Jeremiah 41 – 45 and Consider This

Jeremiah 41 – 45

Today’s reading starts with Gedaliah, the governor of Jerusalem appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, being killed by Ishmael, a member of the royal family of Judah, who had been left in Jerusalem when the exile took place. Ishmael also killed all the Judeans and Babylonian soldiers who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and then later kills a number of others who had come to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Ishmael escapes capture when Johanan and some of the guerilla leaders came to rescue those Ishmael had captured.

Fearing what the Babylonians will do when they find out Gedaliah has been killed, Johanan and the other guerilla leaders consult with Jeremiah and ask him to pray for them. Jeremiah agrees to pray and give them whatever message the Lord gives him. I love their response: “May the Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do! Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.” What great words to live by.

Ten days later, Jeremiah gets a message from the Lord. The Lord tells Johanan, the guerilla leaders, and the people to stay there in the land. “If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will ploant you and not uproot you.” If they refused to obey, the war and famine they feared would catch up with them.

Johanan and Azariah and all the other proud men of Jerusalem call Jeremiah a liar and refuse to obey the Lord’s command. The Lord tells Jeremiah that the Babylonians will chase them down to Egypt where they fled and “pick clean the land of Egypt.”

Tomorrow, we’ll be reading Jeremiah 46 – 48.

HERE'S SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:

Columnist Andrew McCarthy gives us what probably is
the most important question regarding the upcoming presidential election.

If Mitt wins the nomination, I will enthusiastically
support his candidacy. For my friends who have hesitation on that score, I'd
just ask you to keep four things in mind:

1.. Justice Scalia just turned 78
2.. Justice Kennedy will turn 78 later this year
3.. Justice Breyer will be 76 in August
4.. Justice Ginsburg turned 81 about a week ago.

In addition,

• Justice Ginsburg has Pancreatic Cancer.

• Justice Stephens has already said he would retire and is just waiting for Obama to be reelected.

The next president could appoint as many as 4 new Justices over next 8 years. This election is about more than ObamaCare Tax.

We wish them all well, of course, but the brute fact is that whomever we elect as president in November is almost certainly going to choose at least one new member of the Supreme Court, in addition to hundreds of other life-tenured federal judges,all of whom will be making momentous decisions about our lives for decades to come.

If you don't think it matters whether the guy making those calls is Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, I think you're smokin' something funky.

So for anybody who is thinking of not voting because your favorite didn't get nominated, or writing in a candidate who can't win, imagine this:

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ERIC HOLDER?

Until next time…