will not save them and they can cry to Him but He will not listen. The extent of the punishment has not been determined yet but there will be punishment.
I understand that the people were corrupt and there was a significant lack of Tzedeck and Mishpat among this generation but I don't think everything that happens was solely their fault. The people thought they were doing Teshuva and returning to G-d. They thought they were religious. Of course, they were not doing Teshuva properly and they weren't as religious as they thought they were but how were they supposed to know? The false prophets were telling them that everything was fine, they were doing the right thing, and there was going to be peace. The false prophets were, of course, killed for relaying these false prophesies to the people. How were the people supposed to know that these prophets were fake? For all they knew, these prophets were sent from G-d and they were doing the right thing by listening to them. When Yirmiahu came along, why should we blame them for not listening? After all this time of believing that these false prophets were speaking the truth, why should they believe this new guy telling them that they were going to be punished because they were sinning against G-d?
After the fall of Ashor the people thought the worst was behind them. They had finally recieved a reward from G-d which must have meant they were following G-d and He was happy with them. They had defeated the greatest superpower in the world. How could G-d possibly be mad at them? The people did not have the correct guidance. They had been following these false prophets and seeing these great things happen to them. There was no reason they should think that Yirmiahu was telling the truth or that G-d was angry with them and a punishment was coming. In my opinion, G-d should have made some type of miracle to show the people that Yirmiahu was telling the truth. Eliyahu showed the people during his time that G-d was the real G-d and He had sent him by making the fire come from the sky and burn his offering/alter. The false prophets of the Baal were exposed when the people saw that they could not get the fire to come from the sky. I think that G-d should have done something like this to prove to the people that He had sent Yirmiahu. I'm actually surprised that He doesn't considering how badly He wants the people to return to Him.
Overall, I understand why the people were punished. They behaved completely disrespectfully towards their fellow man and towards G-d. Their lack of Tzedeck and Mishpat was a huge component as well. If only they had recognized that G-d is in control sooner and acted with morality then this whole catastrophe could have been avoided. I still think, however, that the people are not completely at fault. I don't blame G-d but I do think that more could have been done to get the people to see the light and listen to Yirmiahu's message.
I totally agree with Alyssa here. By the way, the first three paragraphs are a lovely overview of pretty much everything we have done so far... Happiness and Joy, Mrs. Perl! :) Anyway, I do understand what Alyssa's saying. The people were mostly at fault but not entirely. However, back to the very beginning of everything we have learned with Mrs. Perl, the people were supposed to have an innate sense of morality, like a conscience. They shouldn't have needed G-d to come after them and give them a blatant message. The people should have been able to discern what was right or wrong for themselves. For this reason, they did deserve their punishment. Of course, on top of their lack of basic morality came all of their resulting sins. Like we have said so many times before, the people were so far gone and simply needed to be exiled. When they come back from exile, they will have a repaired relationship with G-d and can start anew with religiosity and G-d.
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