Jeremiah 44:16-18 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.”
Today’s Old Testament One Year Bible reading begins with a plea from the leadership of Judah to Jeremiah asking him to seek God on their behalf. They pledge that whatever God says to them, they will submit to it and obey. Their hearts were inclined to flee to Egypt in light of the Babylonian invasion. Jeremiah comes back ten days later with the word of the Lord. He tells them to remain in the land and do not flee to Egypt, otherwise the sword they are seeking to escape will find them and they will die. The passage above is their response.
There are two candidates for them to decide which one they will serve: the queen of heaven or the King of heaven. The queen’s name was Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war. The King of heaven was of course Jehovah, who founded the nation of Israel. They ended up voting the economy. They said in verse 18, “But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” It didn’t matter what was right, what mattered was how much they had.
2,600 years later and people haven’t changed much. People typically vote economics and not according to political affiliation, whether a candidate is pro-life or pro-choice, and whether or not the platform they’re running on is congruent with a voter’s personal agenda. “It’s the economy, stupid” said a former U.S. Presidential advisor.
As God’s people we have a responsibility to look beyond our personal comfort and make sure the word of God is adhered to. We must follow the principles of scripture and not our pocketbook and 401k’s. In all of our decision-making let’s choose to do the right thing. In the end, God’s blessing will rest upon the choices that are right versus the choices that serve our own best interests.