Most people when asked about words, would say they prefer to hear the truth, as most people do not want to be lied to. The reality although is truth is what the person wants it to be, whether it is actually truth or not. The problem is that there is a lack of discernment in determining whether words are true or false and is often not based on facts but personal preference. Often people want to hear the words that give the best possible outcome for themselves, whether the words spoken are true or not. The words that benefit them the most become truth, even though what is spoken is false. The same goes for those speaking the words. The desire for the benefit is so strong that when words of truth are spoken, those words are rejected as we saw last week with those who rebelled against the word of the Lord and went to Egypt when God said not to go. They preferred the words that appeared in their own minds to give them a better outcome. Even though they said they would obey, the word of God was not desirable to them, so they called it false and Jeremiah a liar. Isaiah 30:8 “Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness. 9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” The true word of the Lord is not the preferred word.

    The church, like Israel and Judah, still has a desire for words that appear to benefit them and like this rebellious remnant are still rebelling against the true words of God. Jeremiah 7:23 “I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’ 27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.” After all these years, the church is still going backwards and truth has vanished. Isaiah 59:12 “For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. 14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. 15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.” The word of God has been replaced with the words of man. Paul told 1 Timothy 6:20 “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.” Today in the church there is much so-called knowledge. Paul also said, 1 Timothy 1:6 “Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

    The problem is many have fallen for this so-called knowledge that is false. Peter talks about these false teachers who distort truth and said, 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” Jeremiah said to the false prophet Hananiah, Jeremiah 28:15 “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’ 17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.” They change and distort scripture to suit their own needs. Jeremiah 5:30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” To bring truth into disrepute, false teachers mix a little truth in with what is mostly false. Up becomes down and down is up which leads to confusion and chaos and distortion of the word of God. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Proverbs 17:15 “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the Lord detests them both.” You may have seen President Trump doing this and many Christians have fallen for his words. Malachi 2:17 “You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” Malachi 3:4 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

    Many think they will spend eternity in heaven because of the words they have been taught to say by those who lead them. Also, those words are often encouraged by those listening. Jeremiah 29:8 “Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.” Those who lead adopted the same words of those who went before them. Jeremiah 9:11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.” 12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? 13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” People go to a church and follow the regulations and guidelines for that particular church and accept their distinct doctrines and theology as truth, though most have no idea what they actually have signed on to. They also do not test the spirits to make sure the words spoken are true. That is why it is so important to find out what you have been saved into. Jesus said Mark 7:6 “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

    Many churches want you to pray the prayer of accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior as they believe that a simple prayer ushers you into eternity and gives you security that no one can take away and go so far as to say once that prayer was prayed, nothing could change your eternal destination. The problem for many is that true repentance is left out and the words just become meaningless words as they proclaim the words of man and not God’s. Others followed rituals like water baptism, and teach their beliefs that you are to accept. Many simply think that just by going to church, they will see eternity and others see church as an option but they are still secure. The church is filled with people who are Christian in name only and have no idea what the bible actually says other than what they have been taught to believe. The problem is that many think they are saved when they are not and they will die falsely thinking they are set for eternity. Jesus said when asked Luke 13:23 “Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’” Many hold to this next verse about salvation without question. Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But what they miss is what Jesus also said. Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” That passage is with true words about false teachers, a wide gate, and building on the sand that most do not want to hear.

    Many people say they love Jesus but have no idea what Jesus actually says. James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”  2 John 1:7 “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.”

    The doctrines and theology of man and satan have become so predominant that the word of God has been set aside and no longer fear God. Jeremiah 5:11 “The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. 12 They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. 13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.” 14 Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says: “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes. 15 People of Israel,” declares the Lord, “I am bringing a distant nation against you—.” That nation would be the Babylonians and as Habakkuk also said Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians. that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.”

