God’s offer of forgiveness and protection.

“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’, still they are swearing falsely.” (Jeremiah 5:1-2)

This is an amazing statement that must have reminded Jeremiah of Abraham’s pleading with God over Sodom. In that case God would have spared the city if ten righteous men could have been found (Gen 18:32). But here the offer of forgiveness was if Jeremiah could find just one honest citizen who was deeply committed to the truth.

Jerusalem’s Great Corruption

This shows God’s great love for the city of Jerusalem, that he was prepared to forgive the city for the sake of one righteous person. But it also shows the extent of corruption among its citizens at that time.

It is difficult to be precise in dating this pronouncement, but it was clearly made during the reign of Jehoiakim who, unlike his godly father Josiah, lived a life of self-indulgence and set a bad example to the nation. Idolatry, immorality, injustice and corruption were everywhere. Jeremiah said that there were as many altars to foreign gods in the city as there were streets in Jerusalem.

There was plenty of outward show of religion and the people regularly used the name of the God of Israel when making their promises or agreeing business transactions. They were happy to swear their oaths in the name of Yahweh, but this really had no deep spiritual significance and certainly did not show that they were devoted to God, or that they observed the Torah, or even kept the Ten Commandments.

That God was prepared to forgive Jerusalem for the sake of one righteous person shows his great love for the city – but it also shows the extent of its corruption.

From Bottom to Top

Jeremiah duly went up and down the streets of Jerusalem and spent time in the market squares listening to the conversation of housewives and the tales of merchants. He no doubt did his research thoroughly and questioned many people - with disappointing results.

Then he thought; these are only uneducated, poor people who cannot be expected to have a detailed knowledge of the teaching handed down through generations of scribes from the time of Moses. It cannot be right to judge the whole city upon the lifestyles and behaviour of these people. He had to do something else before taking his answer back to the Lord.

He resolved, “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God” (Jer 5:4).

It was at this point that Jeremiah took the decision to widen his enquiries by going to the political and religious leaders of the nation, to see if they were observing the requirements of the covenant with God. That covenant, “I will be your God and you will be my people”, established by God through Moses on the ‘Day of Assembly’ (Deut 4:10), was a guarantee of protection.

But it was conditional upon the nation being faithful to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and having no other god. That was the first and supreme commandment. Obeying the rest of the teaching given to Moses was also important, but the citizens of Jerusalem - including their leaders - were not even keeping the first commandment faithfully.

Tearing Off the Bonds

Jeremiah’s conversations with the leaders shocked him: “with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds” (Jer 5:5). They were no longer faithful to the God of Israel, the God of their fathers who had brought them out of Egypt, fed them in the desert and brought them into the Promised Land. He had protected the nation and prospered them since the days of David, who had established Jerusalem as his capital and given instructions to his son Solomon for the building of the Temple.

The covenant God made with Israel was a guarantee of protection – but it was conditional upon the nation being faithful to him.

Now, the leaders of the nation were no longer faithful to the God who had done so much for them. They had broken off the link with Yahweh and instead of teaching the people faithfully they even tolerated the worship of idols of wood and stone.

Therefore, God’s protection would be removed from over the nation and they would be subject to the most terrifying forces of destruction. “Why should I forgive you?” was God’s response when Jeremiah reported his findings. “Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods” (Jer 5:7).

God’s Grief

The pathos of this situation was not lost on Jeremiah, who was a great patriot. He loved the nation. He loved the city of Jerusalem; yet he could clearly foresee the judgment that would come upon the land and engulf the people.

In his quiet times, standing in the council of the Lord, Jeremiah also sensed the grief in God’s heart. He heard him saying, “‘I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. They are well-fed lusty stallions, neighing for another man’s wife. Should I not punish them for this?’ declares the Lord” (Jer 5:7-8).

God certainly did not want to see the suffering that would inevitably come upon the people through their own wanton behaviour and the evil deeds of their faithless leaders. But God’s love for his people was also based upon righteousness, truth and faithfulness. The very justice of God demanded that he could not ignore the wickedness of the people and the deliberate disobedience of their leaders. He had to remove his cover of protection, with all the terrible consequences that would follow.

Message Today

This is a powerful message of warning to Britain, to Europe and to all the Western nations who have had the truth for hundreds of years but are deliberately turning away from their Judeo-Christian heritage and embracing the gods of the world.

They are no different from the ‘well-fed lusty stallions’ in Jerusalem who brought upon themselves such terrible destruction. But will the people or their leaders today listen to the warnings, any more than the people of Jerusalem did?

This article is part of a series on the ministry and message of the Prophet Jeremiah. Click here to read other instalments.

The limits to God's patience.

“This is the word of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ‘Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and the cry goes out from Jerusalem. The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads. Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.’” (Jeremiah 14:1-6)

Jeremiah presents a terrible picture of a prolonged drought covering the whole land of Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim the ungodly king (son of godly king Josiah), in the final decade of the 7th Century BC. The drought was not confined to Judah; it covered the whole region of what we now know as the Middle East.

Climatologists say that this was a period of ‘global warming’ and historians note that it was probably one of the reasons why Nebuchadnezzar conquered neighbouring countries: to recruit an army of labourers to dig canals around the rivers Tigris and Euphrates to irrigate the land.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in what was happening to the people among whom God had called him to minister. The Hebrew word for ‘drought’ used in this passage is plural, indicating a series of droughts that had now become so severe that all life was being threatened.

Rich and poor, young and old, city-dwellers and farmers were all suffering; even the wild animals were dying of thirst: “wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals”. In the cities the wells had run dry and in the countryside the streams and river beds were cracked and empty. It was a scene of desolation and death.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in the drought around him.

God’s Rebuke

Jeremiah had been told to remind the people of the terms of the covenant (Jer 11:1), but they had not listened or heeded his words. The consequences of breaking the terms of the covenant were perfectly clear: “The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron” (Deut 28:23).

No doubt Jeremiah also was suffering and his vivid description of the effects of the drought led him to pray for the nation – one of the rare occasions when Jeremiah interceded on behalf of the whole nation and the land of Israel: “Although our sins testify against us, O Lord, do something for the sake of your name” (Jer 14:7).

His pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke: “This is what the Lord says about this people: they greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins” (14:10).

In order to stop him asking the Lord to break the drought and send rain upon the land, Jeremiah was told to stop praying for the wellbeing of the people because God would no longer listen to their pleas. In fact, he was told, “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!” (Jer 15:1). This is an exact reversal of the message given to Moses when he was told to go to Pharaoh with a call to bring the people out of Egypt into the presence of the Lord.

