Not Rending Their Garments Jeremiah 36

Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. Jeremiah 36:24

This passage is a sad commentary on people and the scriptures and prophets. Here is the set up to this incident.

God came to Jeremiah and told him to warn the people of Israel of the destruction He had planned for them. His hope was that if people heard, they would turn from their evil ways, have their iniquities and sins forgiven. (vs 3) So Jeremiah has Baruch come and write his dictation. Jeremiah isn't allowed in the house of God, so he sends Baruch. He reads the scroll and the people panic. They say, “We need to tell the king about this!” Another fellow takes it to the king's court and they agree that God means business and the king needs to hear this! So they take it into the king.

Now mind you that up to this point people are fearing the word of the Lord. They are not looking at this as mere words written by Jeremiah...they know God is trying to warn them that they are on a destructive path. Now if you just read the verse above, you would think that they just ignored the scroll and God's word. Nope. If only. As the scroll was being read, the king used it as firewood. He cut it off as it was being read and through it in the fire! No fear, no repentance, no honor of God. A few servants begged him to stop doing that. Word got back to Jeremiah of what had happened and God had him rewrite the message and add curses to the king's lineage.

Politicians and priests...there seems to be a battle between the two sects for time immemorial. The priests tell what God wants or thinks, and the politicians push them aside for their own personal power and gain. The history of Europe is riddled with politicians giving religious posts to those who would endorse their ill-behavior or at least look the other way. And prophets? Well, they tend to catch it from both sides. Poor Jeremiah was not looked at as the mouth-piece of God appealing to His people to turn from evil and avoid terrors to come, but as a political enemy out to harm his country. And not much has changed. Sad to say, the prayer breakfast yesterday was full of people proclaiming God's word, and met with one very powerful “king” who said we need to question whether God talks to Christians at all! We are to doubt that God's Word to the world is the only word for the world. Aren't all religions a way to God? Isn't there more than one way? Isn't it arrogant to think God only talks to us?

Well, he might as well have been taking the knife to every Christian speech there and throwing it into the fire. Men of God were ignored for political expediency, and I am afraid that this marks the same end for us as for Israel. You see, the king of then and the politician of now aren't the only ones to blame. They are the figureheads. I used to look at scripture and get a little upset with God for condemning a whole nation for the actions of a few. But God wrote those words through Jeremiah to the PEOPLE of Israel, not the king alone. The whole country had defied God through their actions and behaviors. They may have called themselves Jews, but they were not living it. They may have offered sacrifices and done the whole Passover deal, but their hearts were elsewhere. The actions of the king reflected the hearts of the people. A few were repentant and fearful, but none rend their garments. Fear was there, but the acts of repentance were not. Had they gone out in the streets with rent garments appealing to the masses to repent, maybe the results would have been different. But they took the issue to the king, to the politicians, and it got them nowhere.

We have this same mentality today. We look to political parties and powerful people to change the spiritual problems in our country. God appeals to us to appeal to our brethren, and we get them panicked instead of repentant. God doesn't just want us to fear His judgment. He wants us to fear HIM. He wants our attention, our love, our adoration. He blesses those who draw near to Him with peace and comfort. He withholds judgment if the people respond to His Word. He is gracious enough to send us prophets, even today, who hold up God's Word, often proclaiming to us this things that the church universal refuses to deal with for fear of driving people out of the church. We fear man, and not God. We fear offending man instead of offending God. Beware of who you are seeking God's wisdom from, but when you find one who rightfully divides His Word, take heed. Learn all you can, study for yourself, and don't poo-poo those who appeal to our spiritual side and look at even political issues as matters of God's concern. Our future could ride on your response.

Sheep's clothing Matthew 7:15

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7:15

This saying is not a new one, but few people today heed this warning. There are MANY people, religions, televangelists, and others who look so good and innocent on the outside, but their motives are anything but innocent. Innocents get taken, eaten alive by this brood of vipers, as Jesus called them. The admission of sin into personal private lives is subtle. It all looks so innocent. Satan does lure some by appealing to their anger and rage, making ugly look desirable. Then there is the bait...the thing that looks like it will satisfy our hunger for fun, for love, for attention. It looks like the real thing, and the next thing we know, we are dangling on the hook and being filleted, and have no idea what just happened! Ravenous wolves will kill and eat, leaving the carcass for others to feed on in their wake.

It happens to the best of us. Solomon in all his wisdom was taken in by his wives. What is one idol set up for his wife from wherever going to hurt? Or ten? Or a hundred? This guy knew what God said about worship of any other gods. So they were for his wives and not himself. What could that hurt? It cost him God's approval, and the kingdom after him was split apart, eventually leading to civil war and total destruction. God doesn't allow us to toy in sin because we do not see the hidden danger. Eve looked at the fruit and saw that it was good. It was pleasing to the eye. But there was the hidden danger that God had warned about. She heard what the consequences would be, but the outward appearance deceived her into thinking it was safe. And we know the consequences of that decision.

This passage continues to describe the fruit that comes is directly related to the tree it comes from. You don't get grapes from an apple tree. If the tree is sinful, the fruit will be sinful. We can't expect to get goodness from something evil. This is not to say that God can't turn your life around after sin. He is in that business. But the temptation to run with that idea and not heed warnings to avoid sin, to not eat of it, is a trick of Satan in our lives as well. This one drink with the people from work won't hurt anything, we may think. This one desire for the attention of that guy...what will that hurt. Then our appetites change, the desires intensify whether met or unmet, and we start down a road that we never dreamed we would take. I am appalled at some thoughts that run through my head some days. I am amazed at how naive I have been about people and their motives. I see the pain of some who were caught in the net and wonder how they were even swimming in that ocean when they got snagged. We are a sorry lot.

