Tag: disobedience

Has God Left the Building?

Ezekiel 10-13

Ezekiel 10 4

Tuesday, March 21

 

“Elvis has left the building.”   That’s what they used to say to the throngs of screaming fans after one of Elvis Presley’s concerts back in the day.  They would rush Elvis out the back door into his waiting car or bus and whisk him off to safety.  Hopefully, the fans would calm down after they knew he was no longer there… there would be no more encores for this performance.

In Ezekiel ten- YHWH has left the building.  The building in question was the Temple of Jerusalem.  Since the time of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness when Israel worshipped in the Tabernacle, to the time of Solomon and beyond, when they worshipped YHWH in the Temple of Jerusalem, YHWH was present with His people.  They knew that there, in the holy of holies, the shekhinah glory of God was present with his people.  Yes, there was a veil which separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple, and only the high priest was permitted to enter into the presence of YHWH once a year to atone for the sins of the people, yet they could always look up to the tabernacle or later Temple atop Mt. Zion and know that God was with them.  But no longer.  Ezekiel saw a vision of God’s glory leaving the Temple.  Because of their extreme disobedience and their worship of idols, God could no longer remain among his people.  It was a time for judgment, and God had to leave.  How sad that must have been for Ezekiel, to watch God leaving.

In Ezekiel eleven, judgment is proclaimed against Israel’s leaders.  “You haven’t obeyed my laws” YHWH complains.  “You’ve conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”

God is gracious, even in the midst of judgment, he promises to bring some of them back from exile and give them back the land which he had given to their forefathers.  God promises to bring about change in their hearts.  vs. 19 “I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”  God still loves His people and offers them hope in the midst of judgment.  Ezekiel shared this vision with the exiles so that they would understand the consequences of their sins.

In Ezekiel twelve,  God warns that even their ruler would be forced into exile.  They kept hoping that this would happen in the distant future, but God assures them that judgment is coming soon.

In chapter thirteen, God turns his judgment from the leaders to the false prophets.  These people told lies in the name of YHWH.  They said “thus saith the Lord” when God didn’t say it.  God condemns them for leading their people astray.  They “whitewashed” over the truth about God’s coming judgment against sin and substituted their lies about a false peace.  “you encouraged the wicked not to repent”.  He blames the false prophets for the sins of the people, therefore, they will come under God’s harsh judgment.

Israel had a wonderful building in which to worship, they had clear rules to follow, they had leaders to teach them, they had priests to offer sacrifices, they had prophets to bring them words from God- and yet that wasn’t enough.  They were not content to live as God’s holy and separate people and act as a witness to the rest of the nations around them.  Instead, they worshipped the false gods of their neighbors, they ignored God’s laws, their prophets failed to warn them for their sins and assured them of false peace when God was preparing to bring his judgment.  It seems not much has changed.  One would be tempted to see the same kinds of things going on today.  How many buildings today allow idolatry and false gods to be worshipped?  How many people falsely claim to be speaking God’s word when they are instead peddling the words of men?  Some days we might even wonder “has God left the building” when we follow the sinful standards of the world rather than remaining faithful to God’s holy word?  We’d like to think judgment is far away just as they thought then… but perhaps it’s much closer than you might think.

-Pastor Jeff Fletcher

 

 

Grieving the Heart of God

Lamentations 1

lamentations 1

Thursday, March 16

 

The book of Lamentations does not make it onto most people’s “Top Bible Books to Read” list. Its title actually comes from the word “lament”, which means “to mourn (a person’s loss or death)” as a verb, and “a passionate expression of grief or sorrow” as a noun. This book is a compilation of Jeremiah’s laments about the destruction of Jerusalem and all the events leading up to it. He emphasizes that all this calamity is a result of Judah’s disobedience.

