The Heaton File

Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion. Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. (Leviticus 18:20-24)

How A Nation Is Defiled

The Law of Moses was given to the Hebrews after God delivered them from Egypt. Moses received the law from the Finger of God as a covenant between the Lord and Israel to establish them as the greatest nation on earth. With more than six hundred laws, Israel would be blessed by God if it obeyed the law and punished if it refused to keep it. The history of Israel lasted for less than nine hundred years when the Babylonians entered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple of Solomon. God repeatedly warned the people not to become like the nations around them, but they could not resist. What brought the downfall of Israel was their desire to be like the people of the land, rather than righteous people of God.

To understand how Israel failed, one has but to look into the law given by God to find the reasons for the moral decay and final destruction. God warned the people about sexual immorality. Adultery was a sin, and accepting sexual immorality defiled the people and the land. Engaging in sex with someone outside of marriage was an abomination before the Lord God. Marriage was an institution in which a man and a woman were bound to one another for life. God created the law of marriage, established it, and demanded that it be kept. Israel refused. Fornication, adultery, and divorce became common in Israel.

Homosexuality was a sin because God created the man and woman as the sole proprietary institution of the sexual union. It is an abomination before God for same sex relations. The nations of the world (godless) accepted and made common homosexuality. They had their own LGBT-whatever list of abominations, including pedophilia, bestiality, and transvestitism. Israel was warned against accepting the perversions of the sexual union. Sexual immorality is the perversion, distortion, and falsification of the purpose of creation. There is no basic difference between a man being unfaithful to his wife with another woman than there is for a man to engage in sex with another man. God condemns them both.

Israel, as a nation of God, was destroyed because it became like the perverted world around them. God blessed them with His love and poured upon them all the divine blessings of a benevolent Father, but they desired the flesh more than the spirit. Israel became a godless nation. When any country accepts the agenda of a godless people, the nation becomes a godless nation. History shows time and again what happens to godless nations. Democracy is a wonderful institution of government, but the law of God is not a democracy. God has a will, and that will (His word) is established in Heaven. Man tries to change the law of God, but he only becomes a fool in the process. America is making a great fool of itself, walking in the footsteps of Israel.

The Law of Moses prescribed the death penalty for those who engaged in sexual immorality. While that law has been done away with and Christ has brought the law of grace into the world, the mind of God is clear about what He thinks of sexual immorality. Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, and sodomites will not inherit eternal life. Sexual immorality destroyed Israel, and it is destroying America. God will not long tolerate a nation that forgets Him and accepts the agenda of the godless world, engaging in the religion of Molech. A nation that forgets God profanes God.

Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (Hebrews 5:7-8)

What Jesus Learned

Moses begins the book of Genesis by declaring that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. As the creation story unfolds, the text describes the work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus in speaking the world into existence and creating man and woman. The apostle Paul wrote to the saints in Colosse that all things were created by Jesus and for Jesus. There is no doubt that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the incarnate divine nature that gave up being in the form of God to be made in the likeness of men. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit confirmed Jesus as being the Son of God. The miracles attested to the divine nature, showing His power over nature, time, disease, death, and the demon world. Jesus never failed in showing the world His divine power.

Trying to understand the nature of Jesus as divine and human is beyond the mind of human reasoning. Jesus was one hundred percent divine and one hundred percent human. Everything about Him was the image of the Creator, and yet He held to the natural man in the likeness of human flesh. The conception of Jesus was through divine power, but His birth was in the same manner as all men. As a little boy, the Son of God had to learn to walk, talk, feed himself, and know right from wrong. Luke writes that Jesus was subject to Joseph and Mary, growing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Jesus, God’s Son, had to learn things in life, and there was no greater lesson than when He faced the ultimate challenge of the cross. The Hebrew writer describes the anguish of heart Jesus felt as the burden of the cross fell heavy upon Him. On the night of His betrayal, Jesus shared a final meal with the twelve. That night, the Lord knew that Judas had made plans to betray Him. It grieved the heart of Jesus as He washed the feet of His betrayer, knowing what he was about to do would set in motion the final act of the divine plan to redeem mankind. After Judas left the group, Jesus took the eleven to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed fervently to His Father for relief.

