Jeremiah 22:3, 13, 16-17 NIV
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.
“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.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord. “But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.”
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| Leeds City Hall |
When they march it feels like the ground actually shakes. Hanging sweet in the air is the smell of oiled leather and sweaty horses. The din of soldiers speaking a foreign language echos in the valleys outside the city.
Had Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians left one man at home? Surrounding the city in every direction as far as the eye can see are these invaders.
You think God would be concerned with foreign affairs. But no, Jeremiah, the prophet everyone hates and the only one to warn us of this siege says, God is concerned with the needy and poor. Jeremiah has the audacity to go on and on about petty domestic issues.
We're all going to die and it gets worse and worse! Jeremiah says God wants us to be socially aware and to alleviate the situation for the most vulnerable. Can he be serious?
Why is God harping on about people who've supposedly been cheated? A King and his court have to make a good impression if I'm going to negotiate with Nebuchadnezzar! Those unproductive wasters will be glad to give up their food if I save their worthless lives. If we're going to make it out of this, I'm going to have to commandeer a lot more as well. I'll need to make sure the strong, good looking and the healthy are making the best impression, so some of the less important will have to contribute to the war effort to bolster our campaign to impress those foreign dignitaries. Maybe I'll secure our release? I've got no time at all to be settling the ridiculous complaints of a few street urchins and unfortunate old women. Priorities, man!
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Possibly an attitude like the one I've fictionalised above is being held by you or your friends. Maybe you think times are hard, terrorism is on the rise, the economy is plummeting, and crazy foreign governments are plotting a nuclear holocaust. So of course now is not the time to extend a free lunch to the needy. You think of ways to stimulate the economy by helping the rich create jobs, and if we have a strong nuclear deterrent, then in better times we'll maybe be able to help the poor help themselves.
That is not God's way. Need protection? Go God's way. Need to help the economy? Go God's way.
Take care of the poor and God will take care of you because you are just as poor and needy. The rich and the mighty will not be able to rescue you!
Jeremiah 22:25 NIV
I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.
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