The State of the Church

Those who forget, deny, or ignore history are prone to repeat it. Unfortunately, this is especially true in matters of ‘religion’. God’s warnings, judgments, and condemnations are all throughout the Old Testament, but so few take the time to read them. Oh, the stories of Noah, Moses, Joshua, etc are well known, but what about the rest of God’s Word?

Isaiah 1:10-20  Hear the Word of Jehovah, rulers of Sodom; give ear to the Law of our God, people of Gomorrah.

What a comparison! The LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah due to their wickedness. The unbelieving world knows this story, but what is the lesson?

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says Jehovah; I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this at your hand, to trample My courts?

Do people even take the time to consider how God views their worship?

People go thru the motions. They like their traditions, but not God’s holy statutes and commandments. God deplores vain self-righteous worship.

Bring no more vain sacrifice; incense is an abomination to Me; the new moon and sabbath, the going to meeting; I cannot endure evil and the assembly! 

Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me; I am weary to bear them. 

And when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

People often tell others of their prayers to God, but does God hear them? It is clear that most He detests.

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil; Iearn to do good; seek judgment, reprove the oppressor. Judge the orphan, plead for the widow.

You need to humbly approach God. You need to turn from your sin. You need to repent to a Holy God. All of these have to be done on God’s terms, not yours.

Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.

God continues to call out to all sinners to come to Him for forgiveness of their sins. It is with reverence and respect and fear that you approach God. He is merciful but He is Almighty God.

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.

Who is listening?

The State of the Church

Too many pastors and people believe that the ‘Old’ Testament is just that, old. Old as is no longer relevant, interesting, insightful, helpful, or meaningful to the ‘church’. Since even they believe that God does not change, they live and worship as if He has. God alone defines worship and God alone condemns false worship. Let us study what God told Isaiah.

Isaiah 1:1-9  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah has spoken, I have nursed and brought up sons, and they have rebelled against Me.

Hezekiah was the king that did right before God, but his son did not. Josiah succeeded this son. Just like Hezekiah’s son did not do according to his earthly father, God brought them up, blessed them, gave them the thrones from which they disobeyed Him. They rebelled against the God who gave them breath and life. This is not a reality only for Israel and Judah but also for us today.

The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.

Even ‘dumb’ animals (those who cannot speak), know their master. The master who cares for them, feeds them, shelters them, provides for them. This master also requires obedience from them. Their lives are devoted to serving the needs of their master.

Woe, sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, sons who corrupt! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger; they have gone away backward.

Can you really say that this is not an accurate description of the world today, especially in the U.S.?

Why should you be stricken any more? You will revolt more and more; the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; only a wound and a stripe and a fresh blow; they have not been closed, nor bound up, nor soothed with oil.

People don’t ‘connect the dots’ as they wonder why things aren’t going as well as they want. God’s judgment and condemnation has created needs, wounds, pain, and suffering. But, we always look back to the world for answers and relief, instead of looking deep into our own hearts. People often proclaim, self-righteously that God knows their heart. This is true, but what does God see?

Mat 15:7  Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

Matthew 15:8-9  "This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." 

Matthew 15:18-19  But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it

Your land is wasted, your cities burned with fire. Strangers devour your land right before your eyes, and it is wasted, as overthrown by strangers.

Does this sound like today’s news.

And the daughter of Zion is left a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a garden of cucumbers, like a besieged city. Except Jehovah of Hosts had left us a very small remnant, we would be as Sodom; we would be like Gomorrah.

God will always leave a remnant, a small remnant. This should cause all of us to take notice. How small could this remnant really be world-wide or just in the U.S.?

We all know that the true church is not as large as the sum of all who attend church, or self-affirm that they are ‘christian’, or who own a bible, give money to causes, live a moral life, or are sincere.

Are you truly one of God’s small remnant?

The State of the Church

When God is removed a very serious vacuum is created for man was created to worship. Mankind always gets worship all wrong. Few take the time to even consider how God views their worship. Is your regular worship according to God’s Word and His Holy requirements? Josiah had to go back far into Israel’s history to rekindle worship in Jerusalem.

2 Kings 23:21-27  And the king commanded all the people saying, Prepare the Passover to Jehovah your God, as it is written in the Book of the Covenant.

The most holy of the festivals had been completely forgotten or turned into a form of pagan idolatry. The Passover helped the people how God redeemed with His Hand from Egypt. How He destroyed Egypt and Pharoah’s army right before their ‘father’s eyes’.

Surely there was not held such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah, 
but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was held to Jehovah in Jerusalem.

