This chapter describes judgement upon God’s people for their sinful and unrepentant ways.
“For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet… the elder… and the man of rank… And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.” (v1-4 abr)
There are many consequences of sin. Some are obvious before the sin is even committed (eg. substance abuse leads to a damaged body) and some are far less obvious until much later (eg. substance abuse leads to damaged relationships).
One consequence of sin I hadn’t really thought about until now is God not only allows the loss of physical provision (eg. bread and water), he also allows poor leaders into places of influence (those who are childish or inexperienced, poor decision-makers).
Can you recall a poor leader? Perhaps someone in ancient history, recent history, maybe even in your personal life. God allows foolish / poor leaders as a result of sin (people refuse to listen to Him, so they listen to someone else who tells them what their sinful nature wants to hear).
I’m as guilty of this as the next person – if I don’t like what I hear from God, I search the corners of the Internet until I find a source that agrees with me on an issue. It often does not take long to find someone to back a foolish / sinful opinion.
I encourage us to remain steadfast under God’s leadership. Perhaps His “rules” or “commandments” seem restrictive on the surface, though they’re ultimately in our best interest. Foolish leaders can give us more freedom to do what we want, but that freedom almost always comes back to bite us (doing what our sinful nature craves separates us from God, and has consequences).
Father God, our Magnificent and Sovereign Lord of Hosts, You are Our one true leader. May we never forget that You are our Creator, our Supreme Counselor, and Mighty Lord, the one to whom we bow. May we never foolishly seek those who lead out of sin, and may we exclusively honor You and those You raise up to be godly leaders. In the name of Jesus our King we seek to honor, obey and glorify You, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training