A few years back, I met this guy who wanted to talk about the bible. So, I went to his house and the conversation went okay until there was a conflict. We started talking about a particular subject where disagreement entered the picture. This conversation illustrates the problem most have with the bible; the bible does not line up with personal beliefs. Just to be clear this was not a disagreement between my beliefs and his beliefs, but with his beliefs and the bible. Now I know you could immediately think that I am saying my beliefs are the bible, but the disagreement was about a passage that was so clear, there was no argument. All you had to do was read it. We were talking about what he believed and had been taught and I said, that is not what the passage clearly states. So, we read the passage and shortly thereafter he asked me to leave. Another person shared his doctrines, and I said that is not what the bible says, and he too was very offended. From my experience with many other cases like this, people get upset when you say that is not what scripture says and they refuse to even look into it. In these two examples, they were so indoctrinated that instead of looking deeper and questioning their own beliefs when enlightened by scripture, as everyone of us should do, it was easier to ask me to leave.
When you say that is not what the bible says, you have to be very careful. The above examples were specific church doctrines that do not line up with scripture. 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” For example, the power available to the church, homosexuality is an abomination, hell is real, are very clear in the bible. Yes, the bible is the word of God, but some people say every word of the bible is to be read literally. I am not talking here about whether what is said is real or not. Literal becomes a problem especially when talking about the end-times. Many take times from books like Daniel and Revelation and say these are to be taken literally and that can cause problems. An example of that is the made-up Hollywood view of the tribulation where there are so many differing views including the doctrine of demons called the rapture. The reason for the differing views is rebellion against God’s word, which means the church is already in tribulation. If the church had not rebelled, the Spirit of truth would be guiding the church and there would not be differing views. John 16:12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” Yes, there are passages that are tough, but for the most part, especially when talking about the power of God and even end times, the bible is very clear. It then becomes a conscious decision to reject what the bible clearly states and continue to believe the doctrines of your chosen church. We saw this rejection of God’s word throughout the Old Testament when God’s servants spoke the word of the Lord and the people said we will not listen and then had the prophet killed or imprisoned. Jeremiah 18:18 “They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.” Today the bible is rejected, and people simply do not listen when confronted by God’s word and continue in their own wicked ways.
Last week we briefly looked at the remnant of survivors who rejected Jeremiah’s word from God not to go to Egypt. The are too many examples of God’s people rejecting His word to list, but a few are Adam and Eve listening to satan instead of God, Israel rejecting God’s word after saving them from Egypt, the Jews rejecting Jesus and murdering Him and now and the church, even with all the examples of rebellion before us. From the beginning, God has said what would happen if His people rebelled. Genesis 2:17 “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” They did not listen, and death entered the picture. Deuteronomy 8:19 “If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.” They did not listen and were vomited from the land of promise. 1 Corinthians 10:6 “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” Many have not listened and will hear, Matthew 25:41 “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.” That eternal fire is very real and is eternal destruction. Hebrews 10:39 “We do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” Revelation 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Matthew 10:28 “Be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Hebrews 10:30 “For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Yet, most people are unafraid because they have bought into the teaching that they are secure if they follow the distinct doctrine being taught at their church, but that is a false sense of security. Peter said, 2 Peter 3:17 “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.” And John said, 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Not only are people being deceived by false gospels, doctrines and theology, they are being deluded by God. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” Condemn means hell but many have been taught that God is a God of love and would never allow such a thing and do not repent.
This example of rebellion (people going to Egypt after the destruction of Jerusalem) I think is up there as one of the most foolish and ignorant examples of rejecting God’s word. Before this event happened, God’s people refused to listen when Jeremiah was told by God to say, Jeremiah 19:3 “Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. 7 “‘In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds.” Instead of listening to Jeremiah, they said you must die and refused to repent until it was too late and everything that Jeremiah prophesied took place. 2 Chronicles 36:17 “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.” This is a reminder for those who think God would never allow anyone to spend eternity in hell. The people, like the church, refused to listen. 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.”
God had promised David that there would always be a remnant. Yes, that is an awesome promise but that meant and still means there will be few survivors. It is like when Peter preached at Pentecost and Acts 2:41 “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” That sounds great, but today the Jews still reject Jesus as their Messiah which means most did not accept the good news. When you look at the numbers that returned to the land of promise, there are just a few compared to the number before they were destroyed. Genesis 22:15 “The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Isaiah 10:21 “A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. 22 Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return.” Most people were killed or taken captive as we saw with some like Daniel and Esther.
