Foreign Invasions

[Isa. 57:1] The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
In the midst of the excesses of the unfaithful watchmen, most of the few that are godly perish: partly by displeasure at the prevailing ungodliness; partly by violent death in persecution, the evils about to come in punishment of the national sins, foreign invasions. The removal of righteous persons as an awful symptom of the approach of Divine judgments, we have today become a nation of invasions, invasions I may say we have allowed.
The prophetess Huldah likewise promised Josiah that, You shalt be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eye see all the evil which I will bring upon this place (2 Kgs. 22:20). Though the righteous were ignored and persecuted by the wicked leaders, G-d would not forsake them. When they perished, when merciful men were taken away, G-d used it to bless the righteous, to take them away from evil and to allow them to enter into peace. By their death, the righteous would escape the temptations of their godless environment, and they would not have to witness the awful punishment that would fall upon the godless nation. They were actually saved from the horrors of siege and captivity; and they entered into the peace of `Abraham's bosom' (Lk. 16:22), there to await Messiah's resurrection.
Do we not deserve Divine judgments since we left the ‘one nation’ under G-d? G-d uses the elements sometimes to carry out His judgments. There are evil times coming, great calamities, and sore judgments upon men; and therefore righteous ones are gathered out of the world, and are gathered home, and safely housed in heaven, that they may escape the evil coming upon a wicked generation.
G-d challenges evil-doers; simply asking "Who do you think you are? Who are you mocking? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of falsehood?" This speaks to a common sin of human nature - to see the sins or the problems of others, while being blind to our own sins or problems.
In opposition to such vain confidence, the prophet enjoins trust in G-d, with whom the penitent and humble are sure to find acceptance, and from whom they should obtain temporal and spiritual deliverances. “And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, that you have lied and not remembered Me”: Here, G-d confronts the fact that people do not fear Him, and that they do fear someone or something else. Nor taken it to your heart: Their superficial relationship was connected to a low view of G-d, and their lack of respect for Him. Why did people lack respect for Him? In part, because He showed mercy and did not punish their sin immediately. They made a crucial error, common to fallen humanity: they mistook G-d's mercy and forbearance for weakness or lack of resolve. G-d says: “he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain”. Trust in G-d makes a person secure, while trust in one's self or in idols ends in ruin.
Awful condition of the wicked and finally impenitent, prepare the way, “take the stumbling block out of the way of My people”: Whatever gets in the way of our getting right with G-d must be taken out of the way.
"I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would fail before Me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid and was angry, and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners." "I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near," says the Father, "And I will heal him." But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. "There is no peace," says my G-d, "for the wicked."
2 Chron. 7:14 “If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”