Was Jeremiah Right

Was Jeremiah Right?

Since his name is Jeremiah Wright, all this fuss about Barack Obama's preacher led me to re-read the Old Testament
book of Jeremiah. Before reading on, you can learn more about that Jeremiah if you click here.

A lot of people would probably like to throw Rev. Wright in jail for saying "God damn America," well, they did throw
the prophet Jeremiah in Jail for what he said. Granted, that's a pretty inflammatory choice of words, but taken in
context, it does get a point across. Just like his namesake did. Preachers and prophets do often tend to make inflammatory
comments. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell both said pretty much the same thing Rev. Wright did about 911 perhaps being
a divine judgment on America.

Actually, Jeremiah Wright's words pale in comparison to those of the prophet, whose rants were directed at kings, priests
and people alike. I guess you could say he made some remarks that could be construed as anti-Jewish. At least the
Jewish leaders thought so. Most of the people did too. When you read Jeremiah, try substituting "America" for "Judah."

“ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to
the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) God says to Jeremiah at the start of the book.

The way I read it, God wasn't entirely happy with the hypocrisy and greed he'd noticed among the chief priests, the
people of Jerusalem and the government in general. "Those God loves, he admonishes," it's said, So God picked
Jeremiah to deliver his message. As might be expected, those being admonished didn't want to hear it. Sometimes
the truth hurts, and pity the poor messenger. Look what happened to Jesus after he drove the moneychangers from
the temple. A few miracles, they could handle, but messing with the moneychangers was the last straw!

The sad fact is, we did kill hundreds of thousands by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki and "didn't bat an eye."
We rationalized that the bombing shortened the war, did away with the need for an invasion and ultimately saved
lives in the end. That very well may be so. But, as the present-day Jeremiah said, we didn't "bat an eye."

"I have paid careful attention. They do not speak what is right. No one regrets his evil, asking 'what have I done?'
Everyone has stayed his course like a horse running into battle." (Jeremiah 8:6 HCSB)

Was Jeremiah right?

WR - April 30, 2008