During those final hours, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to His Father. The only one who could rescue Jesus was the Father. Only His Father could find another way to save mankind. Jesus begged His Father to take away the cup of wrath He was having to bear, but the Father refused because the salvation of man demanded the suffering of the Savior. God could save Jesus from death. The Father heard the anguished cries of His beloved Son. Sin had brought an eternal weight of debt that could only be satisfied with the death of the Son of God. Jesus learned the greatest lesson from the things that He suffered.

The Son of God learned obedience by the things which He suffered, so that the world could learn obedience by the things God commands. There is no understanding of the level of suffering endured by Jesus Christ that can justify anything a man can do. God’s grace is so immense that it is unfathomable to the human spirit to understand. The purpose of the suffering of Jesus was to bring the world to God. Sin separates God and man, and only through the blood of Jesus can mercy be found. The death of Jesus was the highest price. Rejecting the blood of Jesus is to refuse to see the love of Jesus, to learn through His incredible suffering, His love for all men. Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. The wrath of God is against all who do not obey Him. Why? Jesus suffered so that no man had to suffer. Rejecting this grace is trampling the Son of God underfoot as an unworthy thing. God will not endure those who do not honor what His Son learned by the things which He suffered.

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)

Giving Honor To Parents

Ancient history records that a certain city was besieged and, at length, was obliged to surrender. In the city, there were two brothers who had, in some way, obliged the conquering general; and, in consequence of this, received permission to leave the city before it was set on fire, taking with them as much of their property as each could carry about his person. Accordingly, the two generous youths appeared at the city gates, one of them carrying their father, and the other their mother.

Parental respect is one of the fundamental principles of society. God created the home to be a place of safety, love, knowledge, and respect, based on His divine laws. When a home follows the Lord’s guidelines, there will be peace and harmony. The laws of nature are in place to benefit all the needs of man. Each day the sun rises and sets, the rains wash the earth, oxygen is created to sustain life, the body is formed as a precise machine that can live for many years, and the stars and planets fill the void of space in an eternal movement of divine patterns. The home is a place to create happiness and joy. Husbands and wives love one another as God planned. Children are a blessing and a heritage from the Lord.

God created the home with a man and a woman. Anything beyond that design is a perversion of the divine pattern. Sexual immorality in any form denies the creative pattern established by God. Parental authority is also established by God. The Jews were taught in the Law of Moses to honor their parents. If a child were rebellious, they were to be stoned to death. Cursing a parent brought the death penalty. In the covenant of Christ, rebellion against parents is considered a sin. Children are taught to be respectful to parents. Parents who fail to teach their children about God show them a path of destruction. Disobedient children bring shame to the home and dishonor God.

The home is where children first learn about God. Knowledge comes from parents spending time learning about the word of God to share with the children. You cannot teach what you do not know. Fathers are given first place in teaching their children. They are not to provoke their children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Parents spending time with their children are nurturing a future not only in this world, but also in the world to come. The home should be the first place of knowledge. God should be the center of the home, and the Bible should be the altar where knowledge is gained.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Freedom Is Found In Christ

July 4 marks the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted (July 4, 1776) and the United States officially became its own nation. Tensions between the Colonies and Great Britain had been strained for more than ten years after legislation such as the Stamp Act in 1765 and the Tea Act of 1773 forced British subjects in America to pay higher taxes. This led to an outcry of “taxation without representation.” The Boston Massacre in 1770 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773 escalated the rift between Britain and the American colonists. In 1775, war broke out, and the American Revolutionary War began. A “Declaration of Independence” was drafted and adopted in 1776, and the battle for independence would continue for seven more years.

Freedom is at the core of the American soul. There is a national pride in the spirit of independence and rule through a democratic process. These principles have made America one of the greatest nations in history. Sadly, after nearly 250 years, many of those foundational teachings of the early fathers have been rejected by a carnal and immoral world. Primary to the freedoms of today is the rejection of the Bible, the word of God. A spirit of freedom has led the world to walk after its own desires and wisdom, and in the name of freedom, declare independence from the authority of God’s word. History repeats itself with every generation of those who believe that freedom can be found apart from the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Jesus addressed the Jews who believed Him to be the promised Messiah. The faith of these new believers would be tested by a world militant against the teachings of Christ. Freedom for the believers would only come from the word of God – truth! The knowledge of the truth as found in the word of God is where the heart can find true happiness, fulfillment, and hope. Jesus said only the truth of the Father can set a man free. To be a disciple of Christ, a man must abide in His word. Belief alone cannot save. Even the demons believe, and they tremble. Faith alone cannot save. Freedom comes from the knowledge of the world of God.

