July 7, 2017

Ken Miller

Contaminated.

July 7, 2017

Ken Miller

Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, a people is coming from the north country,
    a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and javelin;
    they are cruel and have no mercy;
    the sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
    set in array as a man for battle,
    against you, O daughter of Zion!”
We have heard the report of it;
    our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
    pain as of a woman in labor.
Go not out into the field,
    nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
    terror is on every side.
O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth,
    and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only son,
    most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
    will come upon us.

“I have made you a tester of metals among my people,
    that you may know and test their ways.
They are all stubbornly rebellious,
    going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron;
    all of them act corruptly.
The bellows blow fiercely;
    the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,
    for the wicked are not removed.
Rejected silver they are called,
    for the Lord has rejected them.” – Jeremiah 6:22-30 ESV

The enemy IS coming. God has ordained it and nothing is going to stop it. Unless of course, the people were to change their minds and return to Him. But God gives a bleak prognosis when it comes to any future repentance on the part of the people of Judah.

“They are as hard as bronze and iron,
    and they lead others into corruption.
The bellows fiercely fan the flames
    to burn out the corruption.
But it does not purify them,
    for the wickedness remains.” – Jeremiah 6:28-29 NLT

They were contaminated by sin. It permeated their very existence. And it didn’t seem to matter how much God brought the heat of His judgment against them, they remained unrepentant and polluted by sin. So, God tells Jeremiah that He will now refer to them as “rejected silver”. They had inherent value, but their unrepentant sin had diminished their worth. At one time they had been declared holy to the Lord.

Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today. – Deuteronomy 4:20 NLT

For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. – Deuteronomy 7:6 NLT

They held the distinct privilege of being God’s own possession. Not because they had deserved it, but simply because God had chosen to make them so. He had rescued them from their captivity in Egypt, where they had been undergoing intense testing under the tyrannical hand of the Pharaoh. God had freed them and set them apart as His own. Not because they had deserved it, but simply because God had chosen to do so. And as a result, they belonged to Him, and their lives were to have reflected their new relationship as God’s chosen people. But over the coming years and throughout the successive generations, the people of Israel would prove to be anything but holy.

“Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.” – Ezekiel 22:26 ESV

They had gone from holy to profane. That word, “profane” has very strong connotations. It refers to something that has been polluted or desecrated. But it is directly tied to the idea of holiness. God had set the people of Israel apart or deemed them holy. They belonged to Him. But their constant sin and rebellion had left them profaned, like damaged goods. Rather than being pure silver, they were marred by sin. And it didn’t seem to matter how hot the fire of God’s judgment got, they remained unchanged and unrepentant. The people of Judah had sat back and watched the destruction of their neighbors to the north in the kingdom of Israel. They had seen the devastating impact of the Assyrians as they had swarmed the northern territory, destroying its cities and wiping out its people. But now that they were faced with the same fate, they remained unchanged.

Oh, they were concerned. Jeremiah describes their reaction to his messages of coming destruction:

“We have heard reports about the enemy,
and we wring our hands in fright.
Pangs of anguish have gripped us,
like those of a woman in labor.” – Jeremiah 6:24 NLT

They were scared, but they weren’t repentant. They were wringing their hands in worry, but not lifting their hands toward God. They wanted to escape God’s judgment, but weren’t willing to obey His commands. So, Jeremiah warns them that they are going to mourn one way or another. They could choose to repent and come before God in sackcloth and ashes, expressing their sorrow over the rebellion against Him. Or they would find themselves mourning over the loss of their entire nation.

“Oh, my people, dress yourselves in burlap
and sit among the ashes.
Mourn and weep bitterly, as for the loss of an only son.
For suddenly the destroying armies will be upon you!” – Jeremiah 6:26 NLT

God reminds Jeremiah of his role. “I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways” (Jeremiah 6:27 ESV). His words of warning and his constant calls to repentance were going to reveal the exact nature of the people of Judah’s moral and spiritual state. So far, Jeremiah’s messages had fallen on deaf ears. His warnings had been rejected. His threats had been ignored. His prophecies concerning God’s coming judgment had been contradicted by false prophets who promised nothing but peace and prosperity. And God assesses the true nature of His people as being “stubbornly rebellious” (Jeremiah 6:28 ESV).