It seems that this was so new to them that it astounded most. Josiah did not improvise some worship according to his ideas or desires, but to God’s. In order to worship God in both Spirit and Truth, you have to put away all forms of sin, idolatry, and man-made traditions.

And also Josiah put away the mediums, and the soothsayers, and the family gods, and the idols, and all the abominations which were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might perform the Words of the Law which were written in the Book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Jehovah. 

And there was no king like him before him, who turned to Jehovah with all his heart and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses. And after him none rose up like him.

Sad commentary on Judah.

But Jehovah did not turn from the heat of His great wrath, with which His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. And Jehovah said, I will also remove Judah out of My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

God never promised to remove all the serious consequences from our sin. There will come a time for all of us when judgment will come and the time to repent or change for the better will be gone forever.

The State of the Church

What more did Josiah find? What else did he destroy? While the answers to these questions may be found in these passages, how this all came being is harder to discern. Also, what did the godly people do or not do? Who stood for God?

2 Kings 23:9-20  But the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they ate of the unleavened bread among their brothers. 

You will notice that once again we are confronted with the very telling and recurring phrase, and he…

And he defiled Topheth, in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, so that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 

This is not some ritual to see who can stand the heat, but a terrifying death of innocent young children by being placed into the red-hot arms of Molech.

And he took away the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of Jehovah, by the room of Nathan-melech the eunuch, which was in the suburbs.

And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Who had given them to the sun worshipers? The kings of Judah!!! False, evil shepherds leading the sheep of Judah astray and into evil.

And the altars which were on the top of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made, and the two courts of the house of Jehovah, the king beat them down, and broke them down from there.

And he threw the dust of them into the torrent Kidron. 

Altars to false gods in the Temple! There can be no compromise with idolatry. No sympathy to those who build evil altars. No time wasted to rid the Temple of all those who defile the Temple.

And the high places which were before Jerusalem on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 

And he broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherahs, and filled their places with the bones of men. 

And also the altar which was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place; he stamped it to powder, and burned the Asherah.

Utter, complete destruction down to dust. Burn it all!!! Now we see the names of the two kings that allowed this idolatrous worship to begin. They gave it their blessing and the people blindly followed their evil lead. Solomon, the wisest king ever to live!!! Jeroboam, God’s chosen king for the northern kingdom after Solomon’s death. It started with Solomon and the cancer spread very quickly.

And as Josiah turned, he spied the tombs which were there in the mountain.

And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the Word of Jehovah which the man of God had proclaimed, who spoke these words.

And he said, What monument is that which I see?

And the men of the city told him, It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel. 

And he said, Let him alone; let no one move his bones. And they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 

Only one tomb to be spared? Only one to be found, but hardly remembered and not followed.

And also all the houses of the high places in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Jehovah to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts which he had done in Bethel. 

And he killed all the priests of the high places which were there on the altars, and burned men's bones on them, and returned to Jerusalem. 

Killing these false prophets and priests was commanded by God. Did anyone stand for God? Where have we read that before?

Exodus 32:19-28  And it happened, as he came near to the camp and saw the calf and dances, the anger of Moses became hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them at the bottom of the mountain. 

And he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and dropped it upon the water, and made the sons of Israel drink of it. 

And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them? 

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said to me, Make us gods who shall go before us. For this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. 

And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. And they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 

And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies,) 

then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on Jehovah's side? Come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him.  And he said to them, Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Each man put his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and kill each one his brother, and each one his neighbor, and each one his kindred.

And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

Aaron was guilty up to his eyes. He thought he could save himself by lying to Moses, but you can’t hide sin from God.

This golden calf just showed how hard it really is to leave the evil, deceitful traditions of your prior life; traditions that may even go back generations. How did God feel about this? How did Moses?

“Who is on Jehovah’s side?” That is a good question for today! Have you asked that question of yourself? Have you seriously looked into the very traditions that permeate your worship? How does God feel about your worship?

The State of the Church

We need to get our terms and definitions in order first. The Church is not a denomination, a religion, a building, or a place someone gets in front of a group and teaches from a Bible or any other book.

The true Church of Jesus Christ is both universal and somewhat invisible. It is made up of only the true, sanctified, servants of the Lord. They humbly serve Him and strive to obey Him. They hate evil and abhor sin. They detest their sin most.

So we will study the state of the visible, institutional church to see how it has so completely been corrupted over the thousands of years since Jesus first said He would build His church. We now have thousands of churches built by men for men.

