5:10-11 In that future eschatological day the Lord also promised to remove the vain sources of security that had always tempted the Israelites represented by horses, chariots, cities, and fortifications (cf. Deut. 17:16).
5:12 He would also remove the accouterments of pagan worship that had plagued His people. Sorceries involved seeking information from demonic sources (cf. 2 Kings 9:22; Isa. 47:9, 12; Nah. 3:4). Fortune tellers cast spells by calling demonic spirits to influence other people (cf. Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:10). Carved images were pagan idols (cf. Exod. 20:4). Sacred pillars and Asherim were stone and wooden symbols of the male and female Canaanite deities (cf. Deut. 16:21-22; 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10; 18:4; 23:14). Yahweh would free His people from these human inventions that had always oppressed them. Cities were infamous as places where spiritual impurity flourished (cf. 1:5), and God would destroy them too. These were Israel's internal enemies whereas other nations were her external enemies. Occultism will continue into the Tribulation (Rev. 9:21), but the Lord will finally root it out in the Millennium.
5:15 Finally the Lord promised to angrily take vengeance on the nations that had not obeyed His will (cf. Ps. 2:9; Rev. 12:5; 19:15). They are not responsible to keep the Mosaic Law, as Israel was, but they fail to acknowledge and worship Him as the only true God. "Vengeance"is "a legal term for the action of a royal suzerain against rebels who will not acknowledge his sovereignty."36
