Lesson from a Lonely Prophet

Then they [the leaders of Jerusalem] said, “Come & let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” • Jeremiah 18:18

Jeremiah stood alone in his generation as a faithful witness of the Lord. Against him were all the other authorities of the day: The Priests, the Wise, the Prophets. The people compared Jeremiah’s lone voice to the collected pronouncements of all these others and decided when it comes to truth, the majority wins. What they ought have done was compare what they heard to God’s Word; the books of Moses who’d foretold what would happen if they rebelled against God and worshiped idols.

Our nation was originally shaped by principles of governance derived from God’s Word. If you want to see what influences had the major impact on shaping the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, read the sermons preached in the churches of Boston and Philadelphia in those days. The Founding Fathers, even those few who were so-called Deists, sat under pastors and preachers who faithfully taught the Word of God. The books of political philosophy they feasted on were nearly all written by men informed by the Bible. Their worldview was profoundly shaped by Scripture.

Today, 230 years later, the God who gave those Scriptures has been virtually banished from the public square & public discourse. His Word has been relegated to the quiet corner of Sunday mornings in a handful of churches, while His counsel has been expunged from the halls of government; a government which owes its existence to Him & His Word.

The originally stated aims of that government, to secure the rights of all people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are crumbling & being swept away.

Life is denied to those most needing its protection, the innocent unborn.

Liberty is a flickering flame about to be snuffed out by regulations, onerous taxation, and government-mandated products & services; like Healthcare.

And the personal pursuit of happiness has been redefined as a socialist program for the redistribution of wealth so that everyone shares, not the same level of happiness but an equal measure of misery.
Jeremiah felt very alone in his stand for what was right. So may we as we stand for the Lord and His Word. Truth is not decided by how many believe it. And as history proves, character often means taking a lonely stand.

Today, it’s Jeremiah we honor while the so-called experts and populist pundits of his day we deem fools. The day will come, soon, when history will honor those who stand for righteousness today.