We continue with the study of the work of Josiah to rid the nation of the horrendous idolatry that had permeated every facet of life.

2 Kings 23:1-8  And the king sent. And they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.  And the king went up into the house of Jehovah. And all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets, and all the people, from the small even to the great. And he read all the Words of the Book of the covenant which was found in the house of Jehovah in their ears. 

The hearing of God’s Word must be accompanied by obedience to God’s Word. It also must be accompanied by confession and humble repentance.

And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the Words of this covenant which was written in this Book. And all the people stood to the covenant. 

As King he had a God-given responsibility to lead the people according to God’s Word. Not just some of the time, when convenient. Not just when enemies came to make war. Not just when God’s judgment was being poured out upon them for their sin. People make promises to God all the time, usually in hope of God intervening to save them from the earthly consequences of their sin.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels which were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel. 

This was all in the Temple!!! How did it get there? Who brought it in? Did anyone protest? How long had this been going on? Well we know that the Book of the Law had long been lost and forgotten right in the Temple.

And he put down the idol-worshiping priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem. He also put down those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of the heavens. 

Josiah killed these false priests that prior kings of Judah had ordained to lead false, idolatrous, heinous worship right in God’s House. Why would these kings do such a thing? How did the priests let them do it? Where did all the truly god-fearing men and women go?

And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah outside Jerusalem, to the torrent Kidron, and burned it at the torrent Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and threw the powder of it on the graves of the sons of the people. 

Sexual perversion in the name of worship is abominable to God and should also be to us.

And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, which were by the house of Jehovah, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah. 

What would be today’s version of this practice? Ordained priests and pastors? Marriages? Emphasizing God’s love but ignoring His holiness, wrath, and condemnations and warnings?

And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates which were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city. 

This idolatrous onslaught was found everywhere you looked. It had overwhelmed the entire nation to the point that it appears that no one missed the obvious point. They were the people of God, in the city of God, blessed by the Temple of God, and holders of the Word of God.

You should have no trouble drawing parallels to today. The question to ask of yourself is how have I accommodated these same idolatrous practices or been deceived by these false teachers of today.

The State of the Church

The problem most have with these passages is trying to see the linkage to today’s proliferation of false, demonic teaching in the name of God. All too often most will agree with a problem in the church, but fail to see any problem in their church.

There is a quote most often attributed to Mark Twain, “It is easier to fool/(deceive) someone, than to convince them that they are fooled/(deceived). We can all condemn false teachers, but can we see them when they are right in front of our eyes? Based on these passages, apparently not.

2 Kings 23:9-20  But the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they ate of the unleavened bread among their brothers. 

“And he,” the list is very extensive and hard to fathom. To what extent did Josiah go to truly rid the land of all the idols, false priests, and places of heinous worship?

And he defiled Topheth, in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, so that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 

And he took away the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of Jehovah, by the room of Nathan-melech the eunuch, which was in the suburbs.

And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars which were on the top of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made, and the two courts of the house of Jehovah, the king beat them down, and broke them down from there.

And he threw the dust of them into the torrent Kidron. And the high places which were before Jerusalem on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 

Solomon built these “high” places to appease the idolatrous practices of all of his hundreds of wives and concubines. Why did the wisest man to ever live, fall prey to these passions, lusts, and pagan women? Was he ignorant of the danger or did he just think he was above the Law of God?

And he broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherahs, and filled their places with the bones of men. 

And also the altar which was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place; he stamped it to powder, and burned the Asherah. 

And as Josiah turned, he spied the tombs which were there in the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the Word of Jehovah which the man of God had proclaimed, who spoke these words. 

And he said, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel. 

And he said, Let him alone; let no one move his bones. And they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 

Of all the tombs, just one was saved? God repeatedly sent prophets who were ignored, condemned, and killed. The false prophets of this time are like the false teachers of our time. They cannot defend their beliefs so they need to silence all dissent. This is done everyday in today’s “political correct” culture. Everyone’s speech and space is protected except any that disagrees with their fragile, demonic beliefs.

And also all the houses of the high places in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Jehovah to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts which he had done in Bethel. 

Interesting that Josiah went outside the territory of Judah to destroy the places in Samaria, which was at one time the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

And he killed all the priests of the high places which were there on the altars, and burned men's bones on them, and returned to Jerusalem.

 

This is the supreme act of total abhorence to burn bones on an altar.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5  "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 

"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 

"But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you. 

False teachers today are under the same judgment from God, but not under any authority that actually can put them to death. Physical death cannot be compared to God’s eternal wrath and judgment against false teachers and all that follow them.