Limits to God’s Patience

The reason for this harsh rebuttal of Jeremiah’s request on behalf of the nation was that God had forgiven the people time after time, but they had never kept their promises of faithfulness. The discovery of the ‘Book of the Law’ during the repairs to the Temple ordered by Josiah had led the king to rededicate the nation to God, re-affirming the terms of the covenant. But his son, Jehoiakim, had reversed all that and the people had rapidly returned to worshipping the Baals.

God’s patience had reached its limits after all the warnings had been ignored. The God of Israel was now exercising his power over Creation. The drought was the consequence of breaking the covenant in turning away from the Lord. The teaching that had been given to Moses was, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands…blessings will come upon you” (Deut 28:1). But, conversely, disobedience would bring terrible curses on the land and on all its inhabitants.

Jeremiah’s pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke.

It is a serious thing to enter into a covenant with God. It carries awesome responsibilities. Once we acknowledge him as our God, we belong to him: we are his servants, as well as his beloved children.

There are wonderful blessings and benefits from the love and protection the Father gives to his children, but there are also responsibilities. Jeremiah was well aware of this and although prophecies of peace and prosperity were being given to the people by some of the official prophets linked with the Temple priests, Jeremiah knew that the nation thoroughly deserved judgment.

Declaration of Faith

Jeremiah ended this time of intercession with a declaration of faith in God: “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore, our hope is in you. For you are the one who does all this” (Jer 14:22).

Surely this is a timely reminder to all the Western nations who have had the Gospel for centuries that there are inevitable consequences of turning away from the truth.

This article is part of a teaching series on the life and ministry of Jeremiah. Click here for previous instalments.

Blow the trumpet!

“Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: ‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’ Cry aloud and say: ‘gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities! Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay!’

For I am bringing disaster from the North, even terrible destruction. A lion has come out from his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant. So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.” (Jeremiah 4:5-9)

This is Jeremiah at his strongest and most confident; delivering a broadside in the early days of his ministry when news had reached Jerusalem that the Babylonian army was on the march. The whole pronouncement is in poetry, which would no doubt have made it more striking for those who heard it in Jerusalem, at a time of complacency and comparative prosperity.

It is difficult to date this passage but the indications are that it came soon after the untimely death of Josiah and early in the reign of his son Jehoiakim, which puts it in the period 607-600 BC. The Babylonians were busy acquiring sections of the old Assyrian Empire and steadily moving towards Judah (the Northern Kingdom of Israel having already been scattered by the Assyrians).

This proclamation from Jeremiah is a perfect example of the prophetic ministry in action, performing his role as the ‘watchman’ of the nation and messenger of God. It is a series of announcements, each in the imperative to add drama to the news being conveyed: “A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out” (v7). But this was no ordinary piece of news. The Babylonians may have been the army that was threatening Judah and the holy city of Jerusalem, but the agent was God!

Claiming Immunity

Ever since the Temple, envisioned by King David but built by Solomon, was dedicated, it had been more than just a place of worship for the God of Israel. It was a living monument to the covenant between God and the house of David – the dynasty that David founded, that was endorsed and blessed by the Lord.

Hear God’s solemn promise at the dedication: “If My People who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron 7:14).

This proclamation from Jeremiah is a perfect example of the prophetic ministry in action

That promise had become the focal point of a ‘royal-temple ideology’¹ that screened out covenantal reality and permitted self-deception. The aristocratic families surrounding the King who were in charge of the national government, and the priestly aristocratic families who were in charge of the Temple, were all under the deception that Jerusalem (represented by the Temple) was inviolable and that Judah as the Promised Land could never be invaded by a foreign army because it was under the protection of Almighty God. It was this delusion that Jeremiah’s harsh poetic pronouncement aimed to dispel.

Jeremiah alone seemed to perceive that they had failed to recognise that their covenantal relationship with God was conditional! It was conditional upon the people of Israel being totally faithful to the Torah, with the Decalogue at its centre – especially having no other God than Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Judgment Inevitable

The royal-temple ideology assumed that the covenantal conditions were fulfilled through morning and evening prayers in the Temple, conducted by the priests on behalf of the nation. But this was a mere religious ordinance.

This was the message that Jeremiah was called by God to proclaim (hence the imperative in his poetry): “Sound the trumpet throughout the land!” The purpose of sounding the trumpet was not simply to warn of the dangers on the international horizon, but to bring a message of warning from God: “I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction”.

There is no call for repentance in this pronouncement – only a call to put on sackcloth and lament. Jeremiah perceived the inevitability of judgment upon the nation and he knew the hardness of the hearts of the people. He had already called for them to break up their un-ploughed ground - the hardness of their hearts - but there had been no visible response.

Without repentance and turning, the covenantal relationship between God and Israel was dead. In fact, it was worse than that: it was a dangerous delusion that would bring disaster upon all the people, the priests and the prophets as well as the King and his family. No-one would be spared.

But the stark message of this pronouncement was that it was not the Babylonians who should be feared, but the God of Israel who had been deserted through the idolatrous practices of the people. There were even hints of this within the Temple itself, which showed the utter spiritual corruption that had become embedded into the nation.

Jeremiah perceived the inevitability of judgment upon the nation and he knew the hardness of the hearts of the people.

Depths of Conviction

The poetic pronouncement concluded with a declaration from God himself, beginning with the apocalyptic phase “In that day”. It stated the stark reality of the judgment that was about to descend upon Judah: “The King and the officials will lose heart, the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled.”

The fact that there is no ‘unless’ - no call for repentance or softening of the message - shows the depths of conviction that Jeremiah had received in his time of standing in the council of the Lord. In those moments in the presence of the God of Israel, time had been suspended, the future had become the present, shadow had become reality. The full horror that was about to descend upon the nation had been revealed to the Prophet. Like the Apostle Paul some 500 years later, he could not keep silent: “Woe unto me if I do not declare the truth of the word of God!” (1 Cor 9:16).

Of course, Jeremiah knew that if there were repentance in the nation, the Babylonian army could not penetrate the walls of Jerusalem or bring devastation to the cities of Judah, because there was no power on earth that could defeat the God of Israel. But he also knew the hardness of the hearts of the king and the priests and the leaders of the nation, who were blinded by a powerful spirit of corruption from the world that prevented them from perceiving the truth.

We Need Prophets!

The New Testament has many warnings of a similar blindness coming in the days leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus. 2 Timothy 3 speaks of this and the letters of Peter have strong warnings of the delusion that will drive the nations into a time of darkness and infect the Church with different forms of corruption.

Those who have prophetic gifts today need to spend more time in the council of the Lord, as Jeremiah did, and then to declare boldly what they are hearing and seeing revealed. In these days when the leaders of the Western nations have turned away from truth, and when many church leaders are also blinded by various forms of spiritual delusion so that they are unable to declare the word of the Lord, the greatest need is for the Lord to raise up prophets in our midst.