    When I work out and ride my bike, I always listen to Christian worship music from different playlists on YouTube or from my own playlist that I have purchased over the years. Let’s just say there are some really bad songs out there disguised as worship and you have to be careful with what is deemed to be worship. Some songs that I purchased I no longer listen to. What I have noticed is there are a lot of songs that talk about how far away a person is from God but that is okay because God is a faithful God of grace who will never let you go. The emphasis of the songs is on the distance away from God, not the closeness to God. They talk about the faithfulness of God, but their own faithfulness is less than to be desired. Many in the church have been taught and believe that God is a God of love and combine that teaching with what it takes to be saved and basically people are guaranteed to spend eternity in heaven, no matter what. One song is called, “You Never Stop.” It has a good beat but terrible lyrics. The song starts off “You never stop. You, You never stop reaching to the place I am, On and on You, You keep on reminding me I'm in Your hands. No matter what Your love it won't fail me No matter what Your love is unchanging Your love, Your love Your love is unending No matter what You never stop, never stop. Even when the darkness feels like the hardest place It can't take Your love away Even when the silence seems like You're far away It can't take Your love away” This teaching becomes a problem because then God will never let you end up in hell, therefore hell would only be for the devil but as scripture states, Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Many are in the place they are because they refuse to obey the word of God or have been deceived by other gospels. As we see throughout scripture God does turn His face because of rebellion. Zechariah 7:13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. 14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’” Another song called “Even If” starts off with the singer admitting to his brokenness and not able to even help others. He then says, “They say it only takes a little faith to move a mountain Well good thing a little faith is all I have, right now.” The song then ends with him saying, “my hope is in you alone, it is well with my soul,” and is quite a contradiction. That is not what the passage about faith says. Actually, Jesus is rebuking the disciples for a lack of faith. It is when you have truth faith that it only takes faith as small as mustard seed to move mountains. The faith this singer is talking about is not faith, but unbelief. He also says, “You've been faithful, You've been good all of my days.” Again it is not the faithfulness of God that is in question.

    The message of these songs, and there are many, is more about unbelief than belief. They talk about a God who is okay with unbelief and not following Him wholeheartedly. Why, because God is a loving God and doesn’t seem to mind if you turn away or that you don’t follow His word or believe what His word states and He will never let you go which implies that God would never remove you from the garden or the land of promise. They also do not seem to believe that you can stand firm on the word of God and not fall away. Their teaching means that He would never allow the temples to be destroyed or His people taken captive. The first two chapters of Job would have to be removed and so on and so on. This distortion of scripture is really messing people up as they do not understand who God is. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” Yes, God is a God of love but also a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Serving other gospels is the same as serving other gods as they are both a rejection of God. Deuteronomy 6:13 “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.” By teaching that God is only a God of love and keeps chasing you no matter what, there is no need of repentance or fear of God or following Him wholeheartedly. God would never allow you to go to hell even though we read, Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

    When we read Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, we see blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, but today most have no idea about this. In both of the previous blogs, I quoted from the song of Moses. Deuteronomy 32:47 “They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy 32:28 “They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. 29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!” Before this God said to Moses, Deuteronomy 31:16 “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’ 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods. 19 “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.” Moses even said Deuteronomy 31:27 “For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them. 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.” They forgot the song and did just as God said they would do. The church needs to focus on this song and not the songs that are being written today. We see in Revelation that remembering the song is powerful and lifesaving. Revelation 15:2 “And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. 4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

    The church for generations has not trembled in the presence of God and does not tremble at His word, nor does the church fear Him. Isaiah 66:2 “Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Jeremiah 5:20 “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: 21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: 22 Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. 23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. 24 They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 12:2 “You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.” Jeremiah 8:4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return? 5 Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. 6 I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle. 7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.”

    Every church teaches something completely different from the other and most think that what is taught are actually the requirements of God though the church looks nothing like the Gospels or Acts. A different Jesus is worshipped, and other gospels are adhered to and because of this there is no power to do as Jesus did, which is what the church was empowered to do. This rebellion caused God to allow the church to be decimated by the abomination that causes desolation just as we were warned that it would. This is a spiritual war, so it is not the same as the first two temples being destroyed by the enemy but there is still destruction. 2 Chronicles 7:19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” Jesus even warned that not only the second temple would be destroyed but also the church which was now the temple of God. (Ephesians 2:19 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.) When describing the end times Jesus said Matthew 24:1 “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand- 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” The church has been decimated just as Daniel saw in his vision. Daniel 8:26 “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.” 27 I, Daniel, was worn out. I lay exhausted for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.”

    The church has been destroyed by a spiritual foe even though every Sunday you pass by buildings that look like a church, but they are just a façade and covered with whitewash. We are told Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Instead, the church decided to not use armor but used their own and was destroyed but not completely because of God’s amazing promise to David that there would always be a remnant of survivors. The fact that God did not wipe the church from the face of the earth truly is love as none of us deserve to be saved. It is important to note that even the remnant went into captivity until the day they were set free. Yes, God is a God of love and a remnant is always saved but understand that when the Assyrians and Babylonians attacked, only a few survived. The same has happened with the church. After talking about the abomination that causes desolation, Jesus said Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.”

    Most people prefer to hear that God is a God of love, therefore they can live however they want, and as long as they pay lip-service to God, they think that everything will be okay. They also believe that because they checked the boxes of the particular church they attend, there is no need to fear God because they had been told all is well with their soul but scripture says otherwise. 2 Peter 3:17 “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.” Some even say God acts differently in different ages (dispensationalism) which is utter nonsense because God said, Malachi 3:6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.”  

