Repent of Injustice

May 24, 2020 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 22 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 22:1 – 10 Last week’s lesson examined God’s response to King Zedekiah’s request for deliverance from the Babylonian siege. Part of that response began to outline steps required to demonstrate repentance. When the people of God sin—and not if they sin, God requires repentance to mend the disruption in our relationship with God. This week’s lesson continues to examine repentance. It is difficult for me to imagine the extent of the offense sin has towards the holiness of God. It is just as mind-boggling to witness God begging His people to repent in order to avoid punishment. As a parent, I reflect on my emotions when instructing and correcting a disobedient infant, or young child. It is emotionally painful to deny children something that will temporarily make them happy or bring them joy; however, as a parent, you know how important it is for them to learn the proper way to live in society. So, there is a balance between finding ways to help children have a life filled with joy and disciplining them to help them be well-adjusted citizens in society. Parents do this with no true knowledge about the future state of the society their children will live in. In other words, we can only prepare children for the world as we know it. I don’t know how different my parenting would have been had I known what society would be like for my adult children. But I do know I would have done some things very differently. Children are innocent and unaware of the moral and ethical norms of the society around them. Parents train children to be able to navigate society as the parent understands society to be. There are some elements of that training that we don’t like but we view it as necessary for the best outcome for our children. I say all of that because I believe parenting allows us to at least peek into the door of God’s emotional experience with His children. Unlike human parents, God always has perfect knowledge of the moral and ethical norms of society. Tomorrow’s society is just as clear to God as yesterday’s society. God knows everything that we will ever have to navigate in society—no matter when it will happen! God’s perfect instructions will always give us the proper guidance. This is true for all times. When God begs His people to repent, it is because He sees what the end results of our actions will be. Mankind was created in the image and likeness of God. God loves us, and when He looks at us, He desires to see a reflection of Himself. Sin changes our spiritual image because it keeps us from being in the likeness of God. God is holy. In Him is light, and there is no darkness at all. Sin is darkness. We are saved to become children of light. To sin is to walk in darkness. God is going to destroy all darkness and evil in the final judgment. King Zedekiah and his leaders were part of the covenant people of God. However, they were purposely living evil lives, and as leaders, causing others to go astray from God. God was not going to allow this to continue. God’s people should love mercy and promote justice. To live contrary to this is to live contrary to God. God judges evil, and yet He does not want to punish His children. Therefore, He pleads with them to repent of their injustice. Robert C. Hudson May 7, 2020