May those who have learned to stand in the council of the Lord, to recognise his voice, to understand how he is working out his purposes today – be given boldness by the Holy Spirit to declare the word of the Living God in this godless generation that is hungry for truth, but does not know where to find it.

References

1 E.g. Brueggemann, 1999. A commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and homecoming. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read previous instalments.

Jeremiah's insight into the Father's heart.

“I myself said, ‘How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation’. I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:19-20)

This is another lament expressing the grief in God’s heart as he reflects on the history of the people of Israel, from the time he made a covenant with Moses, drawing together the tribes of Israel into a special relationship with himself.

That special relationship was, “I will be your God and you will be my people”, and from that time they became a family created by God, with a beautiful land in which to live together with a rich inheritance. Every true family has a father to whom they look for love, protection and provision. In the same way, God expected the people of Israel, his family, to regard him as their Father, so that he could treat them like sons.

Sadly, they had turned away from the truth that he had presented to Moses for their health and security, and to enable them to follow him so that he could work out his purposes for the world through them. Israel had never been faithful: they had never fully put their trust in God and, like an adulterous marriage partner, they had been unfaithful to him, causing untold grief in God’s heart.

Idolatrous, Unfaithful Israel

This is what Jeremiah discerned in his times of entering into the council of the Lord and he broke entirely new theological ground in daring to put words into God’s mouth, “I thought you would call me ‘Father’” (v19).

None of Jeremiah’s forebears – the 8^th-Century-BC writing prophets such as Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Nahum – would have dared to make such a statement. Priests and prophets alike in pre-exilic Israel/Judah all avoided the word ‘Father’ in relation to God, because of their fear of idolatry. The Canaanites had introduced Israel to the Baals (local gods who supposedly owned the land) as the fathers of the people, who had to be worshipped in order to produce the fruits of the soil upon which the people depended for their sustenance.

Jeremiah broke new theological ground in daring to put words into God’s mouth, “I thought you would call me ‘Father’”.

Many of the local shrines, under groups of trees or on high places in the countryside, were occupied by altars to Baal. For the sake of peace and harmony, many of the priests of Israel and Judah practised at these shrines, offering thanksgiving to the God of Israel but also paying respect to the local Baal. It was against this practice that Amos was sent to protest at Bethel, where Amaziah ordered him to leave:

Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don’t prophesy any more at Bethel, because this is the King’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom. (Amos 7:12-13)

Jeremiah saw exactly the same thing happening in the countryside of Judah that had been denounced by Amos: the mixing of Baal worship with the worship of the God of Israel. He spelt out his complaint in one of his earliest statements: “As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced – they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets. They say to wood, ‘You are my father’, and to stone, ‘you gave me birth'” (Jer 2:27).

The Abomination of Syncretism

Jeremiah continued this theme when explaining why there was a drought covering the land of Judah in the late 7^th Century BC (this has enabled us to date this pronouncement to early in Jeremiah’s ministry): “You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen” (Jer 3:3).

In the next verse he spelled out the theological error that was being encouraged by priests and prophets: “Have you not just called me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue for ever?’ This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can”.

In these words, you can feel the horror that Jeremiah was experiencing, perhaps reflecting his own suffering at the hands of his father, brothers and sisters, who had publicly denounced him and were even threatening his life. He saw the people, and probably some priests from his own family, officiating at the shrines on the high places where they were actually offering sacrifices to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, on an altar dedicated to Baal.

Jeremiah’s horror at what God was experiencing was reflected in his own suffering at the hands of his family.

It was the abomination of people publicly acknowledging a pagan god as the father of the nation that Jeremiah found almost beyond description. It caused him so much grief because he himself had come into such an intimate relationship with God, the Creator of the universe, who was the true Father of the nation of Israel and his own precious Heavenly Father.

Our Father in Heaven

Jeremiah was the first in the history of Israel to recognise the Fatherhood of God. None of the pre-exilic writings in the history of Israel mention it; the other references are all post-exilic, such as Isaiah 63:16 and 64:7, and Malachi 2:10.

This is why Jeremiah was such a theological giant. Not only was he the first to recognise the Fatherhood of God, he was also the first to hear God’s plan to create a new covenant relationship with the houses of Israel and Judah (Jer 31:31) that would one day be extended to people of all nations through Messiah Jesus.

This is why there is such affinity between the ministry of Jeremiah and the ministry of Jesus, who sometimes quoted Jeremiah word for word, such as when he said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest your souls” (Matthew 11:29, from Jeremiah 6:16). Much of John’s Gospel is about the Fatherhood of God, first revealed to Jeremiah, especially Jesus’ teaching at the Last Supper (John 13-17), which centres around his statement, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Jeremiah’s Personal Anguish

It may have been because of Jeremiah’s own experience of rejection by his own family, and the intense sorrow that this brought to him, that he was able to perceive the depth of suffering in God’s heart at his own ‘covenant people’ being so unfaithful to him. Jeremiah’s personal anguish came tumbling out of his mouth a number of times when, in mid-flow, he was describing the terrible consequences to the people of Israel of deliberately turning away from God and forfeiting his covering of protection.

Not only was Jeremiah the first to recognise the Fatherhood of God, he was also the first to hear God’s plan to create a new covenant with Israel, and with all nations.

A good example of this is Jeremiah 15:10 where, in the midst of describing what was going to happen to Jerusalem, he suddenly broke off and proclaimed, “Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed yet everyone curses me.” In the very next verse, Jeremiah returned to the theme of declaring God’s willingness to protect his people from disaster and drive out their enemies, if they would only repent and return to him.

It is Jeremiah’s own close relationship with God, reflected in his affliction even more than in his bold and fearless declarations of the word of God, which makes his teaching of such value for us today. He reflects to us the grief in God’s heart at those who have his truth but deliberately reject his word, thereby forfeiting the wonderful benefits of God’s loving intention to treat us as precious sons and daughters in his own special family.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

Adultery, idolatry and spiritual brinkmanship.

“‘You have lived as a prostitute with many lovers – would you now return to me?’ declares the Lord. ‘Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Therefore, the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.’” (Jeremiah 3:1-3)

All the prophets used the term ‘prostitution’ to mean ‘idolatry’. They saw running after other gods as a form of spiritual adultery. The reasoning behind this was that Israel had entered into a covenant with God at the time of Moses which demanded absolute loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It was equivalent to a marriage relationship in which a man and a woman made promises of exclusive faithfulness to each other. To forsake God and engage in intercourse with pagan gods was spiritual adultery. It was breaking the covenant vows taken by the nation.

