Jeremiah 7 Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord....Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. For if you truly amend you ways and your deeds , if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered!-only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to your persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by My name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.
II Timothy 3 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Numbers 23 God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind.
II Timothy 3 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Numbers 23 God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind.
I know this is an ancient scripture and written to another people at another time but does it still apply? To me? To this country? To the present day church? I believe it does.
When I read, Do not trust in these deceptive words; my first thought was, One nation under God. And, In God we trust. Really? Is that reflected in our country's values or just an antiquated stamp on our money? Is it our battle cry or just a good luck charm? Do we steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to other gods and then stand in the Holy places, the house called by God's name and say, We are delivered? Only to leave the church and continue in our sin?
We are tolerant. Of everything. In our highest ranks of government. In our pulpits. On our televisions and in our homes. Indulgent. Self-absorbed. Materialistic. Insatiable. There is no fear of God before our eyes.
And how long do we really expect God to tolerate that? Are we already seeing the effects of God's discipline in our country? In our church? In our own homes?
Child molestation, adultery, murder, theft, hypocrisy and tolerance of sin in our church. Greed, power, lies, debt, abuse, sickness and murder in our government. Pornography, abuse, molestation, drugs, adultery, incest and rape in our homes.
Most of us do not have to look very far to see the effects of sin on our lives. We all know someone who has been a victim of some kind of aggression. A school shooting, 9/11, a robbery, an act of abuse or neglect, poverty or violence. Could not most of this be attributed to the fact that we have no use for God? Can we not see? Do we have no understanding?
The book of Jeremiah is a proclamation to the people regarding God's perspective on their ways and the fury of His wrath and punishment for their choices. It is a warning.
And you shall say to them, This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.
II Chronicles 7 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land...But if you turn aside and forsake My statutes and My commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from My land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted everyone passing by will be astonished and say, Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this house? Then they will say, Because they abandoned the Lord...therefore He has brought all this disaster on them.
On our recent trip to Israel we had an opportunity to visit the West Bank. We had tea with a family that lives there and they shared with us many of the hardships of life in the occupied territory, behind the wall. The poverty, the fear, the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli soldier a few years ago, the daily struggle of getting back and forth through the checkpoint to work and their personal wishes for peace. We were told that this was the area in which Jeremiah proclaimed the word of the Lord. And I have to tell you that while we were driving through the area I was astonished and did think, Why has the Lord done this to this land?
Maybe it is time for those of us in the land of the free and the home of the brave to take a look at what can happen to a house, a church and a nation that turns it back on the living God.
When I read, Do not trust in these deceptive words; my first thought was, One nation under God. And, In God we trust. Really? Is that reflected in our country's values or just an antiquated stamp on our money? Is it our battle cry or just a good luck charm? Do we steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to other gods and then stand in the Holy places, the house called by God's name and say, We are delivered? Only to leave the church and continue in our sin?
We are tolerant. Of everything. In our highest ranks of government. In our pulpits. On our televisions and in our homes. Indulgent. Self-absorbed. Materialistic. Insatiable. There is no fear of God before our eyes.
And how long do we really expect God to tolerate that? Are we already seeing the effects of God's discipline in our country? In our church? In our own homes?
Child molestation, adultery, murder, theft, hypocrisy and tolerance of sin in our church. Greed, power, lies, debt, abuse, sickness and murder in our government. Pornography, abuse, molestation, drugs, adultery, incest and rape in our homes.
Most of us do not have to look very far to see the effects of sin on our lives. We all know someone who has been a victim of some kind of aggression. A school shooting, 9/11, a robbery, an act of abuse or neglect, poverty or violence. Could not most of this be attributed to the fact that we have no use for God? Can we not see? Do we have no understanding?
The book of Jeremiah is a proclamation to the people regarding God's perspective on their ways and the fury of His wrath and punishment for their choices. It is a warning.
And you shall say to them, This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.
II Chronicles 7 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land...But if you turn aside and forsake My statutes and My commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from My land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted everyone passing by will be astonished and say, Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this house? Then they will say, Because they abandoned the Lord...therefore He has brought all this disaster on them.
On our recent trip to Israel we had an opportunity to visit the West Bank. We had tea with a family that lives there and they shared with us many of the hardships of life in the occupied territory, behind the wall. The poverty, the fear, the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli soldier a few years ago, the daily struggle of getting back and forth through the checkpoint to work and their personal wishes for peace. We were told that this was the area in which Jeremiah proclaimed the word of the Lord. And I have to tell you that while we were driving through the area I was astonished and did think, Why has the Lord done this to this land?
Maybe it is time for those of us in the land of the free and the home of the brave to take a look at what can happen to a house, a church and a nation that turns it back on the living God.
AMEN, sadly...
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