Will He know you?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 7-9; Psalm 15

TO CHEW ON: "'And like their bow they have bent their tongue for lies.
They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.
For they proceed from evil to evil
And they do not know Me,' says the Lord." Jeremiah 9:3

These chilling words from today's focus verse snag my attention: "And they do not know Me." Why does God claim these people — citizens of Judah and members of His chosen race -- don't know Him? In this case the peoples' lies show that they don't know God in any life-changing way.

These words set me on a search to find other places God talks about our estrangement from Him and His from us.

Jesus echoes the sentiment from Jeremiah in Matthew 7 when he says that those who do the will of God are the ones God recognizes:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23 - emphasis mine).

Jesus also talks plainly about not knowing those who try to come to God in any but the given way - the "narrow gate":

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them, 'Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ "(Luke 13:23-27 - emphasis mine).

There is a disturbing trend in modern Christianity to dilute Christ's claim that He is the only way to God. Perhaps it seems too narrow, exclusive, and intolerant. Or maybe it comes from a desire for novelty and finding a new and improved way to connect with God. The result is a tendency toward syncretism, a blending of our worship of God with the practices of other religions. It borrows from various faith streams to make a hybrid way to God, which includes Christ and/or a little meditation, asceticism, mysticism etc. These practices are rooted in Gnosticism and eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism etc.

In this context the warning words of Moses ring across the ages. They apply to the church today:

“When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way..." (Deuteronomy 12:29-31a - emphasis mine).

In our quest for a new and improved way to connect with God, to experience spiritual thrills and chills, let's be ever aware of Jesus' words: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).

PRAYER: Dear God, at the end of my life I do not want to hear You say, "I do not know you." Please alert me, by Your Spirit, to disobedience and wandering in me. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 15

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Insecurity of compromise

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 23:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "'Therefore their ways shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment' says the Lord."  Jeremiah 23:12

The prophet Jeremiah spends a fair bit of time condemning false prophets. He describes them as shepherds who "destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture." He calls them "adulterers," and "profane." He calls their lifestyle "slippery ways,"  walking in lies, and their legacy as an affirmation of evil ("They also strengthen the hands of evildoers" - Jeremiah 23:14).

They remind me of the permutations of doctrine that are widespread these days. The temptation of our leaders to reshape the teachings of the Bible to fit with society's changing standards are immense. Whereas Christians used to find themselves pretty well in sync with surrounding society (at least in Canada), that's not the case any more.

For example, within the last few years the doctrine of hell has come under attack, marriage defined as a union between a man and a woman is passé, and even within the church what is deemed acceptable sexual behaviour has, in many cases, been bent to society's patterns.

Here and in other places in the Bible, the result of such compromise is spoken of in terms of insecurity. Note some of the images Bible writers use when they speak of teaching that doesn't conform to God's standard of righteousness and what will happen to the people who follow such aberrations.

• The ungodly are as unsubstantial as wind-driven chaff - Psalm 1:4; Isaiah 40:24.

• The path they take is called "slippery" - Jeremiah 23:12; Psalm 73:18.

• Such a person "lies down" (to relax, to sleep) in odd, dangerous places: the middle of the sea or on top of a mast (Proverbs 23:34).

• Their sin is compared to a "bulge in a high wall" and their confidence is placed in a wall built with "untempered mortar" - Isaiah 30:13; Ezekiel 13:10,11.

• Their path is shrouded in darkness - Jeremiah 13:16.

• Their house is built on sand - Matthew 7:27.

• Their end is as sudden and as inevitable as labor pains to a pregnant woman - 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

Let's recall these Bible pictures when we're tempted to "go with the flow" and tinker with the Bible's unpopular teachings to make them fit in with society around us.


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to line up my life with Your word. May I resist compromise and uphold Bible standards even in the face of my society's pressures to change and compromise in how I live and what I say. Amen.

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Corruption's comet trail

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 34:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "'Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going lest it be a snare in your midst.'" Exodus 34:12

A comet, when it enters earth's atmosphere from outer space, is pulled toward the surface by gravity. As it descends, the friction of our atmosphere increases its heat so that it soon burns, leaving a visible trail of gas and vapor to mark its passage. In much the same way sin seems to exert a gravitational pull on our spirits, and in today's reading Moses describes the comet trail of nation's descent into it.

In Exodus 34 God sets before Moses two choices for the Israelites. One is a choice to be loyal to God — thus staying well away from sin's gravitational pull in the first place. The other involves covenanting with the nations of Canaan. When the Israelites do this, Moses warns them of how they will eventually descend into outright idolatry. A covenant with the pagan nations of Canaan will involve these steps:

1. A softening toward idol worship - Exodus 34:12-14.
2. Polite (or curious?) participation ("...eat of his sacrifice...") - Exodus 34:15.
3. Intermarriage - Exodus 34:16.
4. Idolatrous practices entering the family's culture and legacy - Exodus 34:16.
5. Absorption into the mainstream culture as individuals make idols for themselves - Exodus 34:17.

