Astonished
The prophet Jeremiah was born circa
650 B.C., died in Egypt in 570 B.C. God called him at age 17, which
means his ministry spanned 60 years of Jewish history. The book of
Lamentations serves as an epilogue to his major prophetic work. In
summary, he writes: “The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished,
O daughter of Zion” (4:22).
As Jeremiah considered how far God’s
people had fallen, from the glory days of David, when Israel had
conquered all her enemies round about, to son Solomon, whereby God
added great riches to the nation beyond its military prowess, he is
astonished: “The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the
world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should
have entered into the gates of Jerusalem” (4:12).
In other words, no one would have
believed, if you had told them, that a few centuries removed from
David/Solomon those whom Israel had conquered would conquer
them.
What is the explanation for such a
collapse, for such a decline, for such a disastrous end? Was it bad
foreign policy, bad economic policy or insecure borders? No, none of
the above! Jeremiah explains: “FOR [because of] THE SINS of her
prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood
of the just in the midst of her” (4:13).
The proliferation of her SINS was
rooted in the corruption of her PROPHETS (responsible for maintaining a
standard of TRUTH) and her PRIESTS (responsible for maintaining a
standard of HOLINESS). As went the nation’s spiritual leadership, so
went the nation. No nation can survive when the foundation stones of
TRUTH and HOLINESS are abandoned. America has done exactly that!
After America had defeated
Germany/Japan and elected Eisenhower, the U.S. was enjoying her own
glory days. In 1960, who would have believed that by circa 2025
America’s enemies would run roughshod over her?
A shift in the political winds (what
many are hoping for in 2022/2024) is NOT going to fix America’s SIN
problem. ONLY a resurgence of TRUTH and HOLINESS—God’s divine
remedies—will suffice to turn our nation around.
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