“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his upper rooms without justice; his neighbour serves without pay, and he does not give him for his work”; Jeremiah 22:13 MKJV
Read: Jeremiah 22
The above passage is from the book of Jeremiah, the context being about Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, King of Judah. Jeremiah prophesies about the downfall of the King and his kingdom as He goes against the will of GOD. The key reasons stated for the downfall of King Jehoiakim are as follows - :
- Building a kingdom without righteousness – Unrighteousness (Jeremiah 22: 13-14)
- Building a kingdom without justice – Injustice (Jeremiah 22: 13-14)
- Not providing wages for those who work for him – Dishonest gain (Jeremiah 22: 13-14)
- Building things for selfish gain – Selfishness (Jeremiah 22: 14-15)
- Shedding the blood of the innocent – Cruelty (Jeremiah 22: 16-17)
All the above reasons sound familiar in today’s world, over the last 50 years and predominantly in the last 5 years we have seen many leaders fall due to the same reasons. Some of these leaders knew the Lord and some did not. However the fact is that the role of a political leader is to provide righteousness and justice for his people. In case they are not able to, they have to move aside or face the consequences of their selfishness as King Jehoiakim faced (Jeremiah 22:18-19).
GOD places kings, presidents and governments over us for His purpose to be fulfilled. In choosing a leader, it is important as Christians we pray and look out for qualities that GOD seeks. This is applicable in our nations, workplaces, churches and ministries.
In case they fail, GOD will take vengeance on those He places in positions of importance. If righteousness, justice, care, support, honesty and encouragement are not provided to His people, there will be consequences. The recent political events in the Middle East is an example of this, people rising in periods of oppression and depression , however it should not be with so much violence (How do we protest as Christians, a topic in my latter blogs). GOD looks at certain things in a political leader and if we read Jeremiah 22:3 we get an idea as to what should be the major objectives of a political leader
“So says Jehovah, Do judgment and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the oppressor’s hand. And do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” Jeremiah 22:3 MKJV
The purpose of this blog is for us to ponder, in positions of leadership, wherever we are, are we working in righteousness and justice, are we taking care of the fatherless and widows, if not let GOD open our eyes and the eyes of our governments, churches and ministries and help us lead His people to fulfill His purpose.
Deeps
©Deeps 2012