It is a universal saying that with great power there
is great responsibility. So also the LORD has said that to whom much is given,
much will be required.[i] The
leaders of this nation, in particular the President, have great responsibility and
as it is the LORD who sets up and takes down kings and kingdoms,[ii] and
in that the LORD who lives and reigns today is the same LORD of yesterday and
eternity past and immutable,[iii]
what Jeremiah relayed to the king of Judah holds to the leader and the officials
of this nation today that was once dedicated to the same LORD in 1789.
“Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah . . . you, your officials and your people who
come through these gates. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do
what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has
been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the
widow, and do not shed INNOCENT blood in this place . . . if you do not obey
these commands, declares the Lord, I SWEAR BY
MYSELF that this palace will become a ruin. This is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah: “Though you are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a wasteland, like towns not inhabited. I will send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire. “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’” Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return nor see his native land again.[iv]
like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a wasteland, like towns not inhabited. I will send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire. “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’” Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return nor see his native land again.[iv]
[Emphasis is mine]
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