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.
