“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how many times I yearned to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you were unwilling!”
This passage tells us that the political establishment built around the Temple at Jerusalem had, since the Prophets, been hostile to God and His appointed messengers. From this, we may extrapolate that all political establishments come to hate God and His teachings.
The process continues to the present time. No country on earth, with the possible exception of The Vatican, welcomes the limitations on ego that obedience to God automatically brings.
Seeking for final truth and justice brings only the yoke of self control and submission to God’s will. As we see, governments aren’t interested in anything but having their way.
The unavoidable end to such vanity is illustrated near the end of the reading:
“Behold, your house will be abandoned.”
Every nation ruled by vanity, rather than obedience to God, will be abandoned. The only way to save any nation is for its people to obey. As long as disobedience is enthroned, there is only pain. He will not make himself evident until we understand that His Kingdom must reign on earth. If we obey not just the God of the Old Testament, but His Son of the New, He will not abandon us, as the conclusion makes clear:
“But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Everything good depends on that.
