His nation was under siege by a mighty army. Jeremiah’s king sent two priests to him. They wanted him to inquire of the Lord so that God would intervene and save their nation. I am sure these priests were shocked when Jeremiah told them to tell the king that God was for their enemies. God would not have mercy on Jerusalem. [1]
Jeremiah told the priests to tell the people, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good, it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’” [2]
Jeremiah’s advice to his king was this: “Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.” [3]
After that, Jeremiah took his message directly to the palace. He told his king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.’” [4] In other words, if you want God to intervene and save you, you need to reform your ways and protect the most vulnerable people among you. Foreigners, widows, orphans! Don’t shed innocent blood means to stop killing babies. Life will be well for you if you change but a disaster if you do not. [5]
Jeremiah told his king, “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.” [6] The king and his cohorts were exploiting the working class. God would not intervene to save them as long as they continued this policy.
He asked his king, “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar wood? Did your father not have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” [7]
The tradition of the prophets is to confront those who are enjoying wealth at the expense of others to repent or to suffer losses on many levels. The good news is that God does offer a way out from the pending disaster. The way out is to humble oneself and to start protecting vulnerable people, start paying the workers their wages, and stop killing the babies.
[1] Jeremiah 21:1-6
[2] Jeremiah 21:8-10
[3] Jeremiah 21:12
[4] Jeremiah 22:3
[5] Jeremiah 22:4-5
[6] Jeremiah 22:13
[7] Jeremiah 22:15-16
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