    Just above that last verse we see the words Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Many hold to this verse even though they follow a different Jesus and other gospels. You can only say those words with confidence if you obey the word of the Lord and follow Him wholeheartedly. In God’s amazing promise to David, God said to David about Solomon, 2 Samuel 7:14 “When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” Today’s church has distorted this promise and forgets that Solomon lost his father’s kingdom for his disobedience. 1 Kings 11:9 “The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” Then we see Israel fall and then Judah. 2 Kings 17:6 “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. 7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.” 2 Chronicles 36:15 “The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.” Even so, God kept His promise to David and there was always a remnant of survivors.

    The church today thinks God is a different God who doesn’t seem to mind if we disobey His word, go our own way and follow a different Jesus and other gospels. Doing this is detestable in the eyes of God and is the same as Israel and Judah worshipping other gods. Deuteronomy 11:26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” Also, from the song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:15 “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. 16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. 17 They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. 18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. 19 The Lord saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters. 20 “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. 21 They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols.” Yes, God is a God of love, but He demands obedience. Disobedience / rebellion always leads to His wrath, but some will not see His wrath till eternity sets in and they find themselves in the place prepared for satan.

    This is still the God we serve and why we should fear Him. Jeremiah 14:13 “But I (Jeremiah) said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.” Jeremiah 15:1 “Then the Lord said to me: “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! 2 And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’” Isaiah 30:15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. 16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! 17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” Don’t believe the words of those who describe to you a different God.

    Most people in the church do not fear the day of the Lord as they should. Sadly, many will gleefully face judgement on that day but end up spending eternity with satan, not God. In their deception and delusion, most are unconcerned that death means eternal damnation. The end is coming even though most are unconcerned because it has been a long time since Jesus walked this earth. Isaiah 57:11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?” Peter said 2 Peter 3:3 “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Jonah was sent to speak to the people of Ninevah with this message. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” This wasn’t even God’s people, yet they responded to the message. Jonah 3:5 “The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” Israel and Judah mostly refused to repent, and the church also refuses to repent and turn from wicked ways.

    What if we only had forty days left? How would you respond? Are you secure in the words of man or the word of God? Do you know the difference? Ezekiel was called to speak to the people. God said, Ezekiel 7:2 “The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: “‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land! 3 The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. 4 I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. 8 I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. 9 I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. “‘Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you. 10 “‘See, the day! See, it comes! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! 22 I will turn my face away from the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure. They will enter it and will defile it. 24 I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. 25 When terror comes, they will seek peace in vain. 26 Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor. They will go searching for a vision from the prophet, priestly instruction in the law will cease, the counsel of the elders will come to an end. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. “‘Then they will know that I am the Lord.’” God then shows Ezekiel the detestable things taking place in the temple. Ezekiel 8:6 “And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable. 12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable. 17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

    Today the church is filled with the detestable. Each group that calls themselves the church do as they please and as Paul said, worship a different Jesus from the Jesus of the Gospels but do not turn from their wicked ways. 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” These false teachers did come just as Paul warned us they would. Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” They came teaching other gospels, gospels the church did not know before and most accepted their words to be truth. Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” This rebellion is just as detestable as what Ezekiel saw.

    Today the church lies desolate and almost completely destroyed. God has turned His face and the church has been decimated by our enemies and remains powerless to do anything about it. The good news is that God as described in scripture is a God of love and promised there would always be a remnant. Jeremiah 33:11 “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever.” For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord. 19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. 22 I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’” The sun and moon still do as they were created so there is still hope, but the church must repent and turn from wicked ways. Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Joel 2:1 “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. 12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. 16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. 17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

    As we saw in Jeremiah 40-44, even the remnant must humble themselves before God and tremble at His word. Here the remnant had disobeyed the word of the Lord and Ezra gathered the people. Ezra 9:4 “And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.” 3 When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God 6 and prayed: “I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today. 8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.”

    Even though our enemies have decimated the church, there is still hope just as there was for the survivors of Israel and Judah. Isaiah 59:18 “According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. 19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along. 20 The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:10 “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Like the Babylonians, our enemies will be defeated. Isaiah 66:6 “Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord repaying his enemies all they deserve.” Jeremiah 50:31 “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, “for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. 32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.” 33 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. 34 Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon. Jeremiah 51:5 “For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. 6 “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; He will repay her what she deserves. 10 “‘The Lord has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.’ 11 The Lord will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. 24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.”