One day, God asked Jeremiah to walk the streets of Jerusalem. God wanted him to find one person who judged rightly and sought the truth. If he could find just one, God promised to forgive his city. This story reminds me of the time God promised to Abraham that if there were just ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, He would spare the city. [2]
The people of Jerusalem needed a righteous person. Jeremiah did not find him. But alas, the day would come when a sinless man would walk the streets of Jerusalem. He would faithfully bear witness to the truth. His Name is Jesus Christ.
Last night, I watched a YouTube video about the liberation of the people of the former USSR from a very oppressive government. Below are some quotes from the video:
“If the leaders need to answer to the will of the people every few years, then the leaders are held accountable for their actions.”
“People were aware of being lied to, but they did not know just how much they were being lied to. They saw that the propaganda they were shown conflicted with the reality they saw with their own eyes.”
“As the people became more and more aware of their conditions, they began to consolidate and express their desire for a government that would reflect the will of the people. [Kind of like the early American colonist who said they did not want taxation without representation.]
They wanted a less centralized government. They wanted federalization where each region had equal rights. A referendum was held. The result was that the people voted overwhelmingly for equal rights among the various republics and peoples of the USSR. The old vanguard staged a coup to stop the progress of this freedom movement but failed. The people were no longer interested in preserving the USSR in any form. [3]
In light of this video, I thought of the prophet Jeremiah. He spoke truth from God that his country’s leadership did not want people to hear. They tried to silence him. They tried to convince the people he was a traitor, but in the end, Jeremiah was right. He was right because he received his words from God. God was directing his thoughts, actions, and speech. In fact, though no one seemed to listen to him or regard him worthy of respect, Jeremiah never let up sounding the alarm that his country was in trouble. If only they had listened to him and acted upon the truth that he spoke, they would have been spared from much harm.
May the Lord help the people of the nations to judge rightly and pursue truth. Listen to what His Spirit is saying through His servants! Grant us grace to believe and act on His truth that is found in the Bible.
[1] John 8:32
[2] Jeremiah 5; Genesis 18:32
[3] The Breakup of the Soviet Union Explained (YouTube)
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