“I Have Kept Quiet for a Long Time”

22, 23. Why does Jehovah ‘keep quiet for a long time’?

²² Jehovah is fair and just, even when executing judgment against his enemies. He says: “I have kept quiet for a long time. I continued silent. I kept exercising self-control. Like a woman giving birth I am going to groan, pant, and gasp at the same time.

Isaiah 42:14,

²³ Before taking judicial action, Jehovah allows time to pass in order to give wrongdoers an opportunity to turn from their bad ways. (Jeremiah 18:7-10; 2 Peter 3:9) Consider the case of the Babylonians, who, as the dominant world power, desolate Jerusalem in the year 607 B.C.E. Jehovah permits this so as to discipline the Israelites because of their unfaithfulness. However, the Babylonians fail to recognize the role that they are playing. They treat God’s people far more harshly than God’s judgment requires. (Isaiah 47:6, 7; Zechariah 1:15) How it must hurt the true God to see his people suffer! But he withholds taking action until his due time. Then, he labors​—like a woman giving birth—​to liberate his covenant people and brings them forth as an independent nation.