Worldly Temptations

Jeremiah 3:1-3 is a key passage providing understanding of the situation in Judah in the late 7^th Century BC. It was by no means a new situation. Ever since the settlement of Canaan under Joshua, when the Israelite tribes set up their villages and rural settlements among the Canaanites, they had been tempted to worship the local Baals.

The Canaanites were an agricultural people, whereas the Israelites had no such skills in the use of the land beyond herding sheep and goats. They had much to learn from the Canaanites who, of course, told them that for best results they had to pay tribute to the local Baal who owned the land. Ploughing and tilling the soil were totally new to the Israelites and they were dependent upon the Philistines, who were evidently more industrialised than the Canaanites.

All the prophets used the term ‘prostitution’ to mean ‘idolatry’.

There is a revealing little piece of social history in 1 Samuel 13:19: “Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, ‘Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords and spears!’ So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their ploughshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening ploughshares and mattocks, and one third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.”

Idolatry a Way of Life

From the earliest days the people had been warned against the temptations to idolatry; but remaining faithful to the God of Israel could never have been easy as there was no tangible evidence of his presence.

They had no bits of wood and stone to worship and no altar upon which to present their gifts. For the first few centuries in the land there was no one common meeting-place. This would be the case until the time of King David who, first at Hebron and then in Jerusalem, set up a tent of meeting for large assemblies for offering worship to God and seeking his blessing upon the nation.

Out in the rural areas the people got used to using local shrines, which was the despair of all the prophets. In Jeremiah’s day the Temple services offered daily prayers on behalf of the nation and was open for worshippers to come from all parts of Judah. But for most people, a visit to Jerusalem was probably no more than an annual festival event and for some it would only have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The local shrines were handy and satisfied most people’s need for giving an expression to their spiritual concerns.

So idolatry became a way of life for most people in Judah in times of stress. Even in the city altars to other gods appeared at street corners.

Idolatry became a way of life for most people in times of stress.

Cries for Help, Not Forgiveness

Jeremiah was noting two major factors in the pronouncement we are considering today.

One was the increasing number of people coming into Jerusalem to pray at the Temple from the towns and villages across Judah, where there was increasing anxiety as rumours of the oncoming Babylonian army spread across the nation. So Jeremiah hears God saying, “Would you now return to me?” After being unfaithful for so many years, indulging in spiritual adultery with the Canaanite gods, now because you are afraid, are you coming running back to the God of Israel?

The second major factor was that the spring rains had failed. There was drought right across the land that was affecting the harvest and threatening everyone’s livelihood. Jeremiah saw this as a direct action from God in response to the nation’s spiritual prostitution.

The people were crying out for rain; but nowhere did he hear prayers of confession, people crying out for God’s forgiveness. Surely that was what should be heard right the way through all the towns and villages of Judah.

Danger of Spiritual Brinkmanship

If the people were to come humbly before the Lord in confession of their sinfulness, that would resolve both the major issues: the restoration of the spring rains and ensuring the protection of the nation against Babylonian invasion.

Jeremiah, as always, went to the heart of the spiritual problems of the nation. God had already sent them warning signs which had been ignored: “In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction” (Jer 2:30). How much longer, he wondered, would God continue sending warning signs and holding out his hands of forgiveness to a nation that did not respond?

Even if we are right in assuming that God is infinitely forgiving, the threat to the nation from the Babylonians was in real time and the nation was in grave danger of not responding to appeals, even at the 11^th hour.

This is the great danger of spiritual brinkmanship. The prophetic task is always to assess the danger and the time-scale. When the nation treats all warning signs with apathy, the danger of out-running the clock becomes real and the results can only be national disaster. This was what Jeremiah feared most, which made his appeals increasingly sharp.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

How easy it is to forget God.

“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced – they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets. They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to stone ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’” (Jeremiah 2:27)

Jeremiah always found it amazing that a nation such as Israel, with its long history of God’s provision in the desert and his loving protection over many generations, could be involved in idolatry as they were in the 6^th Century BC.

As a nation, Israel had been in a covenant relationship with God for centuries and they had benefited enormously from his faithfulness and his amazing good deeds: yet they ran after worthless idols, declaring that bits of wood and stone were their gods. It just didn’t make sense!

Forgetting God

They had as many gods as they had towns in Judah, and God had sent them many warning signs which had all been ignored; they simply did not respond to correction, which Jeremiah found utterly irrational and almost inconceivable. He said “Does a maiden forget her jewellery, a bride her wedding ornaments?” Yet God is saying “My people have forgotten me, days without number” (Jer 2:32).

It was beyond anybody’s imagination that a bride could possibly forget to put on her jewellery and ornaments in preparation for her great wedding day. But surely it was equally impossible for the people of Israel to forget the God of their fathers, who had revealed himself to former generations of their people as the God of Creation.

It was he who had flung the stars into orbit and who from the beginning of time had intended to raise up a people of promise through whom he would reveal himself and his plan of salvation to all nations.

Jeremiah always found it amazing that a nation such as Israel, with its long history of covenant relationship with God, could forget him and run after worthless idols.

Height of Hypocrisy

The greatest anomaly was that when they were in trouble, they turned back to the God of their fathers and cried out, “Come and save us!” Jeremiah saw this as the height of hypocrisy. They ignored God all the time that things were going well with them.

In times of peace and prosperity they turned their backs upon God and joined in all the exciting festivals and pagan partying of the Canaanites and their other idolatrous neighbours. They entered wholeheartedly into the orgies of self-indulgence, sexual excesses, feasts and revelries which were part of the religious practices against which Israel had been warned from the time of Moses.

Suddenly, however, there was a change of mood among the people. Rumours were running rife across the land from village to village, spread by the 6^th Century BC version of social media – the human tongue! Rumour had it that the Babylonian army was on the move. Whole towns in Syria had been sacked and the countryside raped.

The rumours lost nothing in bloodcurdling detail of what had happened to the people in the towns and villages the Babylonians overthrew. Fear began to grip the people of Judah. Widespread panic spread among all ranks of society – priests and people alike began crying out to God to come and save them!

The Prophet Jeremiah was not impressed. In fact, he was outraged! How dare the people call out to God for help when they had been running after idols for so long? Let them call upon their bits of wood and stone and see if they will help by coming to save them!

How dare the people call out to God for help when they had been running after idols for so long?

Sins of Omission

This is just the kind of thing that we all do. Even if we don’t get into the same kind of idolatry as the people of Judah did, we commit very similar sins – sins of omission rather than sins of commission. When things are going well in our lives and we are enjoying peace and prosperity we are less fervent in our prayers, less eager to seek the presence of the Lord. We don’t actually say that we don’t need God, although this must be how it seems to him.

