To Abandon God

Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the LORD your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken! [Jeremiah 2.19] 

Is it any wonder that the modern Church is so overwhelmingly powerless and unimpactful compared to the early Church and Biblical Israel before that? Jeremiah 2.19 reveals much as to why this is the case.

Truly, it is "an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the LORD your God and not to fear him." This sentence tells what was wrong in ancient Israel and it tells what is wrong in the modern Church: the two issues of abandoning God and not fearing Him.

What stands out is that religious people today (in the Church) want to redefine (and have successfully redefined) what it means to "fear God." The Hebrew word, פַּחְדָּה pachdâh, pakh-daw', carries first the idea of "dread." It also conveys awe, fear, and religious awe. In contrast, the modern Church has chosen to interpret the word translated as "fear" (in Jeremiah 2.19 NLT) as "respect" (sort of like what one gang member gives another these days). Well, "respect" and "dread" are two entirely different things! Respect is a mutual acknowledgement of "position" between two equals. Dread is the literal fear a subordinate has for a superior.

This redefinition of the word "fear" should come as no surprise to us though in the midst of our gross idolatry today! It is this misinterpretation of what it is to fear God that has led to the misunderstanding of how idolatrous it is to say, "God uses idols (man-made solutions to problems God said He alone would solve - i.e. debt, insurance medicine and technology)" No different is the lie that "God gave us these idols" when they are purely the idea, design and fabrication of man. THINK! No idol would even be necessary where a person completely trusts God and His Word! In fact, when a person trusts ONLY God and His Word, there should be dread of trusting anything else! But today, dread of God is non-existent because man has erroneously determined that his god-like solutions born of his own intellect give him the right to a position of "respect" with God instead of "dread." Therefore people ignorant of God and His Word adamantly defend man-made debt, insurance, medicine and technology saying, "God gave them - God uses them."

Well, Jeremiah says it is an evil, bitter thing to abandon God in this way. He also said this kind of wickedness brings its own punishment. What is this punishment? It is the unprecedented circumstances (curses) for which debt, insurance, medicine and technology are necessary today! Just a few verses back we find this:

“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! [Jeremiah 2.13]

The need for the idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology is self-inflicted. These "cracked cisterns" require regular and costly financial installments or otherwise they are of no use.

And you have brought this upon yourselves by rebelling against the LORD your God, even though he was leading you on the way! [Jeremiah 2.17]

If we would spend our time understanding what God's Word actually says, forsaking idolatry instead of defending the idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology with religious lies, the Church today would see a revival of God's demonstrated power! But, as long as we neglect God's Word, well, you get the picture...

Jeremiah's words should haunt us:

Listen to the word of the LORD, people of Jacob—all you families of Israel! This is what the LORD says: “What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves. [Jeremiah 2.4-5]

Father, help Your people return to the truth of Your Word in repentance for abandoning You. No, it won't be easy, but that only further justifies our trust in You alone to do it! Help the Church today to return to pure unadulterated faith as she fearlessly abandons the self-serving idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology to fulfill Your will for cross-bearing faith in (obedience to) Jesus Christ. May the unmistakable power of Jesus prevail as believers in Him forsake every idol that competes for (and thereby invalidates) their faith! So be it!