Not Calling Any Names...

We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough food to survive. Our ancestors sinned, but they have died—and we are suffering the punishment they deserved! [Lamentations 5.6-7] 

Lamentations 5.1-7 is a prayer for restoration. Verses 6-7 above reveal why God's people needed to be restored: they trusted in something other than or, in addition to, God - they trusted in Egypt and Assyria. God's people committed spiritual adultery in doing this - it was idolatry.

Once again, today we are faced with what we believe about the Bible. Is it for us today? Or, is it just a historical record with no relevance to modern man? Most of us will religiously say it is for us today, but then hypocritically refuse to live by what it teaches. 

God's people today are effectively in the same position as God's people in Jeremiah's time. We did not necessarily initiate our own worship of idols, but we are very much living in the wake of idolatry that began before our generation but we are doing nothing to get out of it. 

Our idols today are not so much other nations (at least not those of us who live in the USA) but instead are idols made to meet our needs. These idols were made to meet our needs independently of God. These idols do not require any assistance or help from God, and certainly no accountability to God. In fact, most of the promotions for these idols depict, and thereby promote, tell-tale Godless behavior.

God's people today defend their idolatry the same way God's people defended their trust in Egypt and Assyria - it is excused as a matter of survival. Oh, the truth revealed by Lamentations! The names have changed, but the spiritual adultery of idolatry has not.

As much as the Bible has always spoken about idolatry, it has also spoken about Jesus. How? In every reference to the Sabbath! Jesus is the Sabbath Rest promised by God. So, if Jesus is the antithesis to everything the Bible tells us about idolatry, what did He, the Sabbath Rest, have to say about how we live? Here are two things Jesus said that His followers most need to reconcile with:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24] 

If God meets all our needs, we don't need idols of our own making to do so.

If we are followers of Jesus, we cannot hold to anything of our own way (our own making - to meet our own needs - our idols). 

Any named thing we trust instead of or, in addition to God, is an idol. I'm not calling any names...

Father, I am intentionally refraining from naming idols here in this article today. If these idols are obvious to me, they will be obvious to any other person who reads Your Word with relevance to us in our time. May our hearts be moved to give up our own way (of idolatry), take up our cross, and follow Jesus. So be it.

Not The Problem, But The Symptom Of The Problem

Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege. [Lamentations 4.10] 

Perhaps no other passage in the entire Bible describes the appalling nature of abortion better than Lamentations 4.10.

Women are tenderhearted by their God-given nature. This does not mean that a woman cannot suppress that beautiful nature (as many do today), but that that nature is there in every woman as part of her creation.

As all of Jeremiah's writings reveal, idolatry is at the root of suppressing mankind's undivided trust in God alone. Idolatry offers all manner of alternatives to God. 

In its ultimate digression, idolatry eventually leads to the unthinkable treatment of children. The Bible consistently speaks of children being offered/burned/sacrificed where idolatry is unchecked. Abortion is not the problem but rather the symptom of the problem of idolatry.

Idolatry is trusting anything other than, or even in addition to, God. At its worst, idolatry terminates innocent human life. As the subject passage above reveals, the digression of Israel into idolatry (not trusting God ALONE) eventually manifested in otherwise tenderhearted women cooking and eating their own children in order to survive.

Abortion is not a mean-hearted act of murder (although it is murder), but rather the desperate attempt of an otherwise tenderhearted woman to survive - but without God. This explains why abortion is so damaging to a woman's life (created by God). Abortion is a man-made solution to a God-less problem. The solution of abortion seems reasonable without God, but it tears at the very soul of the woman who is created by God to be nurturing and tenderhearted.

As stated above, a woman's tenderheartedness can be suppressed. Without God, her instinct to survive selfishly sees her children as expendable. It is no use to appeal to the suppressed tenderheartedness of a woman without tracing that created tenderheartedness to the Creator. Again, abortion is not the problem but rather the symptom of the problem of idolatry - not trusting God the Creator ALONE.

In Genesis 21, a child was conceived as the result of not trusting God ALONE. As the story goes, Hagar, the mother, eventually suppressed her tenderhearted nature leaving her baby under a bush to die. Although she was devastated, she went off to survive without the child. In that wilderness of Beersheba, God came to Hagar:

But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.” [Genesis 21.17-18]

God reassured Hagar to not be afraid. God instructed Hagar to not allow the child to die, but to go to him. When God showed up, circumstances changed! 

Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt. [Genesis 21.19-21] 

The solution to abortion is to help mothers to see God. The solution to abortion is to help mothers see that God is not to be feared, but to be trusted. The solution to abortion is to help mothers trust Creator God, and therefore trust the tenderheartedness He created in them, to preserve the life of their child. 

Only God can open a mother's eyes - and, when He does, she will see that the solution is not abortion, but the solution is to trust God and raise her child.

Father, of course the world will never see the validity of what is said here. However, help Your people to see it. Help Your people understand that not trusting You (idolatry - with all its symptoms, including killing innocent children) is only remedied by trusting You ALONE. Help us give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. So be it.

Those Who Hang On To Their Life Do Not Believe God

The LORD had given the following message to Jeremiah while he was still in prison: “Say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will do to this city everything I have threatened. I will send disaster, not prosperity. You will see its destruction, but I will rescue you from those you fear so much. Because you trusted me, I will give you your life as a reward. I will rescue you and keep you safe. I, the LORD, have spoken!’” [Jeremiah 39.15-18] 

What did Ebed-melech the Ethiopian do? Here's the whole story:

Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah had been telling the people. He had been saying, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life. They will live!’ The LORD also says: ‘The city of Jerusalem will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’” So these officials went to the king and said, “Sir, this man must die! That kind of talk will undermine the morale of the few fighting men we have left, as well as that of all the people. This man is a traitor!” King Zedekiah agreed. “All right,” he said. “Do as you like. I can’t stop you.” So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it. But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with him. “My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.” So the king told Ebed-melech, “Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.” So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope. Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready, they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard—the palace prison—where he remained. [Jeremiah 38.1-13]

Ebed-melech believed Jeremiah was legitimate even though what Jeremiah was saying affected him too. It would have been much easier for Ebed-melech to have joined in with the rest, rejecting Jeremiah's message from God, but he chose not to. 

Why? Because, Jeremiah 39.18 says Ebed-melech trusted God.

Because Ebed-melech trusted God, he recognized the truth of what Jeremiah prophesied. Because Ebed-melech trusted God, he was willing to go against popular opinion to preserve Jeremiah's life and message. Because Ebed-melech trusted God, he was spared from the very destruction he refused to disbelieve.

What the writer of Hebrews records about trusting God is true:

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6]

To believe that God rewards those who sincerely seek Him is to also believe that God punishes those who do not believe Him. In fact, those who believe God can see the punishment coming upon those who do not believe God. 

Jesus recognized the future of those who refused to believe:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. [Matthew 16.24-25]

Follow this closely! Those who hang on to their life, do not believe God. 

People today are more interested in saving their own lives than they are to preserve and promote the Word of God. Even though they would never confess to such, their actions prove it over and again day after day. And, just like God's people in Jeremiah's time, God's people of our day trust in themselves and their idols (worldly allies) instead of God. Consequently, when they hear the timelessly relevant Word of God presented by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others that decries idolatry, they reject it. Oh, they enjoy the "stories" but completely fail to see that those stories are about them!

Ebed-melech put himself in a dangerous position to rescue Jeremiah. He effectively gave up his life to do the right thing - to save Jeremiah - to preserve the Word of the LORD against idolatry. I would like to do the same thing: Jeremiah did not deserve to be in that cistern! If Jeremiah's message of impending doom upon God's idolatrous people was relevant then, it is many times more relevant today. Rejection of God's Word against idolatry is rejection of God, and furthermore, it is rejection of Jesus.

It is hard to believe we can cry out "grace" as if Jesus is our rescuer, if that "grace" we cry out allows us to retain our idols. In hard Biblical fact, that is in every way unprecedented and unsubstantiated.

If we advance Jeremiah's message to our present day, the idols it speaks out against are not "Egypt" or "carved images." Present day idols are man's industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology (to name the main offenders) that all promote hanging on to our life. They are idols by virtue of the fact that man depends on (trusts) them instead of, or in addition to, God. In light of this, Jeremiah's message is indeed more relevant today than it was the day it was written as idolatry is clearly more advanced and ingrained in society today than ever before. All who doubt this are effectively those who throw Jeremiah into the muddy cistern and, those who believe it (trust God) are those who bring Jeremiah and his message of warning out of the mud!

