They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. They will bear the shame of their harvest because of the LORD's fierce anger." – Jeremiah 12:13

Today's Scripture Reading (May 21, 2023): Jeremiah 12

The U.S. News compiled its list of worst U.S. Presidents, and James Buchanan was at the top of that list. Buchanan was a one-term president who served the United States just before the election of Abraham Lincoln, and he had barely gotten out of the White House before the bullets started to be fired in the American Civil War. When examining the beginning of the Civil War, most historians place some of the blame squarely on the shoulders of James Buchanan. Most agree that, in the years preceding the war, when there was still a chance to bring the North and South together, Buchanan was stubbornly inactive and did nothing. But some historians believe that it was much worse than that.

Americans have conveniently misled themselves about the presidency of James Buchanan, preferring to classify him as indecisive and inactive ... In fact Buchanan's failing during the crisis over the Union was not inactivity, but rather his partiality for the South, a favoritism that bordered on disloyalty in an officer pledged to defend all the United States. He was that most dangerous of chief executives, a stubborn, mistaken ideologue whose principles held no room for compromise. His experience in government had only rendered him too self-confident to consider other views. In his betrayal of the national trust, Buchanan came closer to committing treason than any other president in American history (Jean Baker, Biographer, 2004).

James Buchanan believed that history would be kind to him, but that time in history hasn't arrived yet. The American Civil War seems to have been the fruit of all of Buchanan's labor as President. It is little wonder that James Buchanan makes the lists of the worst made by many historians.   

Jeremiah warns the Babylonian who are intent on invading Judah; don't get too comfortable in your strength or celebrate the fall of the cities of Judah. The harvest that they are hoping for isn't coming. All they will receive is thorns, even though they will sow wheat. And they will be ashamed because the harvest will make it look like they don't know what they are doing. They will wear themselves out trying to bring in the harvest, yet the result will be the same as if a lazy person who refuses to do anything was responsible for the crop's seeding. And because of that, it will be to their shame.

And the reality is that Jeremiah was right. After the reigns of Napopolassar (21 years) and Nebuchadnezzar II (43 years), the subsequent four kings only reigned for a total of twenty-three years. And as the Empire died, it looked like it was being ruled by a group of people who were too lazy to fight.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 23