"This is what the Lord says: ‘For the many crimes of Judah, I will punish them. They rejected the teachings of the Lord and did not keep His commands; they followed the same gods as their ancestors had followed. So I will send a fire on Judah, and it will destroy the strong buildings of Jerusalem.’"
Judah and Israel were the Lord’s own people, His chosen. And yet they had refused to be obedient to Him. Where Amos had listed usually one crime against the neighbor’s of Judah and Israel, he know lists three:
• They rejected the teachings of the Lord
• They did not keep His commands
• They followed the same gods as their ancestors.
God’s punishment was that He was going to destroy the core of their country, the strong buildings in the capitol, Jerusalem.
Literally, they rejected the Torah, the part of the Bible which, at that time, they had. They rejected God’s Word. Now understand, they didn’t throw it out or stop using it. They continued in the traditions they had been trained. No, they simply stopped applying it to their lives; they stopped allowing God to change their hearts. So while their religious practices continued to honor God, their lives didn’t. And God saw the truth!
The Lord Jesus talked about this in Matthew 23:
"How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give to God one-tenth of everything you earn—even your mint, dill, and cumin. But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—justice, mercy, and being loyal. These are the things you should do, as well as those other things." (v. 23 NCV).
The Lord wants us to do all that He commands, not just what we pick and choose. The Jews had rejected the parts of the law they wanted; they believed that following the form would get their God’s approval. But the Lord wants our hearts as well as our lives. He wants us to not only follow Him with our actions, but with our desires and our thoughts.
"They followed the same gods as their ancestors."
Family culture and tradition is important. It’s what ties us to the past and can give meaning to the future. That being said, as Christians, we need to realize that we are culture-less. Our culture is scripture, the Word of God and living out the Lord’s will in our lives. If our family culture honors the Lord, then we should embrace it. However, if our family culture draws us away from the things of the Lord and pollutes our witness to the world, then we should summarily reject it.
In fact, as Christians, we need to be brutal in our evaluations of our lives everyday. It’s easy to get swept away in the tide of life, particularly when we are exposed to so much through the Internet, television and social media. We need to pray for discernment and a longing to be in the Lord’s presence. We need to begin to reject all that isn’t of the Lord and to cling to that which honors Him and brings Him glory. There is nothing on this earth of any value except what honors our Savior. Everything else is meaningless; we need to leave it and turn away. It doesn’t matter what meaning it may have in our lives. If that meaning comes between us and the Lord, we need to reject it . . . not Him!
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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