In the study Follow Me by David Platt, we find him contemplating the following verses of Jesus sending people away who thought they were doing right by God and Jesus says He never knew. They were practitioners of lawlessness. They put on a godly show, but they were not followers of the testaments, old or new. They had no desire to know God's law, but wanted to be leaders, prophets, miracle workers. Their lives were ravenous for everything but God. He is talking about false prophets. Many of those guys you see on Christian tv stations will be standing in this judgment, I fear. Some are caught and just keep going, and a few repent and are forgiven. It is a good barometer of a man's commitment to God to see what he does when caught in sin. Does he mourn over his sin or justify it? Does he resign or step aside, make himself accountable to others in authority over him? Or does he leave the ministry with that woman he's having an affair with? What appetite was he feeding? Was he danging the bait, or was he caught on the lure? Repentance is actually a beautiful thing. Getting worn down by sin and sick of the consequences and crawling back for some consolation is not. Mourning how your sin has besmirched the name of God and harmed others is repentance. Whining about how it took away your happiness is not. Truly coming to God with a broken heart and broken will, that he will not despise.

Are you a wolf, or do you at least smell something funny when that over-sized sheep comes in your direction? We need to be wary of evil. It lurks in the most unexpected places. When something doesn't seem right, but we can't put our finger on it, it is a warning from God. Accept the warning, put up a guard against Satan's deceiving ways, and expect a battle for your heart to follow. If we see the storm clouds brewing, take in the lawn furniture and hunker down instead of going on a hike in an open field. Follow Jesus back into the fold for the duration and He will let us out when it is safe to venture out again. Don't think you can weather it. You are a sheep and you are no match for a tornado. Or for a wolf.

Drawing close...getting into the Word

I sat down this morning to study and write, and then wondered if I had done the passage already. I have a list started of the scriptures I have written on, but it sorely needed updating. Very sorely!

I have a list so long and so unorganized that I am going to put it into Excel in Bible chapter order. I don't want to rehash the same verses, although some passages, especially the gospels of Matthew-John, do mention things over and over. God has always given me more to say about those passages. His Word is never exhausted of its glory. We covered Psalm 23 in Wednesday night prayer meeting, and the meat was still there after years and years of study, sermons, and whole Bible studies on that passage. New insight is given to us based on our experiences, our time in life, and other wisdom imparted from godly men and women. I will never look at goodness and mercy trailing behind me the same way again.

And I never imagined when I started writing this blog that there would be sooooo many verses in scripture about clothing. Some are very positive, some are hauntingly negative, and all give us an entrance into the mind of God.

So as I spend some time organizing my list and marking my Bible, I would ask that you do your own study of God's Word. I am no Bible scholar. At times I struggle with scripture, look up other people's notes for insight, and I am sure get a few things wrong. Don't ever take my word for God's Word. I am reading through Jesus Calling by Sarah Young for the second time in 3 years. I have to remind myself that she is not Jesus, but it is uncanny how most days I need to hear what Jesus spoke to her years ago. I think we all long to hear the voice of God, and we turn to other sources listening for it. God has met me over and over these past few weeks while I have struggled with purpose and direction. He has used His Word and writings from several other people to do it. But, I plead with you, don't read others without a solid base in the scriptures yourself. If you have to choose, choose picking up your own Bible. Get a version that you can read. I STRUGGLE with the old King James, not to hate it in this day when versions that are highly readable are available. Don't take offense if you love it. I remember as a teen sitting in a bus trying to read Joel and not understanding a single archaic word it said. I was reduced to tears. When Good News for Modern Man version came out, I fell in love. It may not be the best version out there, but it spoke to the teen that I was. Any lack of understanding then came from lack of knowledge of God, not lack of knowledge of 1800s English.

In any case, you get my point. Read the scriptures. Contemplate what God is presenting to you that day, in your life, in the lives of others, your country, and world events. Some passages are personal, but some are national, or written to believers or unbelievers. Look at context. Compare thoughts and passages with other passages. No verse is an island. An island may keep us out of deep water, but it doesn't connect us to the mainland. We need all of scripture to make any of scripture totally true.

Enough preaching for one day! It is sad how Biblically illiterate we have become. If you are not getting into God's Word, why not? He wants to talk to you! Start the conversation. If you can't understand Him, ask Him to make Himself understood. He is a personal God who will meet you at the point of your need. Ask and it shall be given isn't about this world's stuff, it's about God giving you more of Himself. His mind, His heart, His wisdom. He is willing to explain Himself to a 3 year old, so He is willing to explain Himself to you! He is more than we can ever know, but He brings Himself to our level. He sent Jesus, who preached and touched children and adults alike. He met people in their pain, their questions, their turning points. He was not harsh, but he was pointed. He doesn't spare feelings when people ask to follow, but He does have compassion on those who don't know just how lost they are. He begs for people to come under His wing, but He does not force it. Draw close and listen, draw warmth from being close on these cold, cold winter days. He will be the protector of those who desire to be near. Now go get your Bible, sit down, and snuggle up.