A Choice to be Just

August 9, 2015 Background Scripture: Ezra 7:1, 6, 21 – 28; Jeremiah 7:1 – 15 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 7:1 – 15 Life is filled with choices. As we mature, many of us tend to narrow our choices down to a few select ones that we believe reflect our personality. On the other hand, there are many choices to be made whereby we may choose to be flexible so that we can react to the situation or live within the moment. These can be dangerous choices because we can become partial to some people to the disadvantage of others and eventually become comfortable with the notion of situational ethics. In other words, we will decide what is right and wrong based on the situation rather than absolute moral standards. That’s where the danger arises. God has established the criteria for holiness and He has demanded that His people be holy because He is holy. Children of God must make choices that reflect God’s standards rather than the situation at hand or our perceived personality type. Israel was often reprimanded for becoming comfortable and forgetting God’s requirement of righteousness. In today’s lesson, Jeremiah is sent by God to warn the inhabitants of Judah that God was watching them and He was not pleased with what was going on. God was still demanding that justice and mercy be practiced among His people. It should be noted that Jeremiah was not sent to the backsliders and heathen that stayed away from Israel’s placed of worship. Instead, the prophet was sent to the temple’s gate where the people of the nation came to worship God. In other words, this message was delivered to the most religious of Judah. The message of the prophet derided them for trusting in the temple more than the one to whom the temple was dedicated. A building dedicated to God does not make unrighteous people holy. It simply will become a building filled with unrighteous people. It was hypocrisy that Jeremiah spoke against. The inhabitants of Judah were reminded of their forefathers who attempted the same thing at Shiloh. God destroyed the worship place that was in Shiloh because of the unrighteousness of His people. They were displaying an outward appearance of piety but their deeds did not reflect God’s righteous desires. The people were admonished to heed their forefathers’ example at Shiloh as a warning. Some evil choices had been made in the past and God had judged them. Jeremiah’s message was more than condemnation because it also contained exhortation that the people would be blessed for right behavior. Jeremiah’s message encouraged the people of Israel to live righteously by making good choices. Right behavior consisted of executing justice and mercy towards people and faithful worship of God alone. Jeremiah clearly declared God’s intent of blessing Israel according to the promises God made to their forefathers. These blessings, however, were predicated on them obeying God’s commandments. Many of their forefathers had failed and now they were faced with similar choices about how to live as God’s people. Jeremiah admonished them to choose to be just. Robert C. Hudson July 28, 2015