1-3 This is what the Lord says - go down to the palace of the king of Judah and speak this message there. Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne - you, your officials, and your people who enter these gates. This is what the Lord says. Do what is just and right. Rescue the person who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, to the fatherless, or to the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 If you diligently carry this out, then kings who sit on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 

5-6 But if you will not obey these words, then I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house will become a ruin. Yes, this is what the Lord says about the house of the king of Judah. You are like Gilead to me, like the peak of Lebanon. You can be sure that I will turn you into a wilderness, like uninhabited towns. 7 I will send destroyers against you, each of them with his weapons. They will cut down your best cedars, and they will throw them into the fire. 8-9 Many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, “Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?” And the answer will be, “It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God. They worshipped other gods and served them.” Jeremiah 22:1-9 From the Evangelical Heritage Version

There's been a lot of discussion on the relationship between religion and politics - should they be kept separate? Christians take Jesus' words seriously when He said to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants  would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36) Christians weren't commanded by Christ to set up a political party or to form an army to overthrow a wicked government. But that doesn't mean that Kings and Presidents don't need to hear what God has to say. Jeremiah was sent by God to preach at the royal palace to the King of Judah and all his officials. What was the message God told him to proclaim? (vs 1-3)

Essentially it was a message of justice, of doing what is right, and of not oppressing the helpless. Today it would be called a message of 'social justice' – but it was a justice based on the righteousness of God, not the flawed teachings of men and women and their imagined rights. We need to note also that Jeremiah was speaking to the nation that God had called to be a light to other nations, so it was appropriate for him to speak to the leaders in such a way. What did God say would be the outcome if they refused to do what He was saying through Jeremiah? (vs 5-9)

The nation would end up in ruin. God would send an army against them which would devastate the land and it's cities. And the world would know that it was because they had forsaken God and God's righteous commandments that such disaster had come upon them.

That's a message that the people and the leaders of nations today still need to hear. Psalm 9:17-18 says: “The wicked will return to Sheol - all the nations that forget God. For the needy will not always be forgotten; the hope of the oppressed will not perish forever.” God will bring down nations that crush the helpless and whose politicians despise and reject Him, and pass laws that are contrary to His righteousness. And while we may not be able to proclaim that in the corridors of power, it is nevertheless the message we must speak if the opportunity arises. And it's the message that should guide those of us who live in countries where we have the privilege of voting for those who will govern us, in whom we vote for.

In the meanwhile, we need to do what the apostle Paul called us to do in the political realm when he said: “I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4)