Jer 22:8-9

⁸ "People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?' ⁹ And the answer will be: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.' "

Background: God's about to throw the smack down on his chosen people of Judah by calling Nebechadnezzer of Babylon to utterly destroy them.

I came across this in my reading today and was stuck on the idea of "Why?" Why Lord do you cause this to happen? One reason that occurred to me was: Because the Lord will not let his name be defamed.

Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Moab--they each served their own patron diety. If one was from Babylon he and his actions were associated with the god Marduk, and the reverance that person showed his god was how others saw that god. Similarly, Judah worshiped Yahweh. However over the last several hundred years their worship of Yahweh had become intermingled with Asshura poles, child sacrifice, and temple prostitution, to name a few. An outsider looking in saw this as how to worship Yahweh, and God was very, very angry.

Three years ago when I was in Japan a Christian there told me one reason it's difficult for Japanese people to become Christian is because they associate all people in America as Christians, just as we associate everyone in Israel as Jewish. The Japanese do not like the picture American's who consider themselves Christians portray, and thus, don't want anything to do with it.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (II Cor. 5:20).

Woe to us if we call ourselves Christians and our life does not model it. We are ambassadors to a Leader who very concerned with His Honor.