Why is the world in such a mess?

 

READ Jeremiah 27–30

We visited with family and talked about the state of the world. One person struggles with the evil and thinks if we could be rid of current politicians and elect better ones, then life would improve. Others pointed to biblical history and how God used enemies to discipline His people. That He is still doing this is not a popular idea.

When reading parts of Jeremiah this morning, I substituted names of current leaders and despots and sensed God’s instruction of how to live under unpopular political leadership. I can identify false prophets like those who opposed God and Jeremiah and understand why some people listen to them. No one wants to live in or serve ungodly governments! However, God had reasons for this . . .

In the beginning of the reign of . . . the Lord said to Jeremiah: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. Send word to the kings . . .  This is what you shall say to your masters: “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave. “ ‘ “But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.” ’ ” (27:1–11)

I also can imagine the reaction if a man of God said something like this to those who criticize today’s governments. How would they respond to this?

Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are telling you, ‘You shall not serve the (leaders of your country)’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.” (27:14–15)

Jeremiah challenged one false prophet by telling him that God would remove him for telling people to rebel against the Lord and “in that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.” (28:15–17) Going against the Lord’s sovereign wisdom is dangerous!

The OT people were told to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare . . . . Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them . . . . When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (29:7–14)

After those years in exile, the people of God actually abandoned idol worship. His plan worked. As He promised, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God” and His fierce anger “executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this.” (30:22–24)

I’m not happy with this messy world, but since much of it has turned away from God, it seems He is using it to bring folks back to Himself. Rather than be upset with His methods, I must comply with His plans.