 

Jeremiah definitely had a good excuse for some serious lamenting. Sometimes we wallow in self-pity parties about silly little things like how the brand-new Chick-fil-A in our town doesn’t have a play place (true story, and very sad for this momma!), but when is the last time we offered up lamentations to grieve about and lament over an injustice in the world?

 

I live in Ohio, near the crossing of two major highways: Interstate 75, which travels from the Canadian border in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to deep into Florida, and Interstate 70, which spans the great distance from Utah to Maryland. Because of this intersection, the Dayton area is a major hub for drugs and sex trafficking; in fact, Dayton recently made national news for its record-breaking number of fatal opioid overdoses (which included at least one person I knew personally). When I think of how many lives are ruined or stolen by drug addiction and sex trafficking, I feel angry and mournful. It is cause for lament.

 

There are so many other injustices in the world: babies being murdered in utero every day; murder, violence, abuse, racism, discrimination; the growing porn industry; a failing mental health system; families being ripped apart … I’m sure you could add dozens to my list that are worth lamenting!

 

However, it is not enough to just sit on our bums and lament. God wants us to be active in His work in this world. What happenings today do you think grieve the heart of God? Pray with me that God would instill a sense of unrest in our hearts that drives us to fight against the injustices in the world, and to give us opportunities to help lead people toward freedom and hope in Jesus! While Jeremiah had much reason to lament, he was also a man of action (as we will see again in a few chapters), and we need to be people of action too!

-Rachel Cain

 

(Photo Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8GDFPdaQZQ – this link will take you to the Bible Project – with a video of hand drawings and explanations for every book of the Bible – pretty interesting stuff!)

Selective Listening – or Worse?

Jeremiah 42-43

Jeremiah 42-3 Pray That The Lord May Shoe Us The Way gold

Sunday, March 12

 

I’ve witnessed an oft-recognized-but-rarely-diagnosed illness called “selective listening.” I’ve charted an epidemic of the disease mostly among strong-willed toddlers, but it expands among all ages, genders, and cultures (even to Dads and, dare I admit it, Moms too). This “selective listening” regularly manifests as an inability to hear or acknowledge commands or requests given loudly a few inches away, followed by an ability the next minute to overhear a whispered conversation about dessert behind closed doors three rooms away.

 

Have you ever demonstrated selective listening? Or, even worse, have you listened and heard clearly, but deliberately chose to go the other direction? Often, selective listening becomes so selective that it leads to disobedience – we only let ourselves hear or believe that which aligns with our desires, and then we follow our desires even if they lead us away from God’s truth.

 

In this passage, the people went to Jeremiah for some advice. What should they do – should they stay in Judah or go to Egypt? Jeremiah consulted with God, who revealed to him that the people should stay in Judah. Jeremiah told the people about his revelation from God, but did they listen to this very advice (for which they had asked, mind you)? NO! They decided to head to Egypt and took Jeremiah with them. (We’ll explore the repercussions of this action over the next few days!)

 

I’m reminded of many Bible characters who had “selective listening” – or shall I say, outright disobedience – of which one of the most prominent examples was Jonah. God told him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah boarded a ship in the exact opposite direction! He soon learned that he could not hide from God, though! (You can get that whole story in the Old Testament book of Jonah).

 

Pray with me about any areas of our lives that we need to be more open to listening to God and obeying him, even if it is contrary to what we want to do. Ask God to change our hearts to make us desire to listen to Him and obey His will. May we be people who DO the word of God, not just HEAR it (James 1:22).

-Rachel Cain

 

Rachel Cain is a follower of Jesus, wife to Dan, and stay-at-home homeschooling mommy to three precious Blessings. She enjoys reading (children’s books by day and non-fiction by night), eating ice cream, hiking, and writing devotionals about what God has been teaching her. 

 

(Photo Credit: http://images.knowing-jesus.com/i/jeremiah-42-3-pray-that-the-lord-may-shoe-us-the-way-gold)

Examples of Obedience

Jeremiah 35-37

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Friday, March 10

The reoccurring theme I noticed from all of today’s chapters was obedience.

