Listen to Jeremiah 23-24

Jeremiah 23 Begins with woe and a curse towards those who were in leadership at the time. These people had made their way of life evil and their power was not used rightly. In verse 11, it says “because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in my house I have found their evil.”

Good leadership is hard to come by and human leadership will fail. After 22 chapters of God saying warning after warning to the people of what was coming. God now speaks of a day when godly leadership will come.

Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—

“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David.

He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land.⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

This leader will not lead as Judah and Israel’s leaders have. They had prophesied by Baal and led the people astray. But Jesus would speak only what the Father speaks.

For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.

John 12:49

Again the Lord points out that they have done a horrible thing by committing adultery and walking in lies, strengthening the hands of evildoers, and turning no one away from evil. They had become like Sodom and Gomorrah to Him. These leaders of the people spoke words from their own heads.

We’ve all at one time or another looked for leadership to follow. Is it possible that we put too much stock in looking to our leaders that we forget that they are human too? We forget that they messed up, they make mistakes, that they fail. People all over have stories of how someone who was in leadership over them dismissed them, treated them unkindly, ignored them, and even forgot about them. Stories like this are a dime a dozen and they hurt. It’s the reason why so many people just move from one thing to the next; new church, new job, new marriage, new something. They don’t want to feel hurt anymore. I’ve been hurt like this and became disappointed and disillusioned when I went looking for a new “someone” to lead me only to find out that they failed me too. Trying to find the perfect leader to follow won’t work. The truth is you won’t find one. Follow Jesus. He is our True Leader and be ready for something new and different. Jesus calls us to community. Jesus will call us to stay. He will call us to love when others fail. He will call us to forgive when others falter.

Jesus calls us to lay down our life.

In chapter 24, God gives Jeremiah another object lesson. He showed him two baskets of figs, one basket had very good figs, like early figs, but the other basket had very bad figs and they were inedible. He was showing Jeremiah that He would take away a remnant and save them aside. God would work in this reroute. But the bad leadership would rot away. But His promise remains and would come to pass when He called them out of Egypt. Jeremiah 24:7  I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God because they will return to me with all their heart.

Hang on to the promises of God – they never fail.

Thanks for Listening,

Starla