“The Outcome Of Political And Spiritual Collapse!”

“The Outcome Of Political And Spiritual Collapse!”(Lam.2:1-12).
Thank you, Lord, for the light of a new day.
The Babylonian captivity and the desolation of Jerusalem would not have happened if political authority had listened to the words of prophet Jeremiah. Judah’s flirtations with Egypt at a time when she would have been neutral was the cause of her downfall.
We may not be able to state with certainty which of these institutions is superior to the other: the spiritual and the political. When villages were city states, the king was also the chief priest.
When Israel was a theocracy, it was the prophet/priest who weilded both spiritual and political authority. Samuel was the last of the spiritual and political leaders of Israel. He was the one who anointed King Saul and subsequently King David. The mere fact of the spiritual authority being responsible for the investiture of a king points to the superiority of the spiritual over the political.
Napoleon Bonaparte challenged the spiritual superiority when he crowned himself in the presence of the Pope instead of the Pope crowning him.
Political institutions depend on spiritual authority to be credible and to function justly to the satisfaction of all.
The desolation of Jerusalem, which the poet lamented on, was the result of the collapse of both political and spiritual authority.
Prophets who did not sit in the counsel of God pronounced their dreams as visions from God. These false prophets were ready to pronounce “peace, peace when there was no peace.”
Kings preferred the flattery of false prophets than the harsh truths of God’s true prophets.
Whatever calamity befalls any country, the root cause is the negligence and compromise of spiritual authority. Political failure happens when the spiritual becomes nonchalant or when it encourages political malfeasance to its own gain.
The poet of Lamentations is intentional to point out how the exile and desolation was because God turned his back on king and priest: “He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden; he has destroyed his place of meeting. The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in his fierce anger, he has spurned both king and priest. The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hands of the enemy; they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival…Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.“
The political stability of a nation and the well-being of the citizens depends largely on the guidance of the spiritual institutions. It is unfortunate that religious pluralism creates confusion and meaningless noise as each person wants to be heard and accepted.
In Cameroon, the telltale is quite evident to realise that the LORD is gradually rejecting his alter and abandoning his sanctuary. The LORD is gradually but steadily paving the way for the king and princes to be exiled among the nations. Gradually, God’s law is swept underneath in the place where it was supposed to be proclaimed with vigour. How sad! Prophets no longer find visions from the LORD.”
When God gets angry and spurns both king and priest, then the worst is expected. These are the two main institutions that give hope to the people. Sin increases through the compromise of spiritual leaders, as they themselves no longer have the moral and spiritual to mount a high ground from where to rebuke, exhort, command, guide, teach, and direct.
May the Holy Spirit redirect the focus of spiritual and political leaders so as to avert the desolation of our cities.
Prayer: LORD, with contrite and repentant hearts, we return to you. Do not let your anger burn against us. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
26/08/2025.