Sadly, it is not only individuals but whole nations that have turned away from God – the one true God of Creation revealed in the Bible – in recent years. I’m old enough to remember the shock when John Robinson, Bishop of Stepney, published his book Honest to God in 1963. He said that Christians have outgrown the traditional version of Christianity.

He said: “The only way to be honest is to recognise that we have to live in the world even if God is not there. Like children outgrowing the secure religious, moral and intellectual framework of the home, in which ‘Daddy’ is always there in the background, God is teaching us that we must live as men who can get along very well without him” (pp38-39).

This began the great decline of the Church of England in Britain and it was soon followed by David Jenkins, Bishop of Durham, who said that the resurrection was “a conjuring trick with bones”. Once it became clear that the clergy and preachers no longer had confidence in the God of the Bible, faith in the nation rapidly declined. In Scotland last year, more marriages were conducted by humanists than by ministers in the Church of Scotland.¹

We worship our bits of wood and stone, yet when we are in deep trouble we cry out to God for his help. The time to call is not when disaster overtakes us, but every day, in the quiet times of reflection that we all need when we can review the past, remembering what God has done in the nation and seeing his hand in our own lives, and in humility confessing our needs. It is then that we feel his arms around us to comfort, to forgive and to love, unconditionally.

References

1 BBC Radio 4, Sunday Programme, 10 March 2019.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

Exchanging glory for worthlessness.

“‘Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror’, declares the Lord.”

This announcement expresses something of the Lord’s indignation. Justice is outraged! The most appalling thing imaginable had happened. Jeremiah said you could travel from Cyprus to the mouth of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and never see anything like this. It had never happened before. No nation had ever changed its gods, even though they were only bits of wood and stone fashioned by human hands.

Even more incredible was the fact that the nation that had done this dreadful thing was the only nation to have known the one and only true God – the God of Creation! He was the God who had created the universe and he had chosen Israel to be a special people, his own servant through whom he would reveal himself, his nature and purposes and his teaching to all nations on earth.

Here was Israel, this special nation in a unique relationship with the one and only true God - and they had actually exchanged their ‘Glory’ for worthless idols. It was unbelievable! All the heavens were appalled and were shuddering with horror.

Altars to Foreign Gods

Idolatry in Jeremiah’s time was everywhere to be seen in the land of Judah. In the countryside under a grove of trees, or on the high places up in the hills and mountains, there were altars to pagan gods. In the villages there were Asherah poles and in the walled cities there were street-corner shrines. Even in the holy city of Jerusalem there were altars to foreign gods within sight of the Temple itself.

No nation had ever changed its gods, let alone exchange the Glory of a unique relationship with the one and only true God for worthless idols.

The people of Jerusalem worshipped openly at these urban sanctuaries, especially at the time of the spring fertility festival. They baked cakes with the image of Astarte, the Babylonian goddess known as the Queen of Heaven. They offered their worship to her because they thought that she was responsible for the power of the Babylonian Empire, whose armies were all-conquering in nation after nation. The Israelites thought that if they paid obeisance to the goddess of Babylon, she would bless them and ensure that they were safe from attack by the Babylonian army.

It seemed to them a logical thing to do, but to Jeremiah it was horrific. He could hardly believe what he was seeing:

The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame? (Jer 7:18-19).

Jeremiah and Jesus

Another word tumbled from Jeremiah’s lips as he spread before God the things he was seeing on the streets of Jerusalem and he listened to the outraged indignation of the Lord: “My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (2:13).

Maybe Jesus had these words in his mind when he sat beside a well in Sychar talking to a Samaritan woman. “Whoever drinks of the water I give him will never thirst.” He said “Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). And on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus repeated that offer to all the people of Jerusalem, declaring that God would give them “streams of living water”, which John says was a promise of the Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39).

Jeremiah saw the Spirit of God as a spring of living water giving new life to all those who put their trust in God and who came into a new and intimate relationship with him.

This is one of the many parallels between the ministry of Jeremiah and that of Jesus. Jeremiah saw the Spirit of God as a spring of living water giving new life to all those who put their trust in God and who came into a new and intimate relationship with him. 500 years later, Jesus would identify this as a promise of the Counsellor – the Spirit of Truth who would be with his disciples for ever. “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said”, he promised (John 14:26).

Promise of Living Water

Springs of the Jordan at Banaias, Israel. See Photo Credits.

Fresh, running water - living water - became a symbol of life for the prophets. At the springs around Mount Hermon, a place known in Jesus’ day as Caesarea Philippi (Banaias today), pure fresh water bubbled up through the rocky ground as it does today.

These are the springs of the River Jordan, which feed the Sea of Galilee. Jesus sat there with his disciples, undoubtedly teaching them about the Father’s utterly dependable, everlasting love for them because of their love for him, and that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to be with them forever.

The Holy Spirit would be like this fresh water bubbling up through the rocks where they were sitting. Pure, clean, fresh and utterly trustworthy without any contaminates; it was constant, unceasing, dependable even in a time of drought - the spring water from Mount Hermon never ceased to flow. It was a beautiful symbol of the Holy Spirit.

The same springs were there in Jeremiah’s day and were honoured by the Psalmist who saw the dew of Mount Hermon falling upon Mount Zion (Ps 133).

Fresh, running water - living water - became a symbol of life for the prophets.

Tragic Rejection

The tragedy that Jeremiah was crying out about was that this wonderful spring of everlasting fresh water – the Spirit of the Living God – that had been given freely to the people of Israel, had been rejected wilfully by them. They had exchanged the spring of pure fresh water for stale, lukewarm, dirty, infected water in cisterns they had dug for themselves – broken cisterns that leaked and would probably run dry when they needed water most! How could they be so utterly stupid?

But is not this exactly what we have done in the Western nations that have had the Gospel for centuries, and where our entire civilisations have been built upon Judeo-Christian biblical principles and values? In a single generation we have destroyed the foundations of our society. We have exchanged the Glory of God for worthless idols of humanism and paganism!

We worship at the shrines of labour-saving gadgets, hedonistic pleasure and material wealth. We are just as stupid as the people in Jeremiah’s day who baked cakes for the goddess of fertility and rejected the word of the Living God.

God withdrew his covering of protection as Jeremiah warned that he would, and Jerusalem was destroyed along with all its great buildings, including the Temple. Is not this a warning for us today?

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

What he said resulted in the reformation of a nation.

One can easily be excused for not having heard of Azariah before. He appears once in the Old Testament for a few brief moments, during which he delivers a short message, before disappearing. However, what he said resulted in the reformation of a nation.

