Israel and Judah should have been the interpreters of God's law. They should have been the ones that kept the commands of God, that lived it as a way of life, and set the example for the entire world. You only have I known. . . It is a matter of intimacy that He is expressing there. I have revealed Myself to you, God says. Of all the families of the earth, you are the only ones that I have done this to.
Having the revelation of God, having the law of God, having the Word of God was supposed to give them an advantage before the world because it set up, for them, a relationship with God. Instead, it became the means, and the basis, for the punishment that God meted out against them. They should have known better, is what God is saying. To whom much is given, much is required. So their special privilege - of having been given the revelation of God - boomeranged on them because they failed to live up to the terms of the agreement. And, thus, the wrath of God came down upon them.