Politics and the Kingdom of God I: Nations, Know Your Limits (Jer. 46-47)

In one sense it is proper to be angry about injustice - and it is right to plead with God to bring vengeance. After all, God says, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.”

But there also comes a point when you are grieved to the heart at the slaughter and bloodshed, and you just cry out,

"Ah, sword of the LORD!
How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
rest and be still!"

Jeremiah is speaking about the Philistines. These are the enemies of God’s people – and have been for hundreds of years! But even as God himself does not delight in the death of the wicked, so also we may grow weary of the violence and death.

Every once in a while, the text for a given Sunday happens to line up neatly with what is happening in our society.

And so for the next few weeks we will be looking at what Jeremiah says about “Politics and the Kingdom of God.”

So far in Jeremiah we have focused mostly on Jeremiah’s message to the church – the people of God.

But now we hear Jeremiah’s message concerning the nations. Now, it’s important to recognize that Jeremiah is not actually speaking to the nations. He is still speaking to the church – to the people of God.

But he is speaking to the people of God about the nations. How should we think about the political world around us? How should we think about the powers of this age?