It’s essential that we keep in mind that the people of Judah were not pagans who knew nothing about God. They were not ignorant of who He was or unfamiliar with His ways. They were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They knew the stories of His rescue of their ancestors Egypt. They had heard about His miraculous miracles as He led them through the wilderness. They had been told of the fall of the walls of Jericho and the ultimate rise of David to the throne of Israel. They were proud to be Jews. But none of this seemed to keep them from turning their backs on God. They had taken His many blessings and turned their noses up at them, acting as if God was not enough. They turned to false gods and sought help from foreign nations. They treated God’s laws as optional. The prophet Ezekiel records God’s less-than-flattering assessment of them.

“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.” – Ezekiel 22:29-30 ESV

They were thoroughly polluted, from top to bottom. From the princes in the palace to the peasant in his hut, everyone was stained by sin and polluted by immorality and injustice. They had become profane and, in the end, they had profaned the name of God. Their behavior had given God a black eye. As His representatives, they had done damage to His holy reputation. And that was not something God could or would tolerate. That is why they would end up in captivity. And even there, long after suffering the shame of defeat and deportation, the people of Judah would continue to profane God’s name. The prophet Ezekiel describe what was going to happen and how God, in spite of their continued unfaithfulness, even after their punishment by Him.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation which you profaned among the nations where you went. I will magnify my great name that has been profaned among the nations, that you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord, when I magnify myself among you in their sight.” – Ezekiel 36:22-23 NLT

God was going to protect the integrity of His name. He would prove to the people of Judah and the nations around them that He was faithful and that He was all-powerful. He would redeem His people once again. He would restore them to favor. He would make them His holy nation once more. Not because they deserved it, but simply because is faithful, loving, gracious and merciful. And He keeps His covenants.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

June 29, 2017

Ken Miller

The Book of Jeremiah

God’s Inscrutable Ways.

June 29, 2017

Ken Miller

The Book of Jeremiah

“For this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

At the noise of horseman and archer
    every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
    all the cities are forsaken,
    and no man dwells in them.
And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
    that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
    that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
    Your lovers despise you;
    they seek your life.
For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
    anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
    stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.” – Jeremiah 4:28-31 ESV

God had spoken, and He made it very clear to Jeremiah that all He had said would come to pass. He would not change His mind or relent. None of the warnings of coming destruction had been idle threats. They were real and every prophecy spoken by Jeremiah was going to come true, right down to the last detail. And the mourning over Judah’s fall would be great. God even personifies nature as joining in the sorrow over the fall of the people of God. The coming disaster was going to have far-reaching implications. The sins of Judah and their consequences were going to impact that region of the world for centuries to come. The fall of Judah was going to dramatically alter the religious, political and sociological landscape of that region of the world. The fall of Jerusalem was going to have tremendous geopolitical implications. Despite their unfaithfulness, Israel and Judah had both managed to influence the world around them. Their worship of Yahweh, while sporadic and spotty at best, had still played a role in establishing the cultural dynamics of the region. Now they would be going into captivity, their capital would be turned to rubble, and their once glorious temple would be destroyed and, as a result, their access to atonement through the sacrificial system would be eliminated.

These were going to be dark days. When the Babylonians arrived, people living all over the land of Judah would find themselves running in fear for their lives, attempting to hide from the oncoming devastation.

They hide in the bushes
and run for the mountains.
All the towns have been abandoned—
not a person remains! – Jeremiah 4:29 NLT

The prophet, Isaiah, gives even more details about what this mass flight of the people of Judah will look like.

And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
    and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to terrify the earth.

