WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday May 24, 2020
Over
238,000 readers worldwide
larrydalexander.blogspot.com
REPENT OF INJUSTICE
(A message to Judah’s King Jehoahaz)
(Jeremiah 22:1-9)
The prophet Jeremiah was a
priest descending from the line of Aaron. His father, Hilkiah, although he was
a priest, was probably not the high priest who discovered the copy of the Law
during Josiah’s reign (2 Kings 22:2-14). Hilkiah was a popular and common name
of many priests of the line of Levi in the Old Testament times.
Jeremiah was born in the small town of
Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamites. It was located about 3 miles
northeast of Jerusalem. Anathoth was one of the cities that was allocated to
the priests by Joshua (Joshua 21:15-19). The priests were required to live only
in the places that were specified by GOD, through Joshua. They were not to
wander around all over Israel, and especially not into the surrounding pagan
territories.
Although Jeremiah was born a priest, he
began to function as a prophet once he received word and power from GOD to
operate in that capacity. GOD began to speak through him directly during the 13th
year of the reign of the GODly king, Josiah. After the death of Josiah, every
king who ascended to the throne afterwards, practiced evil and showed no
worthiness to their position under GOD as leaders.
Here in
Jeremiah 22, the prophet continues his deliverance of messages from GOD
concerning the “injustices” of Judah’s leadership, and the rich, against the Gentiles,
orphans, and widows living in Judah. The kings of Judah were supposed to
operate as absolute Monarchs. However, they were also required to stay rigidly
fixed on the ways of GOD, WHO empowered them. They were responsible to shepherd
GOD’s people, and to maintain the “right” and “just” moral order that is called
for in the Laws of GOD.
In verses 1-5 GOD instructs Jeremiah to go
and confront the king of Judah, his officials, and other influential people,
who were evidently meeting there in the palace at that time. He was told to
command them to start doing the things that are right and just under the LORD. This
message was very similar to the one given to Jeremiah in 21:12, however now, certain
consequences have been added.
Here Jeremiah is instructed to speak
directly to the king saying; “Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help
those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds!
Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!
Jeremiah goes on to tell the king that, if
he were careful to obey the LORD in all these commands, he could expect to
receive continued blessings. However, if he chose to disobey these commands, he
could expect his reign to come to an end, and his royal palace, that they loved
and adored so much, would be destroyed.
In verses
6-9, as only the LORD can, HE speaks to the very walls of the palace in which
the Davidic Kings lived. Evil spirits will come to inhabit any and everything
we choose to put before the LORD, and choose to worship and adore, more than HE
WHO created us and blessed us with those very things.
Here the LORD is speaking directly to those
evil spirits who were receiving worship from the king, and the people of Judah,
through their adoration and high regard for the palace itself. The palace and
the things within it had become “like a god” to the king and the people of
Judah, just like pagans worshiped the idols that they themselves had built.
If we worship and adore any person, place,
or thing, more than we do GOD, then evil spirits will certainly take up
residence in those people, places and things, so that they may, unbeknownst to the
adorer, actually receive their highest worship. That is how “the spirit world”
operates, they steal our heart from GOD through the people, places and things
that we adore more than JESUS CHRIST, and GOD HIMSELF, WHO created us. If we
love anything or anyone more than we love GOD, then that person, place, or
thing has become an idol to us.
In order to remain right and just, under
GOD, we must not lose our heart to the people, places, and things of this
world. GOD loves for us to have and enjoy the blessings of HIS creation, and HE
HIMSELF loves HIS OWN creation, and HE tells us in the beginning that “it is
all good” (Genesis 1:25). However, if we put anything that HE created above HIM
in our lives, including ourselves, we, as human beings, made in HIS spiritual
image, violate our covenant with HIM as our creator (GOD made us to serve HIM
in obedience and righteousness), and we become like adulterers and prostitutes against
HIM, in HIS sight.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
No comments:
Post a Comment