Destroyed Judah For No Cause

Author

Wes Schaeffer
November 23, 2019

From today’s reading…

But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem,

when I carried away all the vessels of gold and silver

that were in it, and for no cause

gave orders that the inhabitants of Judah be destroyed.

I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me;

and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land.”

Speaker, author, and overall smart dude, Jordan B. Peterson, has become a phenomenon in recent years, and rightly so. Something I’ve heard him say repeatedly is the idea that “nobody gets away with anything.”

He bases that statement on decades of work as a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology whereby he has seen the burden of guilt crush many a strong person, often in a short period of time.

Deep down we all know when we are doing something we shouldn’t be doing, and it weighs heavily on our hearts.

We see that today in 1 Mac 6. King Antiochus knew he was in the wrong for most of his adult life. He abused his power and it became his undoing.

Downfalls such as his were clearly foretold 300-400 years prior to his rise to power in today’s Responsorial Psalm, 9: 6 & 16,

You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

their name you blotted out forever and ever.

The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;

in the snare they set, their foot is caught.”

You can avoid the pits and the snares if you…

Stay the course. Keep the faith. Endure.