Wednesday Jeremiah 22:1-9

Prayer: O God, teach us through your Word and give us the wisdom to share with others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Act with justice

(Adapted from Christ in Our Home – daily devotions)

³ Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place. 

It is pretty well documented by history that we humans often do not learn from history. When we forget these lessons there is a tendency to repeat them. Consider the recent growth in the hatred of Jews. Are we to start killing off God’s chosen people again? Will we look away as we once did as they were gassed and burned in ovens? What about the slavery that persists around the world? Where do we stand when our neighbors are persecuted or oppressed because of their faith or the color of their skin? Are we to look the other way and ignore it? Or, will we do what is just and fair and stand up with God’s love and justice?

Today is Juneteenth. A holiday that celebrates that it took a long time for slavery to be abolished even after it had been made law. It is an example of justice delayed that came finally to those who had not received the news. If we share and live the love of Jesus, we will learn to trust that we can learn from what wan done in the past and work to seek justice and freedom for all. Like the prophet Jeremiah, today’s prophets can move us to work for justice and not forget the mistakes of the past.

Prayer: “God of freedom, inspire us to lift our voices and sing with the harmonies of liberty. Amen.”

Jeremiah 22:1-9

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Exhortation to Repent

22 Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, ² and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah sitting on the throne of David—you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. ³ Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people. ⁵ But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. ⁶ For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

You are like Gilead to me,
    like the summit of Lebanon,
but I swear that I will make you a desert,
    uninhabited cities.
⁷ I will prepare destroyers against you,
    all with their weapons;
they shall cut down your choicest cedars
    and cast them into the fire.

⁸ And many nations will pass by this city, and all of them will say one to another, “Why has the Lord dealt in this way with that great city?” ⁹ And they will answer, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”