Have you truly purged all the evil out of your life?

The State of the Church

As we continue to study 2 Kings, we must also consider the true state of those who claim to represent God in today’s culture. Just how far from the true worship of God have they fallen? We should learn from the history that God has so graciously provided to us.

2 Kings 23:4-8  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels which were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel. 

What are they carrying out of the Temple? How could this have happened in the city of Jerusalem, in the country of Judah, in the Temple of the only true, living God? When and how did these demonic, idolatrous elements enter into the Temple?

And he( Josiah) put down the idol-worshiping priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem. He also put down those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of the heavens. 

Who allowed these false, idol-worhiping priests into the Temple? What happened to the God-ordained priests? What was Hilkiah doing as the “high priest” over the Temple?

And he (Josiah) brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah outside Jerusalem, to the torrent Kidron, and burned it at the torrent Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and threw the powder of it on the graves of the sons of the people. 

It only gets worse!

And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, which were by the house of Jehovah, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah. 

Does this sound like what the liberal, false churches of our day are doing?

And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates which were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city. 

Everywhere Josiah went there was idolatry of the most heinous kind. How did Judah become so sinful? How did they fall so far from God? Did it happen overnight when no one was watching?

No! It happened slowly and steadily. It actually began with Solomon, the “wisest” man to ever live! It was aided by ignoring God’s truth in such a profound manner that they lost all remembrance of it. They had to rediscover it in very Temple that was now the Temple of Baal.

Jude 1:3-4  Having made all haste to write to you about the common salvation, beloved, I had need to write to you to exhort you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. 

For certain men crept in secretly, those having been of old previously written into this condemnation, ungodly ones perverting the grace of our God for unbridled lust, and denying the only Master, God, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

What have you let creep into your life, your worship, and your beliefs?

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

How do we approach a Holy God? How should we repent? How should we worship Him? Where do we begin?

2 Kings 23:1-3  And the king sent. And they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.  And the king went up into the house of Jehovah.

And all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets, and all the people, from the small even to the great. And he read all the Words of the Book of the covenant which was found in the house of Jehovah in their ears. 

First, we begin by meditating on God’s Holy Word. We must humbly surrender to His Word, not just listen to it being read. Too many listen but fail to let it penetrate into their hearts or change their lives.

And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the Words of this covenant which was written in this Book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

You cannot listen with your self-righteousness blinding you to your sin. You must put all your traditions, man-made rules, and misunderstandings aside. You must become like a blank slate and let God write His laws on your heart. James, the half-brother of Jesus was inspired to give this godly advice.

James 1:19-26  Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not work out the righteousness of God. Therefore putting aside all filthiness and overflowing of evil, receive in meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. 

But become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man studying his natural face in a mirror.  For he studied himself and went his way, and immediately he forgot what he was like. 

But whoever looks into the perfect Law of liberty and continues in it, he is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This one shall be blessed in his doing. 

If anyone thinks to be religious among you, yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is vain.

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

What does God think of disobedience? How does He treat those who disobey Him? The Bible is full of the warnings of God, condemnations of God, and punishments of God.

2 Kings 22:12-20  And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king, saying, 

Go inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the Words of this Book which is found.

For great is the wrath of Jehovah which is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the Words of this Book, to do according to all which is written concerning us. 

What was Josiah asking them to do? He wanted to know if God’s righteous and just punish of the people of Judah was imminent. He assumed that these priests and scribes would inquire of God themselves. But, they had forsaken God for so long they did not have a clue on how they could inquire of God themselves.

And Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. And she lived in Jerusalem in the second part. And they talked with her. 

The best they could do was to go to someone else. This was a wife of one of the tribe of Levi, those whom God has set apart for Himself to assist the High Priests in the service in the Temple. There was no prophet so they went to the prophetess. What did God confirm?

And she said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me, So says Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil on this place and on the people of it, all the Words of the Book which the king of Judah has read; because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense to other gods, so that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched.

Bad news! God’s patience or long-suffering had come to an end. Judah had forsaken Him. They had worshiped other gods. They had taken the incense from His Temple and used in their idolatry. They were not innocent and their ignorance was of their own doing. God would unleash His wrath and judgment upon them. Nothing would stop Him from executing His divine judgment.

But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, so you shall say to him, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, The Words which you have heard,  because your heart was tender and you have humbled yourself before Jehovah, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its people (that they should become a waste and a curse, and have torn your clothes and wept before Me), I have heard you, says Jehovah. 

