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!” [Jeremiah 38.4]
This is the treatment one can expect for decrying idolatry. It was then, and it is now.
At first the prophet's word starts out and is discounted as as "crazy talk." But when it starts to get real and the prophecies start to manifest as "reality," the prophet is to blame.
To be sure, none of Jeremiah's troubles would have happened if he had not pointed out the people's idolatry. People don't like their idols revealed. They didn't in Jeremiah's day, and they don't now.
The Bible means nothing to modern man if it does not shed light on his present condition. The Bible's repeated warnings against betraying undivided trust in God alone, or, idolatry, is timeless.
The Bible's repeated warnings against idolatry all consolidate into one message: that idols will eventually fail. The problem with this fact is that idols don't fail until they have secured their idolatrous victims to fall with them. Then, both they and those who trust them fall into devastation assigned by God.
If this author could simply point to the Bible, it would be pointed out everywhere that the modern-day idol industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology will all eventually meet with disaster. The world witnessed a precursor to this in the Covid pandemic (the realities of which are only just now coming to light). To be sure, and as the Bible is true, more is to come that will make the Covid pandemic seem like a child's game. In all likelihood, artificial intelligence (AI) will erupt into the next worldwide disaster. If the world thought the Covid virus got out of hand (for whatever reasons, accidental or intentional), it should brace itself for how out of hand AI will become (and is becoming even now). As deep a mark as Covid left on the planet earth, AI will make it look like a harmless scratch. And still, the world, with God's people fully onboard, races forward with technology just like it still confidently races forward with medicine as if Covid never happened.
The thing is, when AI "turns" on mankind (as did medicine), finance and insurance will assuredly follow in sync.
Jeremiah's warnings against idolatry are as relevant today as they were the day he gave them. God's people are currently in the precarious position of Judah in Jeremiah's time. They have brought shame to the name of the LORD by trusting in their idols setting themselves up for no uncertain full-blown captivity to that idolatry (Babylon).
But Babylon's destruction is coming. And, just as Jeremiah's words were pertinent to God's people in his day, so they remain pertinent to God's people today, "Flee from Babylon! - It's annihilation is coming!" Jeremiah's words serve to warn God's people today (who are paying particularly close attention to God's Word) to get rid of their idols!
Soon, it will be communicated, as it was in Jeremiah's day above, that the words proclaimed here are treasonous demoralization against mankind. The legal system will join in with all the world and, sadly, many "Christians" to squelch the timeless message of the Bible against idolatry - the message that finance, insurance, medicine and technology are all indeed powerful, commercialized, and industrialized idols (man-made) that are slated by God for a tremendous "crash and burn."
This is not "new revelation" but rather the same timeless message of the Bible against idolatry! And, in the same timeless message of the Bible against idolatry, we should not be surprised that Jesus' message bought concision to the Bible's timeless message up to His time with these words:
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 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
"Babylon" of our day says, "You must take care of yourself!" This is the clear, unashamed, and advertised commercial message of finance, insurance, medicine and technology - man's "own way" to take care of himself. In contrast, Jesus also said:
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]
There is no point in calling me a prophet... this is not about what I think or say - it's about what the Bible has been saying all along:
So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. [1 Corinthians 10.14]
Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. [1 John 5.21]
1 John 5.21 in the New King James says it like this: Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Father, as I have merely pointed out what Your Word says, may Your Word accomplish in us everything You intend for it to. May Your Word draw us to undivided faith in You and You ALONE. May our flight from idolatry be our headlong dive into You - into Jesus - as we give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Him. So be it.