I believe God's Word (all of it) is relevant to us today. I believe Jeremiah. I trust God.

Father, I want to be a modern-day Ebed-melech. I want to bring Jeremiah back into society where he belongs so his message can be heard. Help me to do just that. So be it.

In Eden, The Garden Of God

You were in Eden, the garden of God. [Ezekiel 28.13a] 

For as long as I can remember, I have concluded somehow that Ezekiel 28 is all about Satan. Today, however, I am having different thoughts...

Ezekiel 28 is "bigger" than Satan. While it describes Satan quite well, it actually goes much further. Ezekiel 28 describes the spirit of pride. In this fact, Ezekiel 28 describes everything that God hates whether it is Satan, a nation, a city, or a single person.

While the subject passage above has been heralded as proof that Ezekiel 28 was about Satan, it must be understood that Adam and Eve were also in the garden of Eden! It was pride that Satan appealed to in Adam and Eve that led to their idolatry of "self" - their pride - their sin.

Every sin of pride for all eternity was in Eden, the garden of God: Satan's pride, Adam's and Eve's pride, and yes, our pride.

Pride is never far removed from "the finer things." Where wealth and commerce exist, pride lurks nearby. But, there is an important caveat... wealth and commerce are very much blessings from God:

Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone—red carnelian, pale-green peridot,  white moonstone, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and  emerald—all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. [Ezekiel 28.13b-14]

Wealth and commerce are not bad. However, when pride becomes involved, wealth and commerce lead to materialism. The strange thing about materialism is that is does not require wealth and commerce to survive. Just the thought of wealth and commerce can lead a person to materialism without a cent to show for it. In fact, materialism and the pride associated with it are quite often found profoundly in the poorest of people. Yes, the spirit of pride existed in Eden, the garden of God and it exists today!

Materialism is idolatry. Materialism proudly denies God's ownership and lordship over everything taking those positions for itself. In pride, man makes for himself remedies - idols - to do for himself what God said He would do for man. However, man's remedies for himself do not hold him accountable to God - thus, man 'worships' these idols and not God. There is a reason the 2nd Commandment follows the 1st Commandment!

For all the years I felt like Ezekiel 28 seemed out of place in the Bible, now, I see just how appropriately placed it is! The spirit of pride is at the center of idolatry - the same idolatry that is the underlying reason for all of Ezekiel's writing.

So, of course Ezekiel 28 describes Satan. But, it also describes Adam and Eve. It also describes us as we give ourselves over to idolatry/materialism. In this way, we were all in Eden, the garden of God.

Father, what I have seen today amazes me. It has always been there, but just today have I seen it. As I understand Ezekiel 28 to describe me in my materialism/idolatry, may it further confirm my need to give up my own way, take up my cross, and follow Jesus. So be it.

Do You Trust Me?

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? [Jeremiah 32.27] 

Do we take out loans at interest, or trust God to miraculously provide for us?

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? [Jeremiah 32.27]

Do we insure every belonging and facet of life, or do we trust God to miraculously protect us?

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? [Jeremiah 32.27] 

Do we take every medicine that comes along promising better or longer life, or do we trust God to miraculously preserve our health?

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? [Jeremiah 32.27]

Do we allow technology to tell us what we need, or trust God to miraculously keep us free from its cycle of unending obsolescence?

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? [Jeremiah 32.27]

QUESTION: But, doesn't God use the industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology to meet man's needs?

ANSWER: Why should God have to use the man-made industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology if He would make the following statement and question:

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? [Jeremiah 32.27]

If our miracle-working jealous God is limited by nothing, why would He ever choose to use man's alternative methods of providing for His people - methods that man could (and eventually would) depend on without Him (instead of Him)?

THINK! Would my wife (with whom I am in full marriage covenant with - she is totally mine, and I am totally hers) ever give me the phone number of a prostitute (let alone set up a rendezvous) for that prostitute to have sex with me in exchange for money? Would my wife invite that prostitute over to our own house? She will not do it, and she will make no provision for me to do it!