His few words were power-packed, not because of natural ability or personal charisma, but because ‘the Spirit of God came upon him’. He could have borrowed the words of one of the greatest of all the prophets, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach...” (Isa 61:1).

A Banishing Change

Azariah came at a critical time in Judah’s history. The days described as the ‘golden age of Israel’ were but a memory. Solomon had been succeeded by his son, Rehoboam. The nation became divided during his reign and, after ruling for seventeen years, his epitaph was, “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord” (2 Chron 12:14). He was succeeded by his son Abijah, who followed in his father's footsteps, and in his short three-year reign, “committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God” (1 Kings 15:3).

There then came a refreshing change, when his son Asa took the throne. Asa was to be king of Judah For 41 years. He did what “was right in the eyes of the Lord” (1 Kings 15:11). He started to rid the nation of its idolatry, expelled those guilty of sexual perversion, and deposed the queen mother because of her blatant idolatry.

Azariah’s few words were power-packed, not because of natural ability or personal charisma, but because ‘the Spirit of God came upon him’.

While he was in the process of purging the nation, the task still unfinished, he was met by the prophet Azariah. Azariah brought a message from God of encouragement, commendation and comfort, but also of warning. He said:

Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.

In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. (2 Chronicles 15:2-7)

That’s it, end of message. It was first addressed to Asa personally, and then to the nation. First to the leader, then to the people. Here is God's recipe for blessing any leader, and any nation. It is completely up to date. It could be delivered to any national leader, and any nation; to the Prime Minister of this land, or the President of the United States; to every king or queen, every dictator, and also to you and me personally.

Let us consider the word and apply it.

Listen

When God speaks it is important to look for two things: first what God says he will do, and second what God tells us to do. The first thing he wants is to get our attention. With a multitude of voices we need to hear and recognise his voice, and to obey. What is the message? Put God first. If God is first, then God is with you. If you forsake God, he will forsake you. And if God is not with us we're in trouble.

When God speaks, look for two things: first what God says he will do, and second what God tells us to do.

This is the truth that Jesus taught: “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:33, emphasis added). It is the truth that Asa’s great-grandfather taught, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Prov 14:34).

The failure to put God first is the cause of every personal or national failure. What a wonderful promise the prophet gave to the king and nation, ’If you seek him, he will be found by you,’ Again, this truth is confirmed by Jesus: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt 7:7-8, emphasis added). The choice is presented: “if you seek him”…”if you forsake him”…”the Lord is with you when you are with him”.

Learn

The prophet encouraged Asa to learn from the history of his own nation. When Israel forsook God, and his word was not being taught, and God's standard set before the people, there was nothing but trouble. It wasn’t safe to travel. There was turmoil, chaos and confusion. There was international conflict and inter-city strife, and “every kind of distress”. Who was causing all these disasters? Who was responsible? It was God!! The prophet stated it clearly, “God was troubling them” (2 Chron 15:6).

They were learning by experience that when a people forsake God, he forsakes them. However, the good news is that when ungodliness is acknowledged and confessed and repented of, and the people seek the Lord, God in his great mercy, grace and compassion is found by them, and he delivers them from all their fears.

What lessons can we learn from our own history? When God was acknowledged in this land, it prospered. In World War Two, when we faced defeat and distress, and the nation was called to prayer to seek God, God heard and delivered us.

Today we are in great need yet how often do we hear national leaders declaring our need of God? How often do we hear God acknowledged at all? Without God we are doomed. Thank God for all his faithful people, for his church who acknowledge him day by day, who intercede, who pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”! People who look to the future with hope knowing, as Isaac Watts did, that:

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run,
His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Today we are in great need yet how often do we hear national leaders declaring our need of God?

Look

Having looked to the past, Asa is encouraged to look to the present and to the future. Irrespective of the mistakes others have made, the personal word comes ‘as for you’. There must be for Asa, and for you and me, the personal application of God’s word to us.

At the end of his life, Joshua resolved: “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15). “As for you…be strong” and remember what Moses sang: “The Lord is my strength and song, he has become my salvation” (Ex 15:2). Be strong…don't give up…keep going. Asa had started a good work, but there was still much to do.

Look to the future, “your work will be rewarded”. In spite of opposition, discouragement and obstacles: when you are with God, God is with you. When you seek him he will be found by you. Be of good courage, there is only one direction, forward.

Liberation

Asa heard the prophet and obeyed the message. He took courage, returned to the unfinished task with all his heart, destroyed the idols, repaired the altar of the Lord, assembled the people together, and unitedly entered into a covenant with God to seek him (2 Chron 15).

The result was great joy among the people, and rest to the land. News of God's blessing spread and large numbers of people came to join them. The verdict on Asa's life was that, “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life” (2 Chron 15:17).

Listen…the Lord is with you, when you are with him…be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

Originally published in Prophecy Today, 1999, Vol 15(2).

The prophet whose very presence was a message in itself.

Ahijah of Shiloh prophesied the breakup of Israel into two kingdoms. In the tenth part of our series on the relevance of the message and ministry of the non-writing prophets for today, Fred Wright considers the impact of Ahijah’s life on the times in which he lived.

The ministry of the non-writing prophets reached the highest expressions around the time of the demise of Solomon and the subsequent division of the kingdom. Tensions centred around the definition of the true Israel and the true worship of the Lord. Ahijah of Shiloh is a key figure in the tumultuous times leading to, and the institution of, the divided kingdoms. The story of Ahijah is an outstanding example of how a man can be a message in himself.

Solomon built high places for his foreign wives and although the practice may have commenced as ‘courtesy worship’, it soon became an established part of religion in Israel to worship foreign gods, notably:

• Ashtoreth/Astarte: the goddess of the Sidonians. A mother goddess of fertility and war, a common figure, rife in the time of the conquest and the time of Samuel's ministry (Judg 2:13, 10:6; 1 Sam 7:3-4; 12:10), of whom numerous naked female statues have been discovered. Female deities of this nature were invariably earth mothers. Today the New Age movement frequently use similar motifs.
• Molech: the detestable god of the Ammonites generally considered to have the meaning of 'king of shame’ because of the practice of child sacrifice in the fire (Lev 18:21, 20:2-5; Jer 32:35 cf. 2 Kings 17:31). The law of Moses demanded the death penalty for one offering his child to Molech but the practice constantly re-emerged, as in the case of King Ahaz (2 Chron 28:3) and King Manasseh. Although there was a rout of the cult by Josiah, Ezekiel still had occasion to protest against the practice.
• Chemosh: the detestable god of the Ammonites also contained the practice of child sacrifice. The notion of child sacrifice was to some extent to pacify the deity. Today child sacrifice through abortion is in a similar vein a sacrifice, in this case to appease the idol of felt needs of the individual.

