Jeremiah 4.3 Think About It

When the people get duped, it is not only the fault of their leaders. It is also the fault iof the people.

Communication is a reciprocal responsibility. If I tell you something, it is important that I speak clearly and present information responsibly. However, it is also the hearers responsibilty to understand and responsibly evaluate.

This is especially true of propoganda. Everyday, we are inundated with messages from leaders - political leaders, social leaders, and religious leaders. We need to understand what they are communicating both explicitly and implicitly. It is our responsibility to think critically in evaluating what they are saying or trying to say.

The people of Judah failed at this. Sure, the political leaders failed to communicate the correct information. Their society's leaders had disengaged the nation from its ethical moorings. And the religious leaders completely blew it in. But the people - the hearers - were in part responsible to evaluate the messages they were recieving.

Jeremiah is clear. There are no innocents. They chose not to hear the message of the prophets of God, and instead closed their ears. However, when the false prophets preached, they were willing listeners.

Jeremiah indicts everybody - "from the least to the greatest." Children and parents, young and old, leaders and listeners, everybody is culpable. Jeremiah accuses them all of buying into what Brueggemann calls an unprincipled economic system - the economics of greed.

Have I ever considered myself a culpable participant in my society's economics? If I am part of a society's indictment, am I also a part of the judgement? The citizens of Judah certainly were.