Tomorrow is mid-term election day. All across the country, citizens will be casting ballots for Senators, Representatives, Governors, and other major political positions in the various realms of the United States’ government. So, it seems like a good time to remind us all that God’s people are supposed to bend their knee to tyrants.
It’s true and, except for those times when God specifically commanded the armies of Israel to fight another nation, it’s always been true. Jeremiah wrote to Judah at a time when Emperor Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had already conquered and subdued them, turning them into a vassal state and carrying away their King and high-class citizens into exile.
The temptation must have been tremendous to fight back, and yet…
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
(Jeremiah 27:8)
Many nations will serve Babylon, but in fact, since God is the one who sent Babylon, those nations are, in a roundabout way, serving God. Actually, had those nations served God in the past, they wouldn’t have to suffer under Babylon’s tyrannical rule: Babylon is God’s punishment to this whole region as a consequence of the people not serving Him.
To reinforce the idea that Babylon is operating as an instrument of God’s wrath, Jeremiah says that any nation that resists their rule (the yoke and the bonds) will, in fact, be resisting the power of God. They will be punished, not just for resisting Nebuchadnezzar and his armies, but for resisting the Lord and His armies, as well. They will suffer sword, famine and pestilence (the ugliness of siege warfare which Babylon brought with them when they invaded), and will be brought to heel under Nebuchadnezzar in the harshest of ways.
I would point out that a similar arrangement still exists today: Governments of men are ordained by God to rule over their citizens (Romans 13). To resist a police officer is to resist the Lord. Does that excuse police brutality or legal abuse? No. In fact, as other prophets point out, Babylon itself will eventually be punished for all of their many crimes against humanity.
The Lord is judge over all.
Nevertheless, it is not the job of the godly person to fight the abuse of those in power. It is the job of the godly person to submit, and leave it for God to carry out vengeance and justice in His own time and in His own way (Romans 12:19), even if that means enduring hardship and unfair treatment in the meantime. That’s easily one of the most difficult commandments for some brethren to obey. We are almost hard-wired to fight injustice. I suppose it’s because we are made in the image of God. Still, we are commanded to wait on the Lord, and leave judgment to Him.
But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
(Jeremiah 27:11)
On the other hand, those who submit to the King of Babylon will live. Remember that Babylon has already conquered Judah but left the Kingdom relatively intact. Many Judeans were allowed to remain in their own land. It wasn’t until the puppet-King Zedekiah betrayed Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar brought the hammer down on Judah and razed the city of Jerusalem.
The lesson Jeremiah is teaching is this: Submit to the Emperor. Surrender. Serve. Doing so is not submission to an evil tyrant, but is service to God. When it’s time for your spanking, take the spanking. If you fight, it’s only going to hurt worse.
“No No No! Real men fight!’ some macho person might say. In truth, real men obey God. When God tells you to fight, by all means, charge in and fight; the battle is already won. But when God tells you to surrender, then lay down your sword and go peacefully; you’ve already lost, becuase that’s His will. At the beginning of this chapter, Jeremiah was told by God to put on shackles before preaching to the people. He was told dress like an unwilling servant, a man who tried to fight against the spanking of the Lord.
Learn the lesson: Submit to God and to those whom God puts over you.
~Matthew