Josiah’s sincere and humble response was not ignored by God. God responded to this young king’s prayer with mercy. But, it did not remove His soon coming divine wrath.

Behold, even so I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. And your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring on this place. And they brought the king this word again. 

While this was certainly comforting to Josiah, it was also terrifying. The wrath of God would come, but not on his watch. God extended mercy to the entire nation due to Josiah humble and earnest repentance.

Never underestimate your humble and sincere prayers before God. Never think they will have no effect upon God’s judgment. God repeatedly tells us to pray with the faithful expectation of His answers to our prayers. But, it is His answer we seek, not an affirmation of our desires or plans.

James 5:16  Confess faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much.

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

'Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.'

The quote is most likely due to writer and philosopher George Santayana, and in its original form it read, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Santayana was known for aphorisms, and for being a professor in philosophy at Harvard which he abandoned. Prior to that, Santayana attended Boston Latin School and Harvard College, where he studied under the philosophers William James and Josiah Royce.

Often the world has some understanding of Biblical truths. If you forget God’s truth, ignore God’s truth, deny God’s truth, then you will face God’s judgment. But, few will connect the dots and actually learn God’s truth.

2 Kings 22:8-13  And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the Book to Shaphan, and he read it. 

And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again, and said, Your servants have gathered the silver that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workers, who have the oversight of the house of Jehovah.  And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a Book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 

And it happened when the king had heard the Words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king, saying, 

Go inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the Words of this Book which is found.

For great is the wrath of Jehovah which is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the Words of this Book, to do according to all which is written concerning us.

What did Josiah do? He tore his clothes in fear of what had been read to him. What did Hilkiah do? He sent Shaphan to the king. What book had he been using? What doctrine had he been teaching? What god had he been serving?

Was Josiah the only one truly taking God seriously? It had been so long since the Word of God had been ignored, that no one even bothered to notice it missing!

So, Satan came into the Temple with his false, idolatrous worship and took over. He did this with the aid of the descendants of Aaron, who were the only ones that could be High Priests.

What did God think of all of this?

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

How did all this begin? How did the world get so deceived? How did the ‘church’? Are God’s people vulnerable to being deceived by the world?

Yes and it begins at the beginning. But rather than go back to Genesis 1, let us look at just what extent the deceit had penetrated the chosen people of God who dwelt in Jerusalem, the city of God.

2 Kings 22:1-8  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. And he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.  And he did the right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in all the way of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. 

Josiah was only one of 8 of the 39 combined kings of Judah and Israel that did right in the sight of the Lord. In fact, he did not let himself be distracted by the world all around him and daily strove to keep his eyes, heart, and mind on Jehovah.

And it happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying,  Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, so that he may count the silver which is brought into the house of Jehovah, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people.  And let them deliver it into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the house of Jehovah. And let them give it to the workers who are in the house of Jehovah, in order to repair the breaks of the house, to carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and cut stone to repair the house. Only, the silver that is given into their hand shall not be reckoned with them, for they are dealing in faithfulness.

One of his most important tasks was to rebuild the Temple of God that had gone into ruin over the years and therefore, commissioned this restoration. Remember, the Temple was still in Jerusalem, which had been built by Solomon and formerly dedicated to the only true and living God. But, just how far had the people and their worship departed from God’s Word?

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the Book to Shaphan, and he read it.

Can you believe this? God’s chosen people and the line of Aaron, who were to be God’s high priests, had lost the very words of God! What had been substituted in place of the Book of the Law?

Why had the priests totally lost interest in it, totally forgotten it, and had gone on to some other form of worship. Any other form of worship is false and demonic. They lost it in the Temple!!!

How has the ‘church’ done the same today? When ‘churches’ led by pastors ignore the Old Testament, which is approximately 75% of the entire Bible, they in effect have also lost the basis of true worship and understanding. The ‘New’ Testament is not a replacement of the ‘Old’ Testament, but more like a commentary to understanding it in light or the revised or new covenant.

Has your ‘church’ lost the Book? Have you?

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

Do we actually now have the leaders we deserve? Is this God’s judgment on our country?

Isaiah 9:15-19  The elder and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. 

For the leaders of this people led them astray; and their guided ones are swallowed up. 

For this the Lord shall not rejoice over their young men, nor shall He have mercy on their orphans and widows; for everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks foolishness. In all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. 

For wickedness burns like the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall roll upwards like the lifting up of smoke. 

Through the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts is the land scorched, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no man shall have pity on his brother. 

