Habakkuk 1:11

[The Babylonian] hordes advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
They deride kings
and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
they build earthen ramps and capture them.
Then they sweep past like the wind and go on-
guilty men, whose own strength is their god.

What is an idol?

Do you and I have the propensity to worship false gods?

The classic view of idol worship is bowing down to a "god" created out of our own two hands - one thinks of wooden idols and carved images, which is talked about much in the Old Testament. In addition, Jeremiah 44:3-5 tells us of the sacrifices the Israelites were making to foreign gods, "[Israel] provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods...Again and again I [God] sent my servants the prophets, who said, 'Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!' But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods."

God utterly hates and despises false worship. God alone is able to recieve glory, He commands us in the first two of the ten commandments, "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." (Ex.20:3+4a) This is a serious matter - more serious than any other. It is for idol worship that God destroys nations and punishes His children. But what constitutes idol worship?

In this passage in Habakkuk we read that the Babylonians were not only worshiping false dieties, but they had made their own strength into a god! Worship is sacrificing something for the sake of a person or thing which you hold in a position of glory. The Babylonians valued strength more than Yahweh, more than humility, more than compassion, more than anything, and they sacrificed resources, time, human lives, and character all for the sake of strength. What did God do? He despised them! He hated their sin! Eventually, He destroyed them for their sin. Even in a time where there were many false religion and dieties, the Old Testament accounts for "gods" outside of the classic definition of an idol. How much more so do we bow down to these types of gods in our lives?

Our society is one full of worshippers. Everyone worships. Everyone places someone or something in a position of power or respect in their lives. It could be power, money, status, career, relationships, sex, or a person, spouse, boss, or political leader. Do not we make sacrifices for these things? Do not men spend countless hours toning up in the gym so that they can get laid? Do not women give up having a family for the sake of status and a career? Do not people give up money, time, and hope, for their favorite presidential candidate?

What are you sacrificing? God says, "YOU SHALL NOT HAVE ANY GOD BESIDES ME!" His wrath will be poured out on sin and sinners when they worship creation rather than the creator; when they worship themselves rather than Jesus. Stop believing in morality. Stop looking to behavior modification. Stop self-medicating through alcohol abuse, pornography, drugs, and the like. Start recognizing that you have a worship issue. Who or what are you holding in a position of glory? Only God is worthy.

Ezekiel 28:2-5

“Son of man [Ezekiel], say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘ In the pride of your heart
You say, “I am a god;
I sit on the throne of the seas.”
But you are a man and not a god,
Though you think you are as wise as a god…
By your wisdom and understanding
You have gained wealth for yourself
And amassed gold and silver
In your treasuries.
By your great skill in trading
You have increased your wealth,
And because of your wealth
Your heart has grown proud.’ “

The king of Tyre was a good businessman. He used the geographic location of the seaport town of Tyre to his advantage, and although Tyre was slightly north of the kingdom of Israel, God had blessed this city greatly and put the king in a position of prominence and respect. In verse 12 God grieves over what this king has become, “you were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty… [but] your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom (v.17)” God had delighted in blessing Tyre, but now that blessing led to great despair and God resisted and rebuked the king’s pride.

Has not God given us many blessings? How many of you have found yourself in the right place at the right time to capitalize on a situation? Maybe you have been elevated to a position of power in your workplace. Maybe it is the blessing of raising Godly children. Whatever it is, never forget that it is from the hand of Jesus and not of our own doing. Whenever we begin to say, “Look at what I have done!” we are displaying a heart of pride. Our society is one that encourages us to become “gods”. Everything we see is somehow presented to us like we deserve more power, more prestige, more money – we are told we are rulers over our own lives. As Christians we must look to Jesus and recognize that every good gift comes from our God; let us praise Him who gives freely and takes away.

Ezekiel 18:21-23

If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

In reading the Old Testament, many times we can get caught up wrath of God and forget about His compassion. This happened to me: I began my Christian walk by reading mostly New Testament books of the Bible and when I turned to the Old Testament I was shocked.

Colossians 1:15 tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. All of the Old Testament is a foreshadowing, and set-up for the salvation to come to the world through Jesus Christ. We must remember this as we read of God setting the stage through the struggles of a nation called Israel. However, we also must remember that God is not just a God of Love and Compassion, but a God of wrath towards sin and sinners.

Imagine that there was a man who continuously tried to break into your house and hurt your family members. Would you not tell him that that is not a very nice thing to do, and you do not appreciate it - of course you would! You may tell him that you are a gracious person and you want him to know Jesus. You tell him you will give him another shot, but he continues to threaten the lives of your family members. At this point would it not be unloving to the one's you claim to love if you do not take action against this man? You would call the cops and have him arrested. Our sin is like the thief who comes to destroy and God is like the loving Father who will only tolerate injustice for so long.

This is the picture that the Old Testament paints for us. God wishes that no-one perish, but that all would turn from their wicked ways and turn towards Him. If we open our eyes we cannot help but see God as a Father of Love, Grace, Forgiveness and Compassion over the children of Israel.

Lamentations 3:37-39

Who can speak and have it happen,
if the Lord has not decreed it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
Why should any living man complain
when punished for his sins?

All things are from the Lord. When you are taking out a loan for your first home; When you are finishing up the last payment on that mortgage; When you get that new iPhone; When you land that job you've been waiting for; All things are from the Lord. Conversely, times when you have little; times when you lose what you thought was yours; times when relationships are strained; All things are from the Lord.

What does this mean? Is God responsible for all of life's decisions or is God a Father who lets His children decide their own way?

Yes.

God is both providential and overseer. Who can speak and have it happen, if the Lord has not decreed it? This indicates that God is not always solely responsible for the content of our conversations, but we can have them only if He allows, and even commands, it. God is in control, and nothing comes from ourselves, but instead from what God gives us. So how does this lead to the question of discipline and Man's response to punishment for sin?

If we are not careful, we begin to see our righteous deeds as exactly that: our righteous deeds. We believe God is using us, but we think it is because we are the most valuable player. We tend to attribute to God the glory, but ourselves the benefit. This results in confusion when things start to fall apart. "God, did not I speak well of Your Name?" "God, did not I work hard for so many years to build this church for You? Why then are you now tearing it apart?" "God, did not I parent my children to fear You?" When the benefits begin to fall, our true hearts are revealed. We may have said that it was God who worked in us, but did we really attribute it to His alone?

God may we be a people who understand that all things are from You. That, if not decreed otherwise from You, our sins would overtake us. For we are not able to lift the weight of the world, we are not able to lift the burden of our sin, we are not able to lift the crop from the seed. All things are in Your hands, and we submit ourselves to You, despite the outcome.

Jeremiah 31:31+33b-34

“The time is coming, “ declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
With the house of Israel
And with the house of Judah.”

“I will put my law in their minds
And write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
And they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
Or a man his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
Because they will all know me,
From the least of them to the greatest,”
Declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
And will remember their sins no more.”

This constitutes the new covenant, when God promises that we will no longer be required to live by a set of regulated restrictions and rules, but that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. What an amazing promise it is that God would become a man, die a substitutionary death for our sins, tear the curtain of God’s presence from top to bottom, rise again, and give us the Holy Spirit as our guide. He is God within us, giving us access to Him through prayer and revealing His message in scripture for us.

The phrase ‘from the least to the greatest’ means there is no longer any hierarchy among believers. This is where the Catholics have been misled. There should not be a level of authority over the universal church. Within our local churches we recognize that there is no Senior Pastor besides Jesus Christ. We acknowledge church leadership where it is selected and voted upon by local church members, but there should be no hierarchy among elders – every elder’s vote is to hold the same weight, whether lead pastor or any other elder.

Lastly we see the eternal implications of Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus was the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, the one and only able to take away the sins of the world. It was God’s act of grace and promise, forever forgiving us our wickedness and remembering our sins “no more”. What a God; what a promise.

Jeremiah 23:1

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.

There are many who claim the name of Jesus and don’t represent Him and His character at all, even those who call themselves shepherds. Many times it becomes about me and my agenda. Where this happens most is when God’s sheep are not in the scriptures, protecting themselves from false teaching. A great example of this is found in the Roman Catholic church before the time of the reformation. Because people did not have direct access to God’s word, they were subject to the teachings of one fallen man instead of from the mouth of God. The priests began highlighting only portions of scriptures and mandating indulgences, thereby oppressing God’s people by the apparent use of scripture. As shepherds and as sheep we need to check our teachings with scripture.

Some people destroy and scatter the sheep by making it almost impossible for people to come to God. This happens when we becomes legalists over the methodology of a church. Sometimes it becomes a matter of holiness based upon whether or not you tuck your shirt in. Sometimes it becomes a matter of holiness based upon whether or not the music is pleasing “to God.” Sometimes it becomes a matter of holiness based upon what translation of the Bible you use.
What has happened is that in order to preserve one thing, we become the exact thing we were trying not to become. i.e. In order that we don’t lose the true message of scripture we must not change anything, including our methodology. The problem is that no matter what, you are in some way contextualizing the message – the question is to what time period and culture. Jesus used examples that were relevant to the audience He spoke to. Paul talks about contextualizing the message based upon the audience he spoke to. In our efforts to preserve the teachings of the Bible let us not become scatterers of sheep based upon our preferences and opinions of methodology.

Members and attenders are just as much a part of this as pastors. Jesus talks not only of false teachers in the position of pastor or shepherd, but also among the sheep. He says in Matthew 7:15, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Many times those in our congregations will sacrifice the kingdom of God for the kingdom of comfort and tradition. Are you destroying the sheep of God’s pasture because of a personal preference? Are you asking the type of questions that undermine God’s authority? Are you leading people to Jesus, or are you pushing them away? Many times wolves think they are just misunderstood shepherds, but the scriptures are clear – you are worse than the unbeliever.

Jeremiah 15:19+20

This is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
That you may serve me;
If you utter worthy, not worthless words,
You will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
But you must not turn to them.
I will make you a wall to this people,
A fortified wall of bronze;
They will fight against you
But will not overcome you,
For I am with you
To rescue and save you.

God wants to use you. God wants to use me. He wants to set us apart from this world, while at the same time delivering us to them to be His spokesman, just like He did with Jeremiah.

When I went to Bible College, my first year was pretty rough on me. I wasn’t where I should’ve been spiritually – I wasn’t fully obeying and seeking the Lord. I began to compare myself to those around me – you know, the “Christian Elite” (not that they gave themselves that title, but because I did) – and felt even more spiritually dead. I began to believe Satan’s lie that Jesus wouldn’t want to use someone like me. I believed that His grace might keep me out of Hell, but not be enough to make someone as jacked up as me one of His spokesman. So I quit. And there would have been many reasons I would have told you that I did so, but this was the real issue: inadequacy.

What I didn’t understand was God’s sanctifying grace. This is the grace that keeps us going even when we fall on our faces, stumble into sin, or turn our back on God’s kingdom. In Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the sower where a farmer goes out to sow his seed; some falls on the open path, some on the rock, other among the thorns, and still other on the good soil. This is how he explains the difference between that which falls among thorns and that which falls among good soil, “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

My perspective prior to this year was that there were those who fell into thorns and those who fell among good soil and that was it: there is no changing where you seed fell. So I thought that God called me and gave me a desire to serve as a pastor in His kingdom, but He didn’t make a very good choice because I fell among thorns. But what Jesus is asking for in this passage is repentance - just as He is in Jeremiah 15! He says to hear the word, be in your Bible. Retain it, don’t just read for a checklist of holiness, internalize it and remember God’s promises. Lastly, and what changed my perspective, Jesus says “by persevering” you will produce a crop. Yes hard times will come. Yes you may fall into sin. Yes you may doubt God’s call in your life. But take hope and persevere.

We see this in Jeremiah 15, God says, “Repent, I will restore you.” Who is he talking to here? A new Christian? No! He is talking to the prophet Jeremiah who was one of the few holy men in all of Israel in those days! This means that even Jeremiah had a rough day or season of life every now and then, but what does God say? Persevere! Keep speaking the truth, you will remain my spokesman. Keep yourself from there wicked ways, but engage them that they may come to you to hear the Gospel. “For I am with you to rescue and save you.” Praise be to God for His sanctifying grace. Don’t give up; don’t give in: Persevere – You belong to Jesus.