The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah faced a generation that is very similar to the one we face today. Corporate and political leaders had given themselves over to corruption and deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another. The fundamental values that founded and supported the nation were being dismantled. And the spiritual leaders seemed to be powerless to do anything about it.
Jehovah God told Jeremiah to give this message to the people of Israel:
"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart." (Jeremiah 18:7-12 KJV) |