In chapter 35 we see the example of obedience from the Rekabites.  They had some unusual commands to follow, but they followed them anyways!  They weren’t allowed to drink wine, build houses, sow a seed or plant vineyards. (35:6-7)  At first I didn’t really recognize the significance of this, I mean, what’s the big deal if you don’t have to work fields right?  But then I started wondering, how are they living in those times without working and still surviving?  These commands they were told to obey were not easy to follow in that age!  Yet they still obeyed.  Because of this, God rewarded their family tree.  (35:19)

In Jeremiah 36 we see the bad example of obedience.  As I was reading how the king completely disrespected God’s message, it reminded me of being in elementary school when one person did something wrong and the entire class just went: “Oooooooooohhhhh…..” with our mouths hanging open.  I was just waiting with wide eyes and an open mouth as I read about the scroll being burned up.  As to be expected, God was not a fan of this disobedience.  36:31 says, “I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.”  Everyone is an example, some are just an example of what NOT to do!

Jeremiah left us with a great example of obedience in chapter 37.  He ended up being thrown in prison for obeying God’s commands!  But this did not stop him from speaking the truth God told him to speak.  Even though it would’ve been a lot easier to just tell the king what he wanted to hear, Jeremiah chose to obey God.  He knew that his reward would come later.

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” -Jeremiah 17:10 (I know it’s not this week’s passage but it’s still in this book!)

Our obedience to God will be rewarded, the Bible tells us that all the time!  It also tells us that disobedience will lead to disaster.  Are you willing to follow the example the Rekabites and Jeremiah gave, obeying God’s commands even when they aren’t easy and can make you suffer for a little while, so that you can be rewarded later?  Or do you follow the bad example from the king of disobedience because it’s easier to do and hear?  Look to our examples from Jeremiah!

-Sarah Blanchard

(Photo Credit: http://www.alittleperspective.com/jeremiah-35-and-22/)

A Price to Pay (2 Kings 15-17)

Thursday, November 10

2-kings-17-all-this-occurred-because-the-people-of-israel-had-sinned-against-the-lord-their-god

2 Kings chapter 15 includes multiple assassinations of rulers, a one month rule, a 6 month rule and a twenty year reign of an evil king. . . makes our U.S. terms of office and system of voting look pretty good – far from perfect – but better than the political system of the Divided Kingdoms.

Of the 7 kings listed in Chapter 15, only two of them are said to have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord: Azariah and Jotham.  It is curious that those are the only two kings listed here in which the author gives the name of the king’s mother.   Young women – never underestimate the importance of the job of raising up a new Godly generation.  Yes, young men – your children will need a Godly daddy, too!!

There is a repeated phrase that we have heard over and over again describing the kings of Israel: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord…he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam.”  I think it is worth reminding ourselves what were the sins of Jeroboam?  When Israel divided after the reign of Solomon, Jeroboam became the ruler of the larger 10 tribes in the north, who would keep the name Israel.  However, they lost the two southern tribes which would be called Judah – as well as the holy city Jerusalem, the home of God’s special temple.  Jeroboam didn’t want his subjects trying to travel to Jerusalem to worship, as prescribed by God.  So he (not God) created new “holy places” for Israel which included golden calves and he selected new priests not from the tribe of Levi.  God’s whole system of worship (which had been carefully laid out in the books of Law) were replaced by Jeroboam – for convenience and ease.  But there would be a price to pay.

In Chapter 17 God sends the Assyrians to capture Israel.  They have used up their chances.  God is fed up with their disobedience.  Scripture says,”They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, ‘Do not do as they do’.” (17:15)  There is often great ungodliness – and danger – in blending in with those around us.  God’s people are to stand out as different – dedicated to His Word and commands rather than to what others are doing or what is currently convenient and accepted.  Who are you following?  Any guesses what the consequences (good or bad) are going to be?

