They have neither knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. (Verses 5)
"For My people are foolish. They know Me not. They are stupid children. They have no understanding. They are 'wise' -- in doing evil! But how to do good, they know not!" God, Jeremiah 4:22
Looks like God involves Himself in politics! And we thought He didn't care. This psalm is directed toward the rulers of the nations. Those gods with little 'g's' that rule our everyday lives. The Lord has a standard by which they must rule. Why? Because God created them, that's why. And He has an ultimate plan that involves real people on a new real earth. How our rulers lead on this old earth can make God Himself mad enough to shake the very foundations of this planet. That should give us pause.
So what is it that God expects from rulers? That they listen to Him. Just watched the newest episode of The Bible on television last night. It told the story of King Zedekiah, appointed by the king of Babylon to rule Judah. But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so much so the Bible says that "it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that God cast them out of His presence." 2 Kings. The prophet Jeremiah cried out to Judah and Jerusalem on God's behalf in Jeremiah 4. The verses preceding verse 22 above are: My anguish! My anguish! I writhe in pain! My heart is beating wildly. I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Crash follows hard on crash. The whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? But Zedekiah and his cabinet dismissed the anguished warnings of the prophet of God. A mistake that cost him his throne, Jerusalem and Judah, his children and his eyes. Zedekiah was literally blind, then. Walking in the darkness of his own choices. Because he disregarded the wisdom and prescience of God.
Is there a ruler walking about this planet today who listens to God? I don't know. What we see is chaos around us. The world falling apart economically, ecologically, spiritually and morally. Making wrong, right. Refusing the wisdom of God. Rejecting His very Son and Likeness. The Light of the World. No wonder we fumble about so. God said of Jesus in Isaiah 49: I will make You as a light for the nations, that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth. The way out of darkness. Jesus. Not just for individuals, but for nations!
I can't do much about others. I'm not called to judge in the final analysis. I am called to walk in the light as He is in the light. I've done my share of stumbling around in darkness, fumbling to get my own way. It's surprising where you wind up when feel around for the path. Most of the time, it isn't pretty. There is a way that seems right to us. But God knows the end of it. How silly for me or the head of a nation to just wing it without knowing what God wants. He is God! For goodness sake! History for Him is done. The Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. Our God is seeing it all at once. And we think we have our own lives figured out just fine.
As Christians, it would behoove us to look more closely at the warnings from the mouth of Jesus about our present times in the revelation of John, the beloved. "He who has ears to hear, let him listen!" Jesus gave the admonition as God gave the admonition to the kings of Judah and Jerusalem through Jeremiah. There is a way God wants us to function today. Right now. And if we don't walk in the light of His Spirit, know His word, and love Him more than our own lives, we won't have what it takes to live in a world where the rulers rule in darkness. Jesus is The Way, The Truth, The Life. Apart from Him there is no way. There is no other god. No greater wisdom.
When our leaders are like unruly children, foolhardy and capricious, we are literally on shaky ground. God will not stand for it forever. This earth will go up in smoke, replaced by a new one. God has warned us. We must listen. Those of us with ears to hear. Lest we castigate the Lord of heaven, saying how mean spirited He is and malevolent for blowing the whole thing up, look at what He promises for those within earshot of His warning. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband...and He Who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." ...And I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light..by its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it...and there will be no night there. Revelation 21
If these words are trustworthy and true, we would be the most foolish of children to miss out on the glory and joy set before us. May the nations bow now before they no longer have a choice. May we be salt and light to a world that ever increasingly walks in the nightmare of darkness.
"For My people are foolish. They know Me not. They are stupid children. They have no understanding. They are 'wise' -- in doing evil! But how to do good, they know not!" God, Jeremiah 4:22
Looks like God involves Himself in politics! And we thought He didn't care. This psalm is directed toward the rulers of the nations. Those gods with little 'g's' that rule our everyday lives. The Lord has a standard by which they must rule. Why? Because God created them, that's why. And He has an ultimate plan that involves real people on a new real earth. How our rulers lead on this old earth can make God Himself mad enough to shake the very foundations of this planet. That should give us pause.
So what is it that God expects from rulers? That they listen to Him. Just watched the newest episode of The Bible on television last night. It told the story of King Zedekiah, appointed by the king of Babylon to rule Judah. But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so much so the Bible says that "it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that God cast them out of His presence." 2 Kings. The prophet Jeremiah cried out to Judah and Jerusalem on God's behalf in Jeremiah 4. The verses preceding verse 22 above are: My anguish! My anguish! I writhe in pain! My heart is beating wildly. I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Crash follows hard on crash. The whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? But Zedekiah and his cabinet dismissed the anguished warnings of the prophet of God. A mistake that cost him his throne, Jerusalem and Judah, his children and his eyes. Zedekiah was literally blind, then. Walking in the darkness of his own choices. Because he disregarded the wisdom and prescience of God.
Is there a ruler walking about this planet today who listens to God? I don't know. What we see is chaos around us. The world falling apart economically, ecologically, spiritually and morally. Making wrong, right. Refusing the wisdom of God. Rejecting His very Son and Likeness. The Light of the World. No wonder we fumble about so. God said of Jesus in Isaiah 49: I will make You as a light for the nations, that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth. The way out of darkness. Jesus. Not just for individuals, but for nations!
I can't do much about others. I'm not called to judge in the final analysis. I am called to walk in the light as He is in the light. I've done my share of stumbling around in darkness, fumbling to get my own way. It's surprising where you wind up when feel around for the path. Most of the time, it isn't pretty. There is a way that seems right to us. But God knows the end of it. How silly for me or the head of a nation to just wing it without knowing what God wants. He is God! For goodness sake! History for Him is done. The Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. Our God is seeing it all at once. And we think we have our own lives figured out just fine.
As Christians, it would behoove us to look more closely at the warnings from the mouth of Jesus about our present times in the revelation of John, the beloved. "He who has ears to hear, let him listen!" Jesus gave the admonition as God gave the admonition to the kings of Judah and Jerusalem through Jeremiah. There is a way God wants us to function today. Right now. And if we don't walk in the light of His Spirit, know His word, and love Him more than our own lives, we won't have what it takes to live in a world where the rulers rule in darkness. Jesus is The Way, The Truth, The Life. Apart from Him there is no way. There is no other god. No greater wisdom.
When our leaders are like unruly children, foolhardy and capricious, we are literally on shaky ground. God will not stand for it forever. This earth will go up in smoke, replaced by a new one. God has warned us. We must listen. Those of us with ears to hear. Lest we castigate the Lord of heaven, saying how mean spirited He is and malevolent for blowing the whole thing up, look at what He promises for those within earshot of His warning. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband...and He Who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." ...And I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light..by its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it...and there will be no night there. Revelation 21
If these words are trustworthy and true, we would be the most foolish of children to miss out on the glory and joy set before us. May the nations bow now before they no longer have a choice. May we be salt and light to a world that ever increasingly walks in the nightmare of darkness.
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