"Preposterous," you say??? But that is exactly what God's covenant people do when they insist that God uses the man-made ways of the world to meet their needs - needs He said He alone would provide as part of His covenant relationship with His people!

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24] 

God, Who claims, "I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?" is asking His people right now, "Do you trust Me for everything you need?" 

Father, we are without excuse for our idolatry and refusal to trust You alone for our every need (whether we can figure it out or not). Our sin of idolatry is greater than at any other time in history. Few consider Jesus' words quoted above with any gravity but instead intentionally and conveniently view them through abstract glasses. We are grossly idolatrous and clueless to the fact that our idolatry is the source of so much sin in our lives that we are powerless to overcome. Father, please forgive me for my spiritual prostitution and every attempt to justify it with religion and abstract faith. May I be found giving up my own way, taking up my cross, and following Jesus... I don't need the world's approval. I don't need religion's approval. I need Your approval. I trust You. So be it.

The "Name" Does Not Matter - The "Role" Does

On January 7, during the tenth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the LORD: “Son of man, turn and face Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh the king and all the people of Egypt. [Ezekiel 29.1-2] 

There is more to not trusting in idols than just not trusting in idols! While God's people do well to simply obey God to avoid idolatry, Egypt's downfall provides sufficient reason why.

Every idol, Egypt included (because of their role regarding Israel and Judah), will fail.

We must remind ourselves here that the Bible is not just a history book! The Bible is God's Word to His people today! It was written such that its relevance would be eternal - because Jesus is eternal, and He is the Living Word. 

While "Egypt" was the name of an idol that Israel and Judah turned to in Ezekiel's time, idols today have many other contemporary names. Therefore, for God's people to understand the timeless accurate relevance of the Bible's ancient writings today, they must consider the idol, not the name. To do so, we must consider the role of every named thing, irrespective of its name, to determine if its role is that of an idol. Once God's people identify an idol by its role, only then does its name serve as its historical place marker, like the name "Egypt."

Every idol is identified by one major qualifier: people trust it instead of, or in addition to, God.

Israel trusted that an idol named "Egypt" would protect them from other attacking nations. Egypt did not reject its idol status given by Israel, but proudly accepted it. Ezekiel 29 gives us God's response:

“I am your enemy, O Pharaoh, king of Egypt— [Ezekiel 29.3]

This is, in fact, God's response to every idol for all time as we know it regardless the name of the idol.

In our day, God might just as easily and generically say, "I am your enemy, O industry of finance—" God might also say, "I am your enemy, O industry of insurance—" In the same way, God might say, "I am your enemy, O industry of medicine—" or, "I am your enemy, O industry of technology—" God would have quite a list today if He specified the name of every idol because the names of finance, insurance, medicine, and technology industries are many!

But again, the names of these industries do not matter - but their role as idols does. The fact that the plethora of these names make up entire industries is a sad testament to the extent of idolatry in our day.

As with ancient Egypt, and this is where God's people need to pay particularly close attention, modern idols' have a shelf-life because they are enemies of God and their destruction is just a decision of God away. Man's idol industries today brag of their success and strength ...just like Pharoah of Egypt did! But, their advertisements are merely the baseless claims of idols destined for destruction by God Almighty. And, here is where the name becomes important... "Egypt" today is NOT a world leader like other nations. Why? Because God took their power away as easily as taking candy from a baby. They were once powerful proudly enjoying their idol status and then God knocked them down.

It will be the lowliest of all the nations, never again great enough to rise above its neighbors. [Ezekiel 29.15]

And, this is the destiny of every idol today. The names will change, but their fate will not. For this reason, it is pure foolishness to trust in them instead of, or in addition to, God. 

Father, Egypt's fate only supports Your commandments regarding idolatry. Egypt's fate only supports Jesus' demand that we give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Him. So be it.

Does It...? It Should!

You will be fully repaid for all your prostitution—your worship of idols. Yes, you will suffer the full penalty. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.” [Ezekiel 23.49] 

Does it alarm God's people that they are so overwhelmingly powerless in the earth today? 

It should.

Does it concern God's people that they indistinguishably suffer all the same curses as the world?

It should.

