Hey, you know the book of Zechariah? Well, chapter 7 is all about how God is mad at the Israelites because they've been ignoring His laws. So God sends this message to the people: "Stop your evil practices, start doing what's right, and show kindness and mercy to each other. Otherwise, I'm gonna be real mad. Got it?" And what do the Israelites do? Nothing. They just keep on being selfish and greedy. So God sends a warning: if they don't repent, He's gonna do some serious smiting. In the end, though, the people ignore God's warnings, so He sends a big punishment. They suffer through famine, captivity, and all sorts of other terrible things. So, moral of the story: if God says something, you should probably listen.