Shiloh

The whole concept of monarchy and, to some degree, even the institution of the Temple was regarded by some as a foreign institution, alien to the covenant with God. God did not live in a Temple but was omnipresent. Israel's call was not to be like other nations, but to be free of idols and to be dedicated to the Lord alone. We find a primary expression of these tensions in Ahijah’s appellation ‘of Shiloh’.

It soon became an established part of religion in Israel to worship foreign gods.

Shiloh was situated on the north side of Bethel (Judg 21:19) and it was here, in the early days of conquest, that the tent of meeting was set up (Josh 18:1). We may reasonably assume that the establishment of the shrine was a prophetic action looking forward to the fulfilment of the Messianic ascription in Genesis 49:10. It was at Shiloh that the seven tribes who had not as yet received their inheritance tarried. We may understand Shiloh, therefore, as representing, in a primary sense, a symbol of awaiting of that which is yet to be fulfilled.

Although not directly mentioned in Scripture, it appears that Shiloh was destroyed c.1050 BC as an example of God's judgment against wickedness. The priesthood moved to Nob (Jer 7:12, 14; 26:6, 9). It would be reasonable to assume that a remnant of the cultus, of whom Ahijah was a part, remained and ministered out of Shiloh.

Separated Through Choice

Throughout the history of Israel there were always groups who considered that Israel had gone astray with the institution of the monarchy, the Temple and its worship. They preferred to remain outside of Jerusalem and the Temple environs. The Recabites (Jer 35) are an example of such a group from the time of Jeremiah while the Essenes are an example in the late Second Temple period.

John the Baptist may have belonged to such a group amongst whom such a notion was held, as witnessed by his preaching (Matt 3:9; Luke 3:8). Paul's ‘Israel of God' may also have this connotation (Gal 6:16). There can be little doubt that in the modern age the battle to preserve authentic devotion to the Lord is getting harder. We have seen over recent years many fashionable, often syncretic ideas come and go through the church.

A worrying trend, in recent times, is the sudden interest in Israel for the wrong motives. One charismatic stream has promoted prayer for the Jewish people on the grounds of Genesis 12:2-3 as part of a ‘prosperity’ doctrine. This has also included raising vast amounts of money for aliyah-related projects that have born little fruit.¹

Throughout the history of Israel there were always groups who considered that Israel had gone astray.

A Divided Kingdom

Ahiiah makes a dramatic entrance (1 Kings 11:29) encountering Jeroboam, who was at that time a petty official, on the road. He proceeded to pronounce the end of the united kingdom by rending his garment into 12 pieces and presenting 10 to Jeroboam. These pieces represented his forthcoming rule (1 Kings 11:31).

The deep loathing of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, is implied almost immediately. His mother’s name is given as Zeruah (leprous) – a widow. In the Septuagint translation she is described as a harlot (1 Kings 11:26). Jeroboam fled from Solomon, finding refuge in Egypt with Shishak, and returned upon the revolt of the ten northern tribes against Rehoboam. He was elevated to kingship by popular assent (c. 931 BC) and set about establishing a rule that would become a negative measuring stick for subsequent kings who are generally considered to have perpetuated his sins of idolatry.

One should understand that the prophet in ancient Israel fulfilled far more than a religious or cultic function. The prophet was involved in matters covering all the main areas of life, including both political and domestic matters. in the same way the role of the prophet today is not simply to pronounce blessing and encouragement to the church, but also to speak to the leaders of the nations.

Consequences of Idolatry

We next encounter Ahijah when Jeroboam’s son fell sick and he sent his wife in disguise (with the customary gifts) to the ageing prophet, who we are informed was poor of sight. However, the prophet immediately knew who she was and predicted the death of Jeroboam's son, the fall of his house and the future captivity of Israel (1 Kings 14:6-16). Idolatry, in all of its forms, is abhorrent to the Lord. In the New Testament, the aged John’s mature reflections and departing plea make this most clear (1 John 5:21).

The story of Ahijah of Shiloh is one of the many warnings in Scripture against idolatry in all of its forms. More than this, it also one of several instances where God shows that he will operate through a faithful remnant. Paul may have had this in mind when speaking of the last days in his letters to Timothy (1 Tim 1:3f) where he states that in the last days there will be times of great stress when many will follow deviant teachings. Israel's disasters were invariably caused by the forsaking of the Lord in favour of foreign gods and other idols.

The story of Ahijah is one of many warnings in Scripture against idolatry, and one of several instances where God shows he will operate through a faithful remnant.

Ahijah the Shilonite could possibly be styled ‘Ahijah the faithful’. We know little of Ahijah outside of the notices in 1 Kings but we may say with assurance that as a representative of a faithful remnant his mere presence had a prophetic significance that demanded attention - a quality sadly lacking today.

This article was first published in Prophecy Today in 1999, Vol 15(1).

Notes

1 This references 'prosperity gospel' movements operating in the late 1990s abusing aliyah for their own ends, rather than the principle of aliyah itself, to which Prophecy Today is fully committed.

Tolerance leads to compromise.

"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 2I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, 'I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.'

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— that one 'will rule them with an iron sceptre and will dash them to pieces like pottery'—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

The letter to the church in Thyatira is one of the less well-known letters of Revelation 2-3, being hidden in the middle of the list. However, it is also the longest letter and carries a message of such vital importance to our culture and generation that it would be careless of us not to give it the attention it deserves.

Thyatira Then and Now

Thyatira (modern-day Akhisar, Turkey) was a small commercial city about 50km inland from the coast of Asia Minor – a crossroads town situated at the junction of two major trade routes. As the messenger carried the letters of Revelation northwards from Ephesus, through Smyrna and Pergamum, he would then have arced back down to Thyatira on the next leg of his journey.

As with many settlements in Asia Minor, Thyatira has a long history stemming back thousands of years to Hittite rule. It has changed hands many times since then, coming under the authority of the Persians, Greeks, Romans and many others. A Christian community existed there from the very early days of the apostolic era and flourished for many hundreds of years, until the Ottoman Empire took over in the 14^th Century.

Thyatira was infamous in ancient times for its dyeing facilities and its role in the purple cloth trade (the Gentile convert Lydia, who welcomed Paul, Silas and Timothy into her home in Philippi, was originally from Thyatira and known for her successful trading in 'purple', Acts 16). However, it was also a commercial hub for many other industries including wool and linen textiles, leather work, pottery, bronze-work, agriculture and the slave trade.

In the World, But Not of the World

Culturally, Thyatira was a Gentile, pagan city with a 'work hard, play hard' ethos. It was known for its mercantile prosperity and its trade guilds, which would host lavish festivities for members with drink, sex and idolatry in abundance.