Does it leave a void in God's people to hear the popular "faith" message of some religious groups but not see that faith actually fulfilled?

It should.

Does it cause an unsettling abstraction (watering down) of faith in God's' people to hear the otherwise "bad-things-can-happen-to-good-people" message of other (opposing) religious groups even though the Bible promises mountain-moving miracles for the faithful?

Does it???

It should!

Powerlessness, curses, unfulfilled faith, and abstract faith are all conditions that the BIBLE, in its whole story, links to unfaithfulness to God - to spiritual prostitution - to the worship of idols.

What's more, the BIBLE, in its whole story, points God's people to Jesus, Who, when He came to earth, demonstrated faith as it should be, among those who would give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Him. The only curses Jesus suffered were those that He, in undiluted faith, CHOSE to suffer on behalf of those who believe!

When we suffer curses, it is NOT an expression of God's love for us but an expression of God's justice. Curses are the "rumble strips" of life that tell us we are not on the right path and need to make a correction (repent). And, this is where idolatry enters... Instead of correcting to avoid the "rumble strips" we pay idols to mitigate not only the "rumble strips" but also the catastrophic "ditch" that lies beyond. Instead of humbly recognizing the implications of the rumble strips and making corrections, we seek solutions for the discomfort caused by the rumble strips and what lies beyond them, telling ourselves that rumble strips are just "the way of life." In fact, so much money is exchanged today to mitigate the discomfort of these "rumble strips" that man has made for himself enormous industries to handle it all... Some of the largest of these industries are finance, insurance, medicine and technology.

Idol industries all offer God-less solutions for God-invoked problems. "Problems" are curses (see Deuteronomy 28.15-68) whose design signals a need to repent. In this way, idol industries are prostitutes paid for services God intends for His people to come to Him for (starting with repentance and continuing in undiluted faith in Christ). But prostitutes don't care about repentance and faith - all prostitutes want is the money. Of course, religion doesn't teach this, but the Bible does! And, boy, does it! The Bible's prophets were unrelenting in their outrage against idolatry because of the filthy prostitution it is.

The more God's people turn to idols, the more God turns away from them (because God will not "behold" (look upon) idols). The end result then for "God's people" is powerlessness. The end result leaves God's people indistinguishable from the God-less world.

Should not God's people, because the Bible speaks so much against idolatry, understand that idolatry IS the problem today? Should not all the various religious denominations and sects humbly recognize their powerless condition? Should not "the Church" distinctly represent God in all His power and glory in the earth today? Why does the Church focus more on looking like the world then (to "bring them in") instead of like Jesus? The answer is the same as always: because of spiritual prostitution - idolatry that runs unchecked among those who should most abhor it.

God's people, in their powerless condition today, are living under the full penalty for their spiritual prostitution, AND THEY ARE NONE THE WISER. And, until they understand that God is indeed the Sovereign LORD and yield to Him as such in following Christ (giving up their own way, taking up their cross), they will never enjoy the glorious power and distinction of God's Kingdom on earth, let alone in heaven.

Too much? Consider the story of Oholah and Oholibah that precedes the subject verse of this article (Ezekiel 23.1-48). Go ahead and read about the 'fondling of breasts' that led to all manner of prostitution... God has never tolerated idolatry, and, Jesus did not come so He ever would! That is precisely why Jesus laid out the verbal gauntlet:

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

We can all wish it wasn't so, but it does not change God's Word. God did not preserve all the Biblical texts decrying idolatry just to say, "Never mind!" Jesus did not relieve mankind of the task of avoiding idolatry, but rather, put hyper-focus on it. "Give up your own way" leaves no room for any idol including, the original idol of "self."

The "cursed" powerless condition of the Church today (regardless of every abstract claim otherwise) is everything Ezekiel 23.49 above says it is: the full penalty for prostitution - the worship of idols. Following Jesus, on His terms alone, is the only remedy.

Father, Your Word is relentless on the subject of idolatry. No wonder people are content to remain ignorant of it! Let there be an undaunted return to Your Word among Your people - not a focus on extra-biblical books and literature (no matter how well-meaning) - but a hunger and thirst for Your Word as it is preserved today in the Bible. May Your people find the strength there to give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Jesus - to Whom all of Your Word points us. So be it.