This portrayal of Israel's possible descent into spiritual corruption can serve as  caution for us. Some things that we as Christians can beware of and avoid as we seek to be wholly loyal to God in our culture are:

• Intermarrying with non-Christians.

Of course if we're not married, we can place limits on whom we would consider as a possible spouse. As for our kids, in our time and culture where we have little say in who our children marry, we can pray.

• Dabbling in the occult.

We can avoid things like getting fortunes told, reading horoscopes, involving ourselves with occultic medical practitioners etc

• Participating in practices that have their origins in other religions.

One popular type of physical exercise, yoga, originates in Hinduism. Though many argue that they do yoga exercises without any acknowledgement of the spiritual aspects of it, others warn that any involvement with it is not spiritually wise. Another trap might be decorating our homes with the paraphernalia of other religions - e.g. Buddha statues or shamanistic masks.

• Allowing our culture's ideal of syncretism to infiltrate our churches and our personal lives.

No matter what our culture's wise ones say, the Bible makes it clear that not all faith journeys lead to God (John 14:6).

The warnings, above, are not politically correct — but when did God ever concern Himself with our political correctness, except to warn against it? I would much rather err on the side of caution and inherit God's blessing (Exodus 34:6,7a) than allow my life to enter sin's atmosphere and be pulled down by its gravitational force.


PRAYER: Dear God, since You don't change, I need to take Your warnings to stay away from sin and idolatry very seriously. Please help me, by Your Spirit, to become aware of and root out any idolatrous thing in my life. Amen.

MORE: Christians and yoga.

Is it permissible for Christians to participate in yoga exercises? Here are some articles to read and consider from the writings of Albert Mohler:

Yahoo, Yoga and Yours Truly

The Subtle Body: Should Christians Practice Yoga?

Help from Hindu Quarters — The New York Times on "Take Back Yoga"

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Double-minded Solomon

T

Solomon with one of his wives - Artist unknown

ODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Kings 3:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statues of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. 1 Kings 3:3

The snippet of Solomon's life in today's reading is a study in contradictions.

• Solomon loved the Lord yet sacrificed at the high places.

(High places were "...hilltop open air shrines for Israelite worship prior to the temple. Their hilltop location followed Canaanite practice, and many probably stood on existing centers of Baal worship" - NIV Study Bible notes - Kindle Location 78,262.)

• The law forbade worshiping at these sites - Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 7:5.)

• The law also limited altar building to locations of God's choice - Deuteronomy 12:2-5, 13,14.

• Still, God spoke to Solomon in a dream after he had sacrificed at Gibeon "the great high place." In his dream, Solomon's answer to God's question: "What shall I give you?" pleased God and He promised to answer Solomon's request for wisdom in governing the people.

• On waking, Solomon traveled to Jerusalem and worshiped there (1 Kings 3:15), so we see that he knew where offerings were to be made.

We can see some interesting trends here early in Solomon's life—tendencies that, in the end, took him down.

Here at the beginning of his reign he married his first unbelieving wife, Pharaoh's daughter - 1 Kings 3:1. He kept up this practice throughout his life and these hundreds of idol-worshiping wives were the one big cause of his eventual downfall - 1 Kings 11:1-13.

His mixing high places into Yahweh worship produced apostasy and syncretism which persisted and displeased God - 2 Kings 17:17-18; 21:2-9.

Solomon's double-mindedness in his youth and middle age led to an old age that was characterized by cynicism, aimlessness and depression. Read Ecclesiastes, e.g. Ecclesiastes 1:2.

There's much to learn here for us: 

• Early sinful tendencies will only grow stronger if we don't nip them in the bud. 

• Though God often blesses us despite sin in our lives, our tolerance of it will inevitably angle the trajectory of our entire life.  

• Double-mindedness can indeed lead to instability and a bad end, as James warns us - James 1:8; 4:8-10.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to love You and demonstrate that love by my obedience. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

False shepherd alert

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 23:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "'Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!' says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: 'You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,' says the Lord." Jeremiah 23:1-2

I have, in the last while, run into evidence that the problem Jeremiah had with false shepherds in his day continues in ours. Otherwise, how do you explain a Lutheran pastor who describes himself as a "vedic buddhist pagan," or a local church leader who, in his role as TV host-interviewer is more preoccupied with pointing out how Buddhism contains truth than explaining how it contradicts the Gospel?

In our time, when blending belief systems with a view to getting along with everyone is the trend, I guess it's not surprising. But the pervasiveness of such tainted teaching makes it all the more important to be able to tell who the false shepherds/teachers are. Jeremiah in this chapter names several lifestyle and teaching indicators:

1. They are profane (vs. 11). I can't help but think of the trend in parts of the church these days to use spiced up language even from the pulpit, supposedly to attract the unbeliever: "See, we can relate to you because we talk just like you do."

2. They prophesy by Baal (vs. 13), i.e. hey incorporate the teachings and authority of another 'god.'

3. They commit adultery and live like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah (vs. 14), i.e. their lifestyle is just as immoral as society's all around. 

