The Crisis (Within and Without)

Memory Text:  “ ‘ “Israel was holiness to the Lord, the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; disaster will come upon them,” says the Lord’ ” (Jeremiah 2:3, NKJV).

Q. Israel was God’s chosen nation. Why did God allow Jerusalem and the Temple to be destroyed?

Israel was going through a crisis (a time of intense difficulty or danger). This crisis was made from within i.e. its own corrupt leadership and people’s hardened hearts and without i.e. external factors. Israel brought upon herself this crisis because of her apostasy and reluctance to repent.

We will discuss about Israel’s apostasy in this lesson and see why God brought this crisis (read judgment) upon her. What can we learn from Israel’s apostasy? We will also appreciate how God shows grace through judgment.

Q. What are some of the dark moments in Israel’s history that led her towards apostasy?

Deut 9: 7 “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord”. Israel’s rebellion started from the day she left Egypt. A sad reminder of how quickly we forget God’s mercy.

Some of the prominent dark moments of Israel’s history are discussed below:

The Golden Calf

Ex 32: 8 “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it..”

A few weeks previously the children of Israel had entered into a solemn covenant with God and pledged themselves to obey him (Ex 19:8; 24:3) and now when Moses delayed in coming down from the mount they asked Aaron  to make them a golden calf. The children of Israel asked to make them a visual representation of God. Not a substitute god but a representation of the true God in the form of a golden calf (Patriarchs and Prophets pg 316)(this probably was inspired by ‘Apis the bull’, an Egyptian deity). This was the start of Israel’s quest towards idolatry. Notice Israel didn't reject God but desired their own interpretation of God through idol worship.

Unholy Alliances

Much of the blame for Israel’s apostasy was due to Solomon’s unholy marriages. God had forbidden the children of Israel to marry heathen women. 1 Kings 11:2 “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. Solomon, who should have set the highest example of obedience to this command, became its most deliberate violator. Not only did he marry heathen women but he also participated with his wives in idol worship. In order to please his wives he established centers of idol worship called ‘high places’ 1 Kings 11:7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab on the hill that is east of Jerusalem..”

On the southern eminence of the Mount of Olives, opposite Mount Moriah, where stood the beautiful temple of Jehovah, Solomon erected an imposing pile of buildings to be used as idolatrous shrines.  Prophets and Kings, pg 57 Solomon built these centers of worship right in the vicinity of God’s Temple at Jerusalem. But the succeeding generations brought their idols and abominations right in the temple complex.

Temple Prostitution

Ezekiel 8:6 “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary?” Apostasy was so depraved that temple prostitutes lived in quarters adjoining the Temple at Jerusalem where they wove hangings for the Asherah poles. (2 Ki 23:7)

Asherah Poles

Judges 3: 7 “So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs”. In less than 100 years after the golden calf apostasy, Israel forgot God and served Baals and Asherahs.

Asherah was a female counterpart of Baal, and her worship was especially attractive to the Israelites. One of the cult images of Asherah was carved wooden poles or tree trunks called the groves or Asherah poles. These poles represented living trees, with which the goddess Asherah is associated. Her cult image was set up and worshiped in Jerusalem (1 Ki 15:13), as well as in Samaria ((1 Ki 16:33). Under King Manasseh her image stood in the temple of Jerusalem itself (2 Ki 21:3,7) and prophets were installed to serve her (1 Ki 18:19).

King Josiah destroyed all cult images, vessels and idols during his reign. 2 Kings 23: 14 And he [Josiah] broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.

Baal Worship

Baal worship seemed to have a great attraction for the Israelites. They repeatedly turned to it from the time they entered Canaan until they were carried into exile. The first time Baal worship is mentioned shortly after Moses’ death, when the Israelites bowed down to ‘gods’ including Baal (Num 22:41). Baal was worshiped frequently during the time of the judges (Jgs 2:13;6:28-32) and frequently during the period of kings of Judah and Israel. Baal worship was made the only legitimate religion during the time of King Ahab. Elijah’s fight against this cult on Mount Carmel is well known (1 Ki 16:31,32;18:17-40).

The Old Testament testifies that Baal worship was accompanied by the burning of children in the fire (Jer 19:5)

Sin as Sodom

Isaiah 3:8,9 For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen,…...they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it…”

The men of Sodom were open sinners and people took delight in their reputation for evil. This class of sinners were in open rebellion against God, and made no attempt to hide the fact. There was an open display of wickedness and sin, an utter shamelessness in the doing of wrong. The cities of Israel were now like Sodom in their rebellion and were ripe for destruction.

God gave the children of Israel over 800 years from the time they came out of Egypt to Babylonian captivity to repent from their sins and change their hearts. Their sins started with small compromises till they openly rebelled against God. God brought grace to his people through judgment.

Two Evils

Q. How did God summarize Israel’s apostasy? What can we learn from it?

Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

The two evils can be defined as:

Rejection of the real, and

The adoption of the unreal

Israel rejected the ‘living waters’. God through the OT used the powerful imagery to describe his grace as waters in a barren land. He alone can purify, refresh and invigorate the soul. Jesus reiterates the same when he offered ‘everlasting water’ to the Samaritan woman and said, “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” John 4:14.

The same call is repeated for us in Revelation 22: 17 ““Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely”.

Compare this with what Israel chose– water from broken cisterns. Cisterns were pits dug to collect flowing rainwater through drains. The water in cisterns were stagnant and not fresh. These cisterns were plastered to keep the water from seeping away. Thus, broken cisterns were symbol of stagnant water that was leaking away.

Israel’s apostate history teaches us that the right choice is the ‘everlasting water’ that Jesus offers us free of cost. Why shouldn't we choose it?

The Babylonian Threat

Q. How did God bring judgment on Judah?

Jeremiah 27:6 “And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant..” From a human perspective we see little and understand little. But God is in control of nations, kingdoms, powers and leaders.

The geo-political situation during the time of Jeremiah was intense. As discussed previously, Babylon was ready to take center stage in world dominance. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt (then a superpower) in the battle of Carcemish in 605 B.C. On his way back he accepted Jerusalem’s surrender and took hostages including Daniel and his friends. Babylon made Judah a vassal state (subordinate state) and appointed various kings. But these kings would rebel before being disposed and another appointed. In 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar had enough rebellion and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and deported the majority population to Babylon. That was the end of Judah’s existence as a kingdom. Thereafter it changed hands from one foreign power to another.

God used Nebuchadnezzar to bring judgment on Judah and Jerusalem. The purpose of this judgment was to confront the children of Israel with the reality of the path of death they had chosen. But God’s judgment accompanied grace. More than a century before the Babylonian captivity God appointed Cyrus to restore back God’s people (Is 45:1), he allowed to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple and the ultimate point of grace when he sent his son Jesus to plead with them to repentance. 

The Temple of the Lord

Q. How can we avoid the blind spots in our own lives that keep us from seeing our own spiritual reality?

Jeremiah 7:4 “Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’”

This phrase repeated three times, expressed the pride that the people felt in the greatness of the religious institution represented by the Temple. It was like a superstitious attachment.

Solomon’s temple had no equal in grandeur. It was the pride of all Israel. But impressive buildings cannot substitute for a genuine heart of devotion. Rituals and ceremonies cannot atone for sin.

Our church has been blessed with wonderful truths such as the Sabbath, end time prophecies, health messages etc. But we must make sure that we don't fall into a similar deception of believing our unique calling itself is enough to save us.