Study of Jeremiah
Chapter 22

God has certain instructions for leaders of countries and how they are to rule. Judah and Israel even had more responsibility for they were called out ones and chosen by God to bring salvation to the entire world through Jesus Christ. This is why God called Abraham out of the land of Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan which later became Israel. This was the area and the place in which He was to bring and did bring the Messiah that was to save the world from their sins.

Here is the instructions He gave to the king of Judah and this is still good traits for leaders to have today. If they do these things, things will go well in the country they rule:

1. Execute judgment - Wrong doing, law breaking must we judged fairly or else we would have lawlessness and the stronger would oppress the weak.
2. Execute righteousness - Right living, godliness, fairness, honesty, truthfulness and other good things to cause men and women to live in peace.
3. Deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor. - Already lawlessness was prevailing because God saw that the oppressed needed to be set free from oppression. They were being exploited, used and God saw the unfairness and the cruelty in which they were treated by those who were stronger.
4. Do no wrong .- They were given the law to show them the fair way to treat their citizens. We also have a conscience to discern right from wrong.
5. Do no violence. We see here that God hates violence especially against the stranger or innocent people. A stranger was a visitor to their country. As long as visitors obeyed the law and did not come for the purpose of breaking the law then they were to be treated kindly. What a wonderful opportunity to show kindness and tell of God and who He was. Most strangers in those days would have been those who did not know the real God.
6. They were not to oppress the orphans or widows. Orphans have no father or mother to make sure they are treated kindly and cared for. If the government sees them neglected, they are to care for them. Widows back then would have no husband to make a living for them. It was a great sin for someone to take advantage of the fact that they have no protector and mistreat them. A good ruler would try to make sure they were cared for properly.
7. They were not to shed innocent blood. God allowed capital punishment for certain crimes. It had to be crimes that they were sure by the mouth of two or three eye witnesses that they had done before they could be put to death. They were not to put to death those that just disagree with the leadership, disagree with certain religious beliefs or other minor offenses. If they owned property and the leader coveted their goods, that was not a reason to get someone killed but that happened. Innocent children were not to be sacrificed to false gods and idols. Children sacrifices also went on even among Israel at one time. I don't know if abortion was practiced in those days but that is murdering the innocent if nothing else is. How much more innocent can one be than a baby that has not yet been born and has not done good or evil.

Good rewards awaited them if they observed these little laws when they ruled their kingdoms. Governments and kingdoms that have fair and honest leadership last much longer than evil countries. Does Hitler's government still exist? How about Communist Soviet Union? Evil governments will be cut down sooner or later. They will come to nothing. We need to always pray for good leaders to rule.

That is what happened and will happen to future kingdoms who ignore God and do evil. God sees every time a slave is beaten unfairly. God sees every aborted baby. God sees every time a stronger person steals from or oppresses a weak person. God sees cheating, lying, stealing, deceit, fraud and it will not go unpunished.

The wonderful part about God is that if we did do these things, we can escape the judgment and change. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can have a new beginning and these old sins can be done away with. He gives you a new heart and new way of life. You actually become born again by the Spirit. The first time you are born you came as a babe and were born in the flesh. Through faith in Jesus Christ you can become born again by the Spirit. You can have living water flowing within your inner most being. You will begin to be kind to people and would not desire to take from them or hurt them.

I'm sure that this use to happen before Israel became a nation again in 1948. Many probably thought Israel was gone forever and ceased to exist. Bible prophecy has to be fulfilled yet and Israel becoming a nation again is a vital part of that prophecy.

We are again reminded of why Israel lost their homeland for hundreds of years.

1. They forsook the covenant of the Lord. This covenant given to them through Moses after their deliverance from Egypt.
2. They worshipped other gods and served them.

This is why those things happened to them. God warned back in the days of Moses exactly what would happen. God sent judges, prophets and teachers to warn and warn before this day finally arrived. Read Deuteronomy 29 and 30 for the blessings or cursings that were to come.  It depended on whether they chose to live right or disobey God.

Those that had gone into captivity did not see their homeland again before they died.

Here we see God does not approve of slavery. We are not to use people's labor without paying them a fair wage. A neighbor may be helping out and refuse wages but we are not to deceive them into thinking they are going to be paid and then not pay them.

This is what becomes of any wicked king or leader. No one cares where they are buried or how they are treated after death. The name Hitler today turns many stomachs and no one really cares where his body is or what happened to him. No one really cares that he died. In fact many rejoiced to see that day for he was an evil man. A good leader however, is mourned and is given a great funeral procession with honor and respect. Compare the United States grief over Roosevelt's passing, Kennedy's death, and how people reacted. I'm sure very few mourned Hitler.

So sad that when a nation or group of people are prosperous and living good they forget their maker and creator.

This is indeed a sad ending which could have been avoided. All they had to have done was simply repent and return to God. God saves but He saves only those who want to be saved. If we refuse and reject God, He cannot do us any good. We might continue for a while in peace but the end will come and it will all be for nothing. To choose God is to choose life. To choose God's ways is to choose everlasting life.

Jesus Christ will return and set up a righteous kingdom. There will be no more evil and sin. Sin will be removed permanently one day. We can choose now to be part of that kingdom or remain in the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of darkness will be destroyed in the end. It is our choice. We do not have to be destroyed with it. Jesus came that we might have everlasting life. Jesus came to free us from sin. Come to Christ today and let His Spirit come into your life.

Study of Jeremiah 23

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