Marcia Railton

 

Incomparable Blessings Followed by Incomplete Obedience (I Kings 10-12)

Monday, October 31

1-kings-11_38
Melissa New
If ever there was a man that “had it all”, Solomon was that man. Precious things were flooding into Israel during his reign. Gold, silver, wood, horses, spices, weapons, mules, jewels…..and wives. 10:21 tells us the wealth was so immense that “silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!” There was just one thing that Solomon was lacking; complete obedience to God. His dad warned him before dying. Why didn’t he keep the sound advice of his father? God’s great covenant blessings only come with one condition. Solomon himself told everyone in his prayer at the dedication, “You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.” (I Kings 8:9) In I Kings 11:10 we see that the LORD “had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the LORD’s command.” It was a case of deliberate disobedience, and as any parent knows, this means that there has to be consequences.
God is such a good father. He explained to Solomon what would happen because of his disobedience. It would seem that Solomon didn’t take correction as well as his father always did, though. David worshiped God after his first son with Bathsheba died, he accepted the abuse of Shimei because if it was from God he knew it was justified. David confessed to God his sin in taking the census, asked for forgiveness, and then was distraught, but willing to personally accept the consequence for his sin. It would seem that when adversaries came up against Solomon, he didn’t ask God for help. Did Solomon hear of Ahijah’s prophecy to Jeroboam? It seems like he did, and instead of praying and accepting God’s decision, he tried to kill Jeroboam.
Our response to sin is indicative of our devotion to God. Unfortunately, we will all sin. It’s how we act afterwards that shows God and others what really matters to us.

A Quick Fix? (I Samuel 18-20)

Friday, October 14th

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By: Terrence Raper

I guess this should make me feel bad, but in a lot of ways I identify with Saul throughout most of these last chapters of 1 Samuel. We don’t lead very parallel lives. That is to say, there isn’t a whole lot of killing and foreskin collecting  in my life(actually none, in case you were worried). However I feel like Saul’s story in these chapters is a desperate one. He is a man who was ordained king, and for a brief time was on top of the world. Saul even had favor with God for a short time. However he disobeyed God, and continued down that path.

In Saul’s disobedience, he kept looking for a quick fix. So as he has lost favor with God, and Samuel has ordained someone else as king, Saul thinks he can fix this, just by killing the future king. He continues to make poor decisions, and soon his family is involved. Saul is making a huge mess of everything. I can relate to this. I have had times in my life when I went against what God wanted for me. Because of my disobedience I began to suffer in some way, and instead of repenting and changing my behavior-I looked for a quick fix. A way out of the discomfort without confession.

We can make a huge mess if we decide to go our own route after we have sinned. God has so much better planned for us in our lives, than running from him, and feeling awful. We may have to go through the pain of confessing, or coming clean with God and others. However the reconciliation will free us from the feelings of desperation. And it will eventually repair our sin and relationships.

A Foolish Thing (I Samuel 11-13)

Tuesday, October 11th

 

By Terrence Raper

These chapters really shone a light on how great Samuel was. He was completely blameless.  He even offers a penance for anyone who would have ever had a grievance with him. The tragedy of Samuel’s service to the people of Israel is during his old age. He is forced to step down as leader, and knows that things are going to get very bad.  

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Samuel is still clearly displeased with the choices his people have made. This had to be exceptionally difficult for him. He had lead Israel faithfully, and blamelessly, but they continued to reject him and God. Samuel laid out what will happen to his people, and all the trouble that will befall them. They still refused to obey.  

Nothing is as frustrating or heartbreaking as watching someone you love experience hardships that could have been avoided. I know I have struggled with this throughout my life. I have had to watch people that I love harm themselves in unnecessary ways. I have fought with these people. I have tried giving advice. I have conveyed first hand experience with them of the bad choices I have made. Yet, for some people none of that works.  

1 Samuel 13:13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”