Justice Overlooked

Jeremiah 22:1-10

Yesterday we visited verse one and today let’s look at what God was instructing the King of Judah and his servants. “Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”

This introduction implies that justice was overlooked, much as it is in our time.  When a person with political contacts and wealth can break the law, and nothing happens, and one who does not have that same status goes to jail, you have a corrupt system!  When there is a breakdown in justice, it becomes very clear that righteousness goes out the window.  The poor, we would refer to them as under-resourced or oppressed, and the widows, the alien, and the fatherless.  The unprotected were robbed, abused, and even suffered violence to the point of death in Judah.

Maybe our leader and your leader need to listen to what God is telling the king and his servants, perhaps you and I also need to pay attention.  “For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:” They were no different than you and me, each day we choose, blessing or curses.

Jerusalem and the royal palace were like the beauty of the trees of Gilead and Lebanon, but the palace and all of Jerusalem was burned.  When future generations saw the terrible destruction and ask why this happened, it would be answered in this manner: because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh.  They broke the relationship between the Lord and His people.  Look at Deuteronomy 5:7-8 ‘‘You shall have no other gods before me.” “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”  Have you entered into a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, if so you have confessed your sin and believe Jesus has risen from the dead and at this moment He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, and also in your soul?  That by His blood you have been made right with God, for it has covered the sins of all who come to Him in faith.

In the tenth verse, Jeremiah is telling the people not to weep for kings like Josiah who died in battle but to weep for the king Jehoahaz who would be exiled and die in a foreign nation.  Earth is our foreign nation if heaven is our home, but once more it comes down to the choice you make, heaven or hell, Jesus as Savior and Lord, or self, but please go to this warning in John 10:10, and ensure that you have chosen the right path!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice