The Sins of the Prophets

The kings of the earth and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe that an enemy or adversary could enter Jerusalem’s gates. Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the guilt of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous within her. - Lamentations 4:12-13

Second Samuel 1:25 reads, "How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle!"  Of course, this verse speaks of the death of Jonathan and Saul at the hands of the Philistines, but many years later the same sentiment would be expressed by Jeremiah over the fall of Jerusalem. The feeling evoked by the prophet was one of awed wonder that a mighty nation, blessed by God, could be become weak, vulnerable, and ultimately destroyed by an ungodly, pagan horde.

Yet, Jeremiah displaced any confusion by clearly giving the reason for the fall of Judah. It seems that both "prophet" and "priest" had participated in the idolatrous murder of the righteous. Either by covert silence or overt participation, those who had been given the responsibility of protecting the righteous within their gates had failed to do so (see Germany in the 1930's and 40's).

By selective mutism in the presence of unbiblical philosophy or veiled indifference to the vagaries of our own declining culture, let us not be guilty of the same.

True religion is the foundation of society. When that is once shaken by contempt the whole fabric cannot be stable or lasting. - Edmund Burke