The leaders are corrupt, prideful, and look out only for themselves. But, the followers do not escape guilt and condemnation. ‘Follow the leader’ may seem to be a harmless children’s game, but it is a deadly, serious game for adults who lack biblical knowledge and discernment.

Luke 11:52-54  Woe to you, lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and you have hindered those who were entering in.  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw Him out concerning many things,  lying in ambush for Him, and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, so that they might accuse Him.

False prophets, false leaders, and false shepherds do not like being called out, criticized, or silenced. This has been true throughout all history and continues today. They can’t defend their actions, so they try to silence all opposition. They want complete, total submission to their authority, not God’s authority.

More next time.

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

What is happening to the United States? Where is the law and order upon which it has been founded? Where is the protection? How can any sane person state that we don’t need or want any police? Is the Constitution still the basis for our land?

What is God doing or allowing? This has happened before in history. God is giving the U. S. the judgment He has long warned us of coming.

Isaiah 3:1-3  For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water, the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the adviser, and the skilled worker, and the expert charmer. 

God is removing all rational, biblical, godly leaders from leadership. He is giving us what type of leaders we desire.

Isaiah 3:4-5  And I will give young boys to be their rulers, and caprices shall rule over them. And the people shall be crushed, every man by another, and every man by his neighbor; the boy shall act proudly against the old man, and the low against the honorable. 

This sounds a lot like yesterday’s headlines. Who is rioting in the streets? Is is the 65 and older crowd? Is the wise or the foolish? Is is the godly or the godless?

Isaiah 3:6-9  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, you be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand; in that day he shall swear, saying, I will not be a healer; there is no bread nor a cloak in my house. You shall not make me a ruler of the people. 

For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah has fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The look of their faces witnesses against them; and they declare their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it! Woe to their soul! For they have rewarded evil to themselves. 

Evil is being rewarded, lawlessness is being lauded, and truth is being trampled upon. But God is not asleep nor unaware. He is allowing this and will judge, condemn, and punish all of them.

Nahum 1:2-3  God is jealous, and Jehovah revenges; Jehovah revenges and is a possessor of wrath. Jehovah takes vengeance against His foes, and He keeps wrath against His enemies.  Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power. And He does not by any means acquit the guilty. Jehovah has His way in the tempest and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.  

Isaiah 3:10-11  Say to the righteous that it is well; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked! For the evil doing of his hand will be done to him.

Justice from God will include punishment from God. But it may not be seen in our lifetime, but it will be experienced in eternity future for all evil doers.

Isaiah 3:12  As for my people, children are their taskmasters, and women rule over them. Oh my people, your rulers cause you to go astray and destroy the way of your paths.

When men give up their God-ordained roles as spiritual leaders, God gives the world over to women and children. The most vocal, loud, lewd voices today are often out of the mouths of women who desire to control everything and everybody. There is no ladylike behavior tolerated, exhibited, or exampled today. Tough, determined, self-made women dominate the airwaves.

God has given to us what we deserve.

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

Will God judge the righteous, the self-righteous, and the unrighteous? Will He withhold His blessings and pour out His curses on entire nations? Two whole chapters are devoted to these questions as they relate to God’s chosen people.

Leviticus 26:1-3  You shall make no idols to yourselves; and you shall not set up for yourselves graven images, or a memorial pillar. And you shall not set up any image of stone in your land in order to bow down to it. For I am Jehovah your God. You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am Jehovah. If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them,…

The following 10 verses detail God’s blessings on His people for their obedience and allegiance to Him alone. However, He details 32 verses if His curses upon them for disobedience!

Leviticus 26:14-16  But if you will not listen to Me, and will not do all these commandments,  and if you shall despise My statutes, or if your soul hates My judgments, so that you will not do all My commandments, so that you break My covenant;  I will also do this to you:…

The curses will cause you to wonder at God’s judgment against His own chosen people. The curses include His foretelling the depths of their soon coming depravity. When you read them in your own Bible, see if you don’t see a frightening likeness to what is happening today.

A very similar summary can also be found in Deuteronomy 28. It also starts with the blessings for obedience for 14 verses.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2  And it will be, if you shall listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you today, Jehovah your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you, if you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God. 

But it is followed by 42 verses of curses and warnings.

Deuteronomy 28:15  And it shall be, if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, all these curses shall come on you and overtake you.

Why such disparity in emphasis? Why 3 times more written on curses than blessings? I will give you one reason based on human behavior. We are quick to read, believe, and remember the blessings God promises and provides. But, we tend to pay scant attention to His oft-repeated warnings, judgments, and curses. Who wants to read about these things? Most think these curses don’t really apply to church going ‘Christians”.