The example we are looking it took place after the destruction of Jerusalem. The king of Babylon did leave some (usually the poor) behind and then others returned when they saw the remnant prospering under the leadership of Gedaliah. (You can read this account in Jeremiah 40-44) Jeremiah 40:7 “When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, 8 they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10 I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.” 11 When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12 they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.” Then Gedaliah was assassinated by a fool who wanted to be in power and great fear of the king of Babylon set in. After they had taken care of Ishmael, the survivors began their flight to Egypt.
The slogan of God’s people was “we will not listen” and still seems to be. What makes this worse is that this group of survivors / remnant saw everything that Jeremiah said about the king of Babylon come true and still said we will not listen. God’s people seem to prefer listening to the false prophets over His servants. Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah Jeremiah 37:19 “Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’?” When Jeremiah prophesied, their response was “you must die.” Jeremiah then said Jeremiah 26:15 “Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” People loved to go their own way. Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; 2 who go down to Egypt without consulting me.” Jeremiah would later say Jeremiah 44:28 “Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.” Jeremiah’s word stood.
Even though this group already made up their minds to go to Egypt, they did stop to consult Jeremiah. They said, Jeremiah 42:5 “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.” God then answers and told them what they did not want to hear as it went against their plans. 9 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: 10 ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. 12 I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’ 13 “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the Lord your God, 14 and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, 16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.” They responded and said to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 43:2 “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ 3 But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.” They rebelled against God’s word and entered Egypt in disobedience.
Today’s church is no different because we have this account, plus many others and the church still refuses to obey the word of the Lord. The church has also been warned. 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,” but did not listen. Last week I said, “This deception comes because people do not know their bibles. What they do know is what they have been taught to know and they refuse to turn from false teaching and following a different Jesus, although they do not think it false which is the deception and delusion.” Isaiah and Jeremiah were prophets who spoke the word of the Lord. Today the word of the Lord is a closed book, but that does not mean there are no prophets. Prophets have always and still do speak what the people do not want to hear. Prophets do not add to and take away from scripture as we see many false teachers do. So often experience, tradition and reason replace the word of God. 2 Peter 1:20 “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The words of those like Peter and Paul became the word of God. But not long after, the bible was closed (66 books) and nothing was to be added or taken away.
Today God’s prophets speak the word of the Lord as led and we have this warning and others like it. Revelation 22:18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” Yes, the Mormons are a cult for many reasons, but they have the Book of Mormon along with the bible. Almost every church also has their own book that explains their distinct beliefs which separates them from others, all the while saying we believe in the same Jesus. That cannot be when the Spirit of Truth is guiding. Sadly, every church does this, even though we are told not to add or take away. Prophecy also includes what we saw take place in Acts 11:27 “During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)” This is an area where the spirits need to be tested. An example where this was false was when at the beginning of Covid when the false teacher Kenneth Copeland “declared that judgment be executed on COVID-19: 'It is finished! It is over!” Though not funny, he also said “"I demand a vaccination to come immediately. I call you done. I call you gone.” If covid is gone and done you do not need a vaccine for something that doesn’t exist. If it wasn’t so evil, that was very comical to watch. After he said this, millions would die, and people still follow this false teacher.
Today’s prophet along with teachers, preachers, apostles and evangelists are supposed to speak the word of the Lord, as that was God’s plan. Ephesians 4:11 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” But as satan does, his scheming uses these five and masquerades as truth which deceives the church. 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” These five are supposed to equip the church with truth and at this point tell people what they do not want to hear, but the spirits must be tested to make sure they are God’s servants. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Over and over the church was warned not to be deceived by the savage wolves in sheep’s clothing. Jesus said Matthew 24:4 “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.” Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” 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.” Because the church refuses to listen to God’s word, only a few (remnant) will be saved. 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!’” As Jesus said “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.” 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.”
When Jesus warned of deception, in the same passage He talked about the abomination that causes desolation which has already decimated the church. Paul warned the church and said, 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.” 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!” The church refused to listen and has been decimated by our enemy. Many talk falsely about the tribulation to come but the church has already been in tribulation and there are only a few survivors. Serving a different Jesus and other gospels is the same as serving other gods as we read in the Old Testament. Jeremiah said Jeremiah 19:4 “For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.” Jeremiah 2:5 “This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. 11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. 12 Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord. 13 “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. 14 Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder? 15 Lions have roared; they have growled at him. They have laid waste his land; his towns are burned and deserted. 16 Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have cracked your skull. 17 Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God. 19 Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty. 20 “Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’34 Yet in spite of all this 35 you say, ‘I am innocent; he is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’”
Today the church has been warned not to listen to the false teachers and have been told exactly what will happen when they do. The church has done just as Moses said to the people. Deuteronomy 31:29 “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.” Scripture tells us what will happen when the church rebels against God. Matthew 25:41 “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.” Jude 1:5 “Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” After warning the church about false teachers, Peter said, 2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.” 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.” Luke 12:5 “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” Yes hell is very real.
Yet, most people are not afraid and follow the stubbornness of their own hearts and refuse to listen to God’s word. They continue to follow false teachers and give their lives to their doctrines and theology. When confronted with truth, they choose what is false and reject the truth of God’s word that we all have. This happens every day in the church. People have been taught distinct doctrines and though they are doctrines of demons, they refuse to turn away and have no fear of hell whatsoever. Jeremiah 5:21 “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? 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, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’ 25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. 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?” Everyone thinks they are on their way to heaven because they believe the words of those who taught them without ever testing the spirits. 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.” They continue in their ways that lead to eternal punishment and refuse to turn away, both teacher and listener.
Like Israel and Judah, the church has been told exactly what happens when we rebel against God’s word. The people who went to Egypt in rebellion already saw the destruction come to pass as spoken through Jeremiah. The refused to listen then and continue not to listen. Jeremiah 37:2 “Neither he (king Zedekiah) nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah 44:2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins 3 because of the evil they have done. They aroused my anger by burning incense to and worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors ever knew. 4 Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ 5 But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. 6 Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today.” Now Jeremiah is speaking to them again and they still refused to listen to their own demise, even though they were part of the survivors. God said Jeremiah 44:8 “Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves a curse and an object of reproach among all the nations on earth. 11 “Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. 12 I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach. 13 I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. 14 None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives.” 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, 16 “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!” God said there would be disaster and disaster would come.
The startling part of this is the people not only said they would not listen, but they worshipped other gods. Jeremiah 44:17 “We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.” Let me just stop here in this verse just in case you did not see how foolish these people were. They actually believed they were being blessed but in reality, is why the disaster came in the first place. Job said Job 24:22 “But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life. 23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways. 24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.” After coming out of Egypt, the people said they would rather go back to Egypt than to follow God. Numbers 11:4 “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’ Numbers 14:4 “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” When the king of Assyria was attacking Jerusalem, he said to the people Isaiah 36:16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.” satan always will twist things around to deceive you. Today most in the church feel blessed in their rebellion, but the day will come, as it did for those who wanted to go back to Egypt, where the error of their ways will be shown. Jeremiah 2:17 “Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when he led you in the way? 18 Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates? 19 Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.”
We then see this discourse of rebellion continue. Jeremiah 44:19 “The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes impressed with her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?” God then responded. Jeremiah 44:24 “Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah in Egypt. 25 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have done what you said you would do when you promised, ‘We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.’ “Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! 26 But hear the word of the Lord, all you Jews living in Egypt: ‘I swear by my great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, “As surely as the Sovereign Lord lives.” 27 For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. 28 Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.” 29 “‘This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,’ declares the Lord, ‘so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.’ 30 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am going to deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who want to kill him, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who wanted to kill him.’” The people refused to listen and everything God said would happen to them, simply because they refused to humble themselves before God.
As it always was and will be, the word of God would stand. At one time Jeremiah warned the people Jeremiah 7:4 “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” Today most in the church feel very secure saying this is the church, this is the church, yet false teachers are everywhere in the church distorting the word of the Lord and are leading millions astray who believe them. Most have accepted the specific doctrines of their chosen church and continue in them, even though the word of God says to turn from those wicked ways. Like the remnant of survivors who went down to Egypt in disobedience, the word of the Lord will stand, and some will inherit eternal life and others will not. Jesus is the word and as we see in in John, only true believers will inherit eternal life. John 3:15 “everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
The church must return to believing in the word of God and not man’s distorted words about God’s word. We also must believe that the God we serve as Christians is the same God that allowed Assyria and Babylon to destroy His people. Isaiah 10:12 “When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.” Yes, God is a God of love but also a God of wrath. Deuteronomy 4:24 “The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Hell is real, as is eternity and amazingly God has given us a choice. Moses told the people, Deuteronomy 30:19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28). Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Joshua told the people Joshua 24:14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” The people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!” Then Joshua said, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” 21 But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” 22 Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied. 23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Stop serving a different Jesus and other gospels and return to the word of God. If you don’t know if that is happening, then look into what you have been taught. If you have been taught to be a Christian based on a very distinct doctrine that differs from others such as a Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed Methodist and so on, you have been deceived and are following other gospels. The good news is God gives us hope because he said Zechariah 1:3 “Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” So then return, but if you do, Ecclesiastes 5:1 “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool. 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites (church), I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Jesus said, Mark 1:15 “The time has come, The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Daniel 9:17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Lamentations 5:19 “You, Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. 21 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old.”
