Today’s
Scripture Reading (May 1, 2017) Jeremiah 37
Eighteenth Century Author and women’s
rights activist Mary Wollstonecraft wrote:
“No
man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good
he seeks.” Even with some of the most despicable
people in history, it is possible to see that their decisions, at least in
their eyes, were only chasing after what they thought was beneficial and good. Adolf Hitler’s rise was made possible by a
reaction against the limitations placed on Germany after losing World War I and
was essentially an attempt to give worth
to the German people. The Islamic State and other terrorist groups are strengthened by the belief that they should
be self-determining, and are reacting against what they view as interference in
the running of their politics and religion by the United States and her allies.
History is written by the victors, and
therefore, we tend to see a distorted view of her. Don’t misunderstand me.
Hitler was evil, and there is no excuse
for what he did in the concentration camps in Europe during World War II, but
the dropping of two Atomic Bombs on Japan, killing hundreds of thousands of people, most civilians or
non-combatants, was also evil. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was
justified because it saved more lives that would have been lost on both sides
if the war had continued. Evil was pursued
because, in the belief of those involved, it would eventually lead to good and
happiness.
Zedekiah is listed
among the evil kings of Judah. (Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in
the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who
spoke the word of the Lord. – 2 Chronicles
36:11-12.) But the evil that he did was based
on the voices to which he was willing to listen. These voices had prophesied safety
for Judah. That there would be no attack and the Babylonian Empire would never
enter into the gates of the city. For Zedekiah, this was a good dream, one
filled with happiness. The problem was that it wasn’t God’s idea. But for God to achieve his goal for the nation, there would have to be
some pain first. Jeremiah would write a letter to the exiles reminding them of
exactly this. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future – Jeremiah 29:11.
However, this
was something that Zedekiah just could not accept. The problem is that as he
rebelled against God and Jeremiah’s urgent prophecies,
and then against Babylon, he was just making things worse for himself. Zedekiah
honestly believed that he was following a
path toward happiness and good, but in the end,
he had to watch his sons be executed in front of him just before he was blinded with those image as the last one
that he would ever see. Zedekiah did evil, but he thought he was chasing after
happiness and what is good.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 38
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