Learning Nothing From History

Learning Nothing From History

Jeremiah 32: 33-34

33 And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 

34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 

   In a nutshell, after the death of Solomon the Kingdom of Israel divided into two kingdoms, the Northern kingdom called Israel, and the Southern kingdom called Judah.  The Northern kingdom quickly fell into idol worship.  They created sacred groves on the hills where people went to engage in idolatrous practices, many of which involved having sex with harlots in the belief that it would bring fertility to families and to farms.  In about 722 B.C. God allowed the Assyrian army to conquer the capitol city of Samaria and ended the existence of the Northern kingdom. 

   Jeremiah began preaching around 626 B.C. and he preached until the Southern kingdom was taken into captivity to Babylon in 587 B.C.  He said many things to try to convince the people that the Southern kingdom would be punished by God just as the Northern kingdom had been.  They knew the story of the sins of the people and the final defeat of the capitol of Samaria.  They knew why God had allowed them to be conquered - they were worshipping idols and not God and practicing evil and not following the Law given to Moses.  The Northern kingdom had been warned by many prophets, and now the Southern kingdom was following the same steps and were worshipping idols and going to the sacred groves and lying with the harlots just as the people of the Northern kingdom had. 

   In this passage Jeremiah was telling them one point that God found especially offensive.  The people were not only worshipping idols but were bringing their evil practices right into the Holy Temple!  God mentions Shiloh to them and told them to go there and see what happened.  Shiloh was where the Tabernacle had been set up after Joshua led the conquest of the land and was where the people came to offer sacrifices and worship God before the Temple was built in Jerusalem.  But at this time Shiloh was a desolate ruin.  God had allowed it to be overrun by the enemy because the sins of people were practiced even there in that holy place.  He is warning them that if He would allow Shiloh to be torn down because of sin, He would allow the Temple to be torn down because of sin.

   So by now some are saying, “So what, Steve!  What has this old story to do with me today?”  Because I see our churches today, places dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, not just allowing sin to rise up in our society with barely a protest or comment but in many cases actually allowing the evil right into the church itself.  And why?  To help those who are living in sin?  In many cases the sin issue is never brought up.  The church feels good that the pews are full and there are many programs on the schedule and people are happy.  So why tell them about the sin they practice?  We just lead them in the sinner’s prayer then send them back to their lives and never tell them they are still sinning. 

   No harsh sermons fall from these pulpits.  No uncomfortable meetings with the pastor warning them to change their lives and begin to live for Christ.  No sir!  We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  And besides, we might get in trouble with the government.  We won’t be the ones to be on the evening news branded as reactionaries and old-fashioned Bible-thumpers.  We want people to see us as the loving church where everyone is welcome.

   So what you saying, Steve?  “Sinners not welcome here?”  No, I’m not.  Sinners need Jesus and the best place for them to go is to church, as long as the church you go to teaches the whole Bible and teaches you to grow in grace and become more like Christ.  But if you go to a church that has invited evil in and allows it to stay and be comfortable there then you will never be taught to live a holy life. 

   Our churches should be beacons of light for a dark world, not a quiet club that entertains you and sends you home with warm-fuzzy feelings.  We need to proclaim Christ and obey His commands.  He instructed us to go out into the world and proclaim the Gospel.  He told us to minister to the sick and to care for widows and orphans. 

   I wonder what some pastors will say on that day when they appear before Christ and He asks them what they did with their congregations.  “Well, Lord, we entertained hundreds every week with a full band and our worship leader was world-class!  Then I preached, sometimes for as long as fifteen minutes.  Then we kept them busy with many programs.”  And Jesus asks them, “What about the sick and the homeless and the lost?  Did you bring the Gospel out into the streets?  Did you tell them I love them and wanted them to come to Me?  Or did you allow sin into your churches but didn’t invite Me in?

   Dear God, please forgive me for every time I failed to share the Gospel.

Stephen Cram                                                                            October 6, 2013                     

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

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