In that day mankind will cast away
    their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
    to the moles and to the bats,
to enter the caverns of the rocks
    and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to terrify the earth. – Isaiah 2:19-21 NLT

The idols they once turned to for hope and help will be thrown aside in their rush to find safety. The false gods who abandoned them will be abandoned by them. These lifeless deities will prove powerless to stand before the wrath of God Almighty. The pitiful and somewhat ironic image is of the people running for thelr lives while carrying their lifeless idols in their hands. Not only were these gods incapable of doing anything about the tragedy facing the people of Judah, they couldn’t even save themselves. These inanimate objects had to be rescued by the very people there were meant to save. What a sad picture of the futility of idol worship.

Judah is described as a prostitute, all decked out in fancy clothes, covered in makeup, and adorned with jewels, in an attempt to entice the aid of other nations. But God warns that their actions would prove futile. No one was going to come to their defense. In fact, the surrounding nations would be glad to see them fall. All Judah’s efforts to woo and win aid from Egypt and other nations would result in nothing but an unwanted pregnancy. That is the image God uses next. he describes Judah as a pregnant woman, agonizing over the pains of childbirth.

I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor,
the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child. – Jeremiah 4:31 NLT

Their unfaithfulness was going to result in pain and suffering, and they were going to give birth to destruction. Like a prostitute who finds herself pregnant as a result of her promiscuous ways, the nation of Judah would find their pleasure turned to pain and their unfaithfulness giving birth to unexpected suffering. But their cries of anguish would go unheeded and unanswered. No one was going to be able to save them. God was not going to change His mind regarding them. He had given them ample opportunity to repent and return. He had sent prophets like Jeremiah to warn them. He had allowed King Josiah to rediscover the law and attempt to enact religious reforms among the people. But their hearts had remained unchanged and their faithlessness, undiminished.

The result would be Judah’s demise. They would end up like a woman dying in childbirth, “gasping for breath and crying out, ‘Help! I’m being murdered!’” (Jeremiah 4:31 NLT). Their end would not be pretty. Their demise would be painful and bloody. Many would end up dying as a result of their stubborn refusal to accept God’s call to repentance. They would turn up their noses at His offer of mercy and end up suffering the consequences. But it’s fascinating how many read the stories surrounding Judah’s fall and get angry with God. They wrestle with the idea of a loving, gracious God treating His people in such a horrific fashion. And in doing so they fail to grasp the deep significance and gravity of sin. We tend to tolerate sin. We learn to live with it. We even excuse it and justify it. But God can’t. He is holy. He is righteous. And as the God of the universe, He must deal justly with sin. He can’t overlook it or ignore it. To do so would be like a judge refusing to mete out justice on a criminal deserving punishment for a crime for which he was guilty. To overlook a crime is not justice, it is injustice. It is a crime in and of itself. For God to tolerate our sin would be sin and He would cease to be God.

The problem is that we tend to read the Bible in snapshot fashion. We pick up an photograph depicting an event that happened thousands of years ago, and we judge God based on that solitary image. We fail to see the bigger picture. God’s treatment of Judah was a moment-in-time glimpse into God’s much larger plan for the redemption of mankind. We can look at the events surrounding the fall of Judah and wonder how a good God could do such a thing. But if we step back and examine the full scope of God’s redemptive plan, we see that He has something far greater in store than we could ever imagine. To get angry at God because we don’t like the way in which He has handled a particular moment in our lives reveals that we have a myopic image of God. We live in the moment. God lives in eternity. We can only know the present, while He knows the future and the eventual outcome of all things. The people of Judah had no idea what was going to happen to them. All they knew was that God had predicted their doom. But He had something far greater in store for them as a people. He had the plan for the Messiah in place and the time for His arrival already set. It is a dangerous thing to judge God based on the limited information we have at a given moment. We must trust that He has bigger plans than we can see or even grasp. What may look hopeless and purposeless to us is nothing of the sort to God. It is all part of His sovereign plan.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT