Though the nature of the meeting for which Israel had to prepare is not entirely clear, the context suggests a formal judgment. Israel had failed to care for the poor, to worship the Lord in sincerity, and to remember God in disaster. Their failure to be loyal to the Lord would not prevent God from engaging with them in judgment.1
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”