What do you think? Are they just for another people, another time, another covenant? Has God’s righteous requirements of us and His holiness changed with the times?

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

So who created this virus which has put the entire world into fear and hiding? Was it China? Was it Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci? Was it Satan? What, if anything, can the Bible teach us today in regards to these very important questions?

Deuteronomy 28:1-2  And it will be, if you shall listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you today, Jehovah your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you, if you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God. 

Most churches today will gladly preach these verses and leave out the remainder of the chapter. After all, God is love and loves everyone! Or does He? Would He actually cause harm and disaster to fall upon His beloved?

Deuteronomy 28:15  And it shall be, if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, all these curses shall come on you and overtake you. 

Have you ever heard anyone preach on this chapter, other than to point a finger at the sinful, stiff-necked people of Israel ? This is not a chapter for the self-righteous, biblical illiterate, my god would not do that crowd. They go to hear how good God is and sing about their self-proclaimed but seldom lived out love for Him. It may make them feel better about themselves, but what does God see in all of this?

Deuteronomy 28:21-22  Jehovah shall make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from off the land where you go to possess it. 

Jehovah shall strike you with lung disease and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew. And they shall pursue you until you perish. 

Is this the God you know? Does this sound like the current virus of today? Lung disease, fevers, inflammation all are symptoms that would mark you out as have the Corona virus. You would be hospitalized and marked for life as one who carries this deadly, terrible disease!

But there is a worse disease; the disease of sin and disobedience to God. Does the U. S. have any greater claim to God’s blessings than Israel did some 3500+ years ago? The U. S. is filled with Bible Colleges, Seminaries, churches of all types, ministries, YouTube channels, TV programming, books, devotions, etc.

Are we more godly, more righteous, more deserving because of all of this? No! We are more deserving of God’s wrath and judgment, which may be one of the reasons for this terror-filled environment we currently find ourselves in.

What does this all mean? What is God revealing to us? What do we need to do?

I will be traveling all next week. When I return I will try to address these questions from God’s perspective as revealed in His Word.

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

What did Jesus warn us of the coming end of the age? What would be the signs? What will happen to those true believers who are alive at that time?

Matthew 24:3-8  As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 

"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. 

Many false preachers, apostles, and even some who proclaim to be Jesus will be everywhere. Even today there are 13 men who claim to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. Sadly, many believe them.

24:9-14  "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.  "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.  "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 

Haven’t we seen some of this in our cities and states over the past months? Turn in your neighbor if he isn’t practicing social distancing. That will be minor compared to when true Christians will be hated and betrayed. If our leaders can circumvent the constitution on simple medical grounds, what could cause them to round up Christians? The Roman Catholic Church did that throughout most of its history. Nazi Germany did that to both Jews and Christians who spoke out against this great atrocity.

"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 

People will do anything to save their lives, find safety from fear and terror, and to enable them to live their lives in relative, although shrinking freedom.

Will you endure to the end?

COVID-19 and Satan's Censureship

What about Jeremiah? What will be his fate in prison? What happened to the king and all of his evil advisors?

Jeremiah 39:1-7  Now when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it;  in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was breached. 

Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.  When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. 

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 

Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slew all the nobles of Judah.  He then blinded Zedekiah's eyes and bound him in fetters of bronze to bring him to Babylon. 

The king of Babylon and his army fulfilled God’s prophecy and warning. All of the men who hated what Jeremiah told them now tried to flee from God’s judgment on them. How far did they get? Not very! The kings sons were all killed as were all of his evil advisors. But what about Jeremiah?

Jeremiah 39:11-14  Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,  "Take him and look after him, and do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you."  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris, and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon;  they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people. 

Who gave the order? The king of Babylon knew Jeremiah’s name! He personally singled out one man to the captain of his bodyguard. God moved the heart of the king of Babylon to take care of Jeremiah.

Jer 39:15-18  Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying,  "Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. 

"But I will deliver you on that day," declares the LORD, "and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. "For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me," declares the LORD.'" 

God also remembered Ebed-melech for his help to Jeremiah. For many months Jeremiah had not experienced or seen God’s hand on his life, but Jeremiah was never outside of the sovereign will of Almighty God. But, Jeremiah still suffered for serving God in this judgment of Judah.

Is there any message for us as we face the fast approaching time of God’s final judgment. The Day of the Lord is coming, when it will come no one knows, but we can recognized the seasons. Are you watching?

