Jeremiah 17:5-8

Thus says the Lord:

Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals

   and make mere flesh their strength,

   whose hearts turn away from the Lord. 

They shall be like a shrub in the desert,

   and shall not see when relief comes.

They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,

   in an uninhabited salt land. 

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,

   whose trust is the Lord. 

They shall be like a tree planted by water,

   sending out its roots by the stream.

It shall not fear when heat comes,

   and its leaves shall stay green;

in the year of drought it is not anxious,

   and it does not cease to bear fruit. 

 

Question:

For those who suffer by the leader (political or even Christianity leader) of their country.

Comment:

Jeremiah, like Isaiah, lived and wrote both before and after Judah was conquered by Babylon and its citizens exiled to Babylon (although it seems that Jeremiah himself ended up in Egypt). Like all prophets, he was not predicting the future. He was insisting that Israel's present choices, if continued, would result in catastrophe. And, of course, he was right.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 states in brief the basic Jeremiah statement: The nation of Israel must reject all the false gods and human distractions and return to the commitment and trust of their Lord. Otherwise, they will become like a shrub in the wilderness: parched and arid.

I understand your comparison to our current politlcs, but I'm not sure it fits exactly. Our nation is not a unified, single people and faith as Judah was. In Unity, we recognize basic, universal principles that truly underlie all faiths. Certainly, embracing those principles instead of our own "false gods"—money, pleasure, prestige, power, and others—would lead us in a peaceful, loving direction. I'm not sure any of our leaders or candidates have that consciousness, but we can hold it for them, knowing and affirming that our nation, like everything, will express according to our collective consciousness.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed