Buried Like a Donkey

Meditation
Jeremiah 22:18,19--Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him, saying, “Woe, my brother!” or “Woe, my sister!” They will not mourn for him, saying, “Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!” He will be buried like a donkey, dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem

Bill Perkins wrote in the Jesus experiment, “Submitting to evil causes us to minimize wrong, justify evil, and to lie about our sin.” I don’t believe leaders become evil instantly.  They turn bad through a process of compromising, ignoring their conscience, and putting their own greed and need as centerpieces. Instead of focusing on a very real enemy from Babylon, Jehoiakim built himself a spacious palace and defrauded his countrymen.
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God pays attention to leaders. He notes their actions and weighs their deeds. He sees when they amass personal fortunes at the expense of ruling justly. There will be a heavy cost to pay for those who indulge it on the backs of their oppressed people.
            
God also knows when people collectively are suffering. He knows when we know that our leaders are corrupt. But unlike the Israelites who were trapped beneath the authority of a dictator-king, we have the ability to act. To remain silent before evil doers is tantamount to complicity. This ought to spur us to pray for those in positions of power—that they might repent, turn from wickedness and resolve to do what is right. It should motivate us to speak clearly for truth and work hard to champion those who lead with godly values. And for those led by the Holy Spirit it may mean seeking positions of authority. 
            
King Jehoiakim had the opportunity to be great. Instead he was cursed. Rather than reaping favor for leading righteously a bad king was buried like a donkey. None of his descendants succeeded as kings in the line of David. Jesus, David’s direct descendant, avoided Jehoiakim’s cursed line which traces to Joseph because He was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18). 
 
Inspiration
It is never the one that is wronged or injured who is the real loser, but the one that does the evil.—J.R. Miller in The Master’s Blesseds
 
©2022 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)