COVID-19 and Satan's Centureship

So what fate awaits Jeremiah? Does he know? Much like with Job, Jeremiah is living one day at a time but his faith and obedience to God has not wavered.

Jeremiah 38:14-17  Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD; and the king said to Jeremiah, "I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me."  Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me." But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, "As the LORD lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life." Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive. 

Zedekiah seems to be seeking advice from everyone and treating all advice as equally valid. Now he promises to protect Jeremiah from the very same wicked men who he once turned over Jeremiah to them. Jeremiah’s message from God has not changed, even in the presence of the king.

38:18-23  'But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.'" Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I dread the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me."  But Jeremiah said, "They will not give you over. Please obey the LORD in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live.  "But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the LORD has shown me: 'Then behold, all of the women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say, "Your close friends Have misled and overpowered you; While your feet were sunk in the mire, They turned back."  'They will also bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.'" 

There is no other option that will lead to an outcome that seems more favorable to the king and all the people. They will not repent, they will not listen, they will not obey, and they will not humble themselves to the only true and living God who is bringing this disaster to them.

38:24-27  Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no man know about these words and you will not die.  Jer 38:25  "But if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, 'Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,'  then you are to say to them, 'I was presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.'"  Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the conversation had not been overheard. 

These wicked men wanted to know what Jeremiah told the king. Why? They had heard it all before. They didn’t like the king listening to Jeremiah rather than to them. But, who spoke the truth?

38:28  So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

God’s plans will not be thwarted, even as He brings disaster, death, and terror to His people and His city. The people will be killed or carried off to captivity. The city will be burned. The cruel, evil Babylonians will murder, rape, torture, burn, and pillage. All within the sovereign will of a holy God.

COVID-19 and Satan's Centsureship

Does silencing God’s messenger change either the message or God? No, but it has a dangerous effect on all who ignore the message. Many will listen to the good news, but few will tolerate the bad news. Where was God when Jeremiah was thrown into the cistern and left to die?

Jeremiah 38:7-13  But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king's palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern.

Notice who came to Jeremiah’s defense. Not any Israelite, but an Ethiopian eunuch. Of all in the city who knew Jeremiah and should have known God, only one was brave enough to speak up and out.

Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; and Ebed-melech went out from the king's palace and spoke to the king, saying, "My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city." 

He told the king these men had acted wickedly toward Jeremiah. He was taking a risk to go against the powerful and prominent wicked men in the city. It was the king who told them to do whatever they wanted to Jeremiah, as if he had no control or interest. He seemed to be more concerned about his future than God’s message or messenger.

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies." So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king's palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.  Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes"; and Jeremiah did so. 

Now the king was agreeing to free Jeremiah after just agreeing to let him die in the cistern. This is a leader who tests the winds of the times before he makes any commitment. Unfortunately, just like today, society moves back and forth with no true foundation of beliefs, other than to oppose God.

So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse. 

Evil men wanted him dead so their message would not be challenge. This is the new truth for today in our world. They will find leaders who side with them and work hard to silence the only truth the world will ever hear.

But like Jeremiah, we are called to speak the truth even if no one will listen to us. Will you speak the truth to those who will not agree with you?

COVID-19 And Satan's Censureship

When you cannot win the argument, what is left to do? Shout down your opponent, prohibit your opponent from speaking, or silence them in any way that meets with your beliefs. You can see this most vividly on college campuses today.

They cannot tolerate any view but their own. They don’t believe in free speech other than when it applies only to their own views. All other views are hateful. Nothing has really changed in that regard in thousands of years. Let us continue to see this in the silencing of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 38:1-6  Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.'  "Thus says the LORD, 'This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.'"

Jeremiah was commanded by God to deliver His messages to the chosen people of God. Not only did they not believe Jeremiah’s message, they did not want anyone else to hear or believe it either.

Then the officials said to the king, "Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm." 

Did you really hear what they were saying? Does this not sound like what we are hearing today? If you don’t support the beliefs of the culture or government, you are guilty of not seeking the well-being of society!!!

What does the cultural society need most? Is it more lies that lead to hell or the truth of God that brings salvation? You will soon have to answer that question for yourself as Satan begins to close his net over a deceived world.

So King Zedekiah said, "Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you." 

Will the President and governors turn true Christians over to their accusers and antagonists? Not sure, but will they defend their rights or freedom of religion and assembly? No they will not!

Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king's son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 

They thought they just got rid of their problem with Jeremiah. But, who do they really have a problem with and can they get rid of God? Next time.