Throughout the Bible false teachers / shepherds are mentioned often. Looking at those references gives us some more ways to spot them.

• Unfamiliar teaching. Jeremiah describers them as teaching something "new" and says they "speak a vision of their own heart" (Jeremiah 23:16). Paul warns Timothy about their "doctrines of demons," and their "profane and idle babbling" (1 Timothy 6:20).

• Human-centered. This may mean making up rules for people to follow, as the Scribes and Pharisees did (Mark 7:7). It could also include teaching human wisdom instead of Christ: "philosophy and empty deceit ...tradition of man according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8).

• New take on Jesus. False teachers often tinker with Jesus' identity. Paul warns the Corinthians about preachers who proclaim an unfamiliar Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4). Peter warns about teachers who deny the efficacy of Jesus' work on the cross (2 Peter 2:1). Some may even use Scripture itself to challenge Jesus' identity, like Satan did during Jesus' temptation (Matthew 4:6).

• No bad news. The false shepherds of Ezekiel's day avoided the bad and unpleasant, saying only things the people wanted to hear (Ezekiel 13:10).

• Divisive. Paul warned Titus about teachers who were divisive (Titus 3:10). Related to causing division is the desire to build one's own following (Acts 20:30).

• Hypocritical and immoral lifestyle. Jesus warned about teachers who lived lives of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). Paul lumped heretical teachers in with those who practiced idolatry, sorcery and a lot of other things (Galatians 5:20).

The key thing in identifying false shepherds still always comes down to being familiar with God's word. When we know what it says, we'll be alert to someone who is trying to tell us something it doesn't say: "...holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict" (Titus 1:7-9).

PRAYER: Dear God, I want to live by truth. Help me to know and understand Your word so that I will be able to detect error. Amen.

MORE: Doctrinal defection

"What we see today in the moral collapse of the ministry is not the worst priestly failure. Far more devastating for the church long term is the doctrinal defection of thousands of pastors away from the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and away from biblical truth.

"The Curse of Priestly Failure" By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

(From the archives)

Thoughts on seeking God

"They take a bribe and they turn aside
the poor in the gate" Amos 5:12 - Artist unknown

 TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 5:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "Seek Me and live;

But do not seek Bethel

Nor enter Gilgal

Nor pass over to Beersheba;

For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,

And Bethel shall come to nothing

Seek the Lord and live ... "(Amos 5:4-6)

Amos, speaking to a backslidden Israel, warns her people to stop their frantic religious activity and start actually looking for God. The three cities of pilgrimage he names—Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba— all had significance in Israel's faith story.

Bethel:
Jacob first attached the name Bethel to the place where he dreamed of angels ascending and descending from heaven (Genesis 28:16, 17, 19). But Jeroboam 1 corrupted it when he set up an idol calf there. Bethel's reputation continued to go downhill so that Hosea named it not Bethel (House of God) but Beth-Aven—House of Nothing (Hosea 4:15). Amos reinforces that name when he says here, "Bethel shall come to nothing."

Gilgal:
Gilgal was the place the Israelites camped just after crossing the Jordan River from their wilderness wanderings. There Joshua had them set up twelve stones of remembrance taken from the Jordan's riverbed, signifying God's faithfulness to the twelve tribes of Israel (Joshua 4:19-20). Since then it had become an idol shrine: "Gilgal was a place where high places and altars were erected, and idols worshiped as it had formerly been a place of worship of the true God. The ten tribes made use of it in the times of their apostasy for idolatrous worship" - Hosea 4:15" - Gill's commentary on Amos 4:4.

Beersheba:
The patriarchs—Abraham (Genesis 21:31-33), Isaac (Genesis 26:23-25), and Jacob (Genesis 46:11)—had worshiped God in Beersheba. Now, however, it was associated with the "sin of Samaria" and linked, along with the city of Dan, to idol shrines (Amos 8:14).

There is a lesson for us in Amos's plea to the Israelites to seek the Lord as opposed to going to Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba. Three aspects of this seeking come to mind:

1. We need to guard against trying to duplicate the past. When we have met God in a place or time, like the Israelites had in these three cities, it's tempting to make a shrine there, hoping that we will relive what happened if we go back.

2. We need to be vigilant against syncretism, i.e. molding our experience into something it wasn't or isn't by adding in elements, like Israel added idols. Meshing our worship of God with the practices of other religions is always dangerous.

3. We need to follow Amos's simple instructions on how to find God. It is not by going to a sacred place or enacting a religious ritual, but by nurturing an awareness of who God is, and by doing what He values. In simple words, He meets us when we are obedient.

"Seek good and not evil

That you may live;

So the Lord God of hosts will be with you..." Amos 5:14.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to keep my relationship with You fresh and alive with my obedience. Amen.

MORE: One Master

"A man is a slave for obeying unless behind his obedience there is a recognition of a holy God. Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious because there is only one Master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 18 reading.