For Christians in Thyatira, though not facing the threat of dreadful persecution, there was constant temptation back into the ways of the world – indulging in unGodly revelry and being tempted into compromise by the comforts and social requirements of the good life. Indeed, refusing to give reverence to pagan gods or Caesar worship as part of guild celebrations could have led to expulsion from one's trade guild (and therefore unemployment), so it would have taken a lot of courage for believers to stand against this kind of activity.

Thyatira was a Gentile, pagan city with a 'work hard, play hard' ethos.

Ruins of a Byzantine church in Thyatira. See Photo Credits.The faithful in Thyatira had to learn to be 'in the world but not of the world' - how to take their stand against the flow of peer pressure and not let worldly values infiltrate the Church. This is exactly the theme the Lord Jesus chose for his letter.

From Tolerance to Compromise

In fairness to the Thyatiran church, they were doing a lot of things right - as the letter openly acknowledges. Jesus Messiah begins by congratulating the group for their good deeds, their love, faith, service and perseverance – and for the obvious growth in their dedication.

However, he loved this band of believers too much simply to pat them on the back for their good deeds and ignore the issues that needed addressing. He knew that though they were doing all the right things on the outside, there was compromise in their hearts.
At the time, the issue in hand was the influence of a certain 'Jezebel' who was leading God's people into sin, telling them it was fine to go along with the rest of the pagan city, experimenting sexually and partaking in idolatrous festivals. This seduction into sin may also have involved some element of occult, with believers being deceived and tempted by the promise of being given knowledge of "Satan's deep secrets".¹

This was the immediate, surface issue for the Thyatiran Church – and God's message was a tough one. She who had refused to repent (the letter implies she had already been given ample opportunity), along with her children (this may refer to her followers, cf. her biological children), would be subjected to suffering and even death as a consequence of their sin. God had had enough of their wilful disobedience; He was going to bring judgment upon them.

The Thyatiran church were doing a lot of things right - but the Lord Jesus loved them too much to ignore the issues that needed addressing.

But the underlying issue here was neither sexual immorality nor the eating of food sacrificed to idols, as much as both needed addressing. The fundamental issue was that the community of faith in Thyatira were being led down a road of compromise because of their attitude of tolerance towards those who were sinning and leading others to sin.

The word used for 'tolerate' in verse 20 means to permit, to allow, to not hinder. In other words, it is not restricted to those who joined in with the Jezebel rebellion, but also includes all those who stood by and watched it happen - too afraid to say anything.

Mixture is Not an Option

This is where the letter shouts so very loudly to our church culture today: tolerance of worldly values, pagan idolatry and false doctrine within the Church, even if we ourselves do not participate, is not an option for Christians. We cannot serve two masters – if we try, we will end up denying the Lord Jesus.

According to Clifford and Monica Hill in their book Ephesus to Laodicea, Christians in Thyatira "had learned the practice of tolerance in order to survive in a multicultural and polytheistic society, but in so doing they had compromised their faith".² Arguably, exactly the same thing has happened – and is happening right now – with Christians in Britain.

Relative wealth and freedom in Britain have left Christians exposed to the seductive pull of materialism, individualism and living for pleasure. The encroachment of suffocating, secular humanist 'tolerance' has made it virtually impossible to talk about universal rights and wrongs without being labelled judgmental or a bigot – so it is easier to stay quiet, to live out the faith in private.

To top it all off, many congregations in this country (like the Thyatirans) are doing well in their good deeds, their love, faith and perseverance; but this often makes it easier to justify doctrinal complacency or sinful behaviour. Believers are too tired, too busy, already doing their bit.

The fundamental issue for the Thyatirans was that they were being led down a road of compromise because of their attitude of tolerance towards those who were sinning and leading others to sin.

And so, comfort has led to complacency – to the point where the Lordship of Jesus is downplayed (even denied), his righteous ways are made light of, and his call to holiness is ignored, in case we offend others. Only last week, verses from the Qu'ran were read out in St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow as part of a Christian Epiphany service!³ We are already on a very slippery slope.

If believers do not live in ways that challenge and change the culture around us, that culture will end up changing us. Note that the two major aspects of the compromise in Thyatira – sexual license and compromise with other religions – are also the two that most deeply divide the Church in Britain today.⁴

Living Victoriously in Babylon

Learning to live distinctive Christian lives in the midst of a secular/pagan culture is difficult. What is it alright to 'tolerate' in order to build bridges with our neighbours for the sake of the Gospel? How do we grow a Church culture that is not soft on sin, whilst avoiding both legalism (on the one side) and liberal compromise (on the other)?

There are many questions here and no easy answers – this is a path that can only be walked with the help of the Holy Spirit. But it is important to note that the process starts not in word or deed, but in the heart.

It is in the heart that the choice is made whether or not to stand against deception or falsity within the Lord's Body. It is in the heart that tiny decisions are taken to stay silent when brothers and sisters go astray, in case they are offended by our speaking out. It is in the heart that compromise in our own behaviour is pursued, in exchange for the good life or for acceptance by others.

In sum, it is in the heart that tolerance blurs into compromise – before any words have been uttered or actions [not] taken. No human sees these small, imperceptible choices – but God does.

Sifting the Church

The time is coming when the Lord will sift and test us all, as he undoubtedly did the Thyatirans. Those who do not turn will end up suffering – not because God is a sadist, but because he knows we have hard hearts that often need to be broken before they can be changed.

It is in the heart that tolerance blurs into compromise.

Ideally, this judgment will produce a fruit of repentance and a return to obedience and righteousness. This may or may not happen – but what is certain is that it will become increasingly difficult in this nation to exist as a Christian with one foot in the world and the other in the Kingdom. It is either/or, not both/and! What will it take for us to choose the Lord?

Those who do, who hold on faithfully to that which they have been given whatever the cost - the overcomers - will participate with the Lord Jesus in His ultimate rule and reign at the end of time.

They will be given the bright morning star – Messiah Jesus Himself – whose eyes are a blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. He is the King of Kings who will reign for all eternity, when all other kingdoms with their seductions of wealth and prosperity have been blown away like chaff on the wind. It is this perspective that we need – a healthy fear of the Lord's glorious supremacy and power – to keep us from sinning.

References

1 Cf. Luke 8:17; Ephesians 5:11-14. See also commentary here.

2 2005, Handsel Press, p75.

3 See news coverage from Christian Concern.

4 Interestingly, the diocese that oversees all Greek Orthodox adherents in Great Britain (established in 1922 when Greek Christians were driven out of Asia Minor into diaspora by Turkish nationalists) is called the Archdiocese of Thyateira [Thyatira] and Great Britain! Culturally, we have a lot in common.

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