(Jeremiah 22:1-30)
This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and there speak this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. 3 This is what the Lord says: “Do justice and righteousness, and save one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. And do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed perform this instruction, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, the king himself, his servants, and his people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a place of ruins.”’” 6 For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“You are like Gilead to Me,Like the summit of Lebanon;
Yet most assuredly I will make you a wilderness,
Cities that are not inhabited.
7 For I will set apart destroyers against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will cut down your choicest cedars
And throw them on the fire.
8 “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”
10 Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep deeply for the one who goes away;
For he will never return
Or see his native land.
11 For this is what the Lord says regarding Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of his father Josiah, who went out from this place: “He will never return there; 12 but in the place where they took him into exile, there he will die and he will not see this land again.
13 “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness,
And his upstairs rooms without justice,
Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay
And does not give him his wages,
14 Who says, ‘I will build myself a large house
With spacious upstairs rooms,
And cut out its windows,
Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’
15 Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?
Did your father not eat and drink
And do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well for him.
16 He pled the cause of the afflicted and the poor,
Then it was well.
Is that not what it means to know Me?”
Declares the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain,
And on shedding innocent blood,
And on practicing oppression and extortion.”
18 Therefore this is what the Lord says regarding Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They will not mourn for him:
‘Oh, my brother!’ or, ‘Oh, sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
‘Oh, for the master!’ or, ‘Oh, for his splendor!’
19 He will be buried with a donkey’s burial,
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
And raise your voice in Bashan;
Cry out also from Abarim,
For all your lovers have been crushed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity;
But you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth,
That you have not obeyed My voice.
22 The wind will sweep away all your shepherds,
And your lovers will go into captivity;
Then you will certainly be ashamed and humiliated
Because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in Lebanon,
Nested in the cedars,
How you will groan when sharp pains come on you,
Pain like a woman in childbirth!
24 “As I live,” declares the Lord, “even if Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; 25 and I will hand you over to those who are seeking your life, yes, to those of whom you are frightened, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and your mother who gave birth to you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. 27 But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?
Or is he an undesirable vessel?
Why have he and his descendants been hurled out
And cast into a land that they had not known?
29 O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the Lord!
30 This is what the Lord says:
‘Write this man down as childless,
A man who will not prosper in his days;
For no man among his descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Here, God tells us that we should not mistreat or take advantage of the strangers, as well as the orphans and widows. This does not mean that a country should "open their borders" to allow anyone and everyone to stream in, because God also tells us that we are to do justice and righteousness. But, if criminals and terrorists are allowed to freely come in and out of a country, guess what? They will take advantage of those who are wanting to come into the country. There's a price that they require, in order to traffic them in. But guess what? Part way there, they stop and ask for more money. If one cannot pay, they will have to work off their debt... by either working for the cartel, or being trafficked in forced labor and/or sex slavery. Therefore, if one supports the idea of open borders, they support the idea of slavery.
We've even heard some of the politicians complain about the deportation of illegal immigrants. In their hopes of coming across as concerned and caring, they say things like, "Our economy is going to collapse!" "Who is going to take care of our children, clean our homes, do our yardwork..." etc. Well, these are the very same things that plantation owners said, back when the GOP fought to free the slaves! How much does one love money when it comes down to taking advantage of desperate people and getting cheap labor! And there are hundreds of thousands of children being trafficked for sex and forced labor. Is there no compassion and care for these victims? How is this not upsetting?!
There is a right way to be an immigrant, and to safely come into our countries. It not only protects the citizens, but it protects the immigrants themselves. Most people are NOT against immigrants - IF - it is done the right way!!! And then, we are to show love and kindness to those strangers, as well as the neighbors who are strangers only because we haven't gotten to know them yet. As for those who are here illegally, we are still to show love and kindness, but that doesn't mean we support their illegal behavior. Every country has border control and laws around why and how one enters it.
If we look at verse 16, God explains that by in pleading the cause of the afflicted and poor, it is demonstrating that one knows the Lord in a personal relationship. Doing good doesn't save us, but it proves that we have been saved. Love and kindness, as well as justice and law enforcement, can and should go hand in hand. With that, love needs to be directed and applied appropriately. The issues above come out of the love for money!
Why Christianity is not a prosperity-name-it-and-claim-it kind of system-of-belief is because as a true believer in Jesus Christ, our focus will be on Him, and not on money. The LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil. This does not say that one cannot have wealth. Notice in verse 21, God says that He warned Israel in their time of prosperity, but they would not listen. They were prosperous because the Lord had blessed them, but then... because of their disobedience, God allowed them to lose everything. It is typical that people will not see their need for God while they are "rich" and everything is going their way. It is also typical for those who love money, to be jealous of others who seem to have more than them, and will even accuse them of being selfish, greedy and lacking in compassion, even if they are generous, compassionate and philanthropic.
In verses 3-4, the Israelites are told that - IF they do justice and righteousness - THEN they would prosper. When we become Christians and live obediently in God's righteousness, He will bless us, but we do not know if it will be monetarily. That is not what our hope should be fixed on. What we do know is that we will have treasures in heaven, and for here, right now, the Lord will give us (at the very least) everything we NEED. And even better, as we allow Him to work in our lives, He will give us His peace, joy and hope, and have access to His wisdom and strength.
We can also be content in all things when we rely on and put our trust in the Lord. I can tell you from experience that even though we lived at poverty level for several years and were not "well off" for many more... our kids never realized that we were "poor." And even when we went through various sorrows and struggles, those were very wonderful "rich" years as we saw how God worked things out, which helped us mature in our walk and faith in the Lord!
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