Those who believe in Jesus will find freedom in His word. For those who do not believe in Jesus, freedom cannot be found apart from the divine truth of God. Since the beginning of time, God has revealed truth to mankind to show the path to eternal life. There is only one way, one truth, and one life. Jesus Christ is the only Savior. There is only one Lord. Paul demonstrated in his letter to the Ephesians that there is only one faith, one church, and one baptism. Truth resides in the word of God, where the only freedom man can hope for is found. The word of God is not a document for a democratic process. Freedom in Christ comes from those who submit themselves to the autocratic rule of one King and one Lord. Ironically, freedom in Christ is not democratic – it is authoritarian. There is only one book that shows eternal life – the Bible.

Freedom is a wonderful feeling of liberty and independence. Living in America has afforded the gospel of Christ the freedom to spread the message of hope throughout the world. Enjoying the freedom to serve the Lord according to the truth has been a bastion of faith for the people of God. Those freedoms are slowly being eroded, and most likely, due to the nature of history, they will be taken away one day. There will come a day when the church of Christ will no longer be allowed to preach the teachings of King Jesus. Freedom will be lost in the world, but freedom in Christ will never be lost. The early saints who were martyred on the altars of their faith did not have the freedom to worship the truth. They died to be free in Christ. As we celebrate the spirit of freedom in our country, may our hearts resolve to celebrate the freedom in Christ no matter what the world does. We shall know the truth, and the truth will set us free.

If you should say in your heart, “These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?”— you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. (Deuteronomy 7:17-19)

You Shall Remember Well

At the end of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, Moses challenges the new generation of God’s people to remember the stories of their fathers before them and the great and awesome power of the Lord God, as demonstrated against the Egyptians. A new generation had arisen from the rebellious nation that tried the patience of God with their murmuring, stubbornness, and rebellion against His word. The Lord was prepared to give the promised land to Israel, but they were fearful of the giants in the land. They forgot all that God did to the Egyptians. As a penalty for their unbelief, they died in the wilderness.

On the eastern side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses declared the word of the Lord to the people as they prepared to enter Canaan and conquer the inhabitants of the land. Canaan was composed of many nations, including the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cities were strong and fortified, and the descendants of Anak still lived there. Unlike the spirit of rebellion when Israel sent spies into the land at Kadesh-Barnea, the new generation of the faithful were ready to fulfill the will of the Lord. To reassure the people, Moses reminds them of the great things God did in Egypt.

There is reason to be afraid of the nations in Canaan. The people could have worried about how they would be able to dispossess them. Moses tells them not to be fearful because of how the Lord destroyed Egypt forty years earlier. If God could destroy the greatest nation on earth, He could destroy the nations that stood before them in Canaan. All the plagues the Lord brought against Egypt demonstrated His power to do anything against any nation. There was no place for the enemies of God to hide. They did not need to be terrified of the Canaanite nations. The Lord God is a great and awesome God, and He was among them. There is no reason to fear anyone because the Lord God Himself fights for them.

During the forty years of wilderness wanderings, Israel fought against the Amalekites, Canaanites, people of Arad, the Amorites, and the people of Bashan and Midian. They only lost one battle because of their unbelief. During the conquest of Canaan, the Israelite army lost only one battle – at the city of Ai. This defeat came because of the sin of Achan. During the period of the Judges, more than fifteen battles took place, and God delivered Israel every time. King Saul fought seven major battles and lost only one. During the reign of David, at least eleven major battles took place, with Israel emerging victorious in every one. The battle belongs to the Lord!

The days of fighting carnal battles ended when Christ came into the world. God’s people fight the spiritual battles against every high thing that exalts itself against the will of the Lord. The promise of victory remains the same. God fights our battles, and when we trust in Him and allow His word to live in our lives, we can make Satan run away like a frightened animal. The power of the gospel destroys the wiles of the devil. Through the fruits of the Spirit, the works of the flesh are dominated. Adding the virtues of righteousness to faith increases the power against temptation. Remember well who fights for you when you are in covenant with the heavenly Father. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and His army marches to victory – always. Remember well.

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. (2 Kings 19:14)

Take It To The Lord In Prayer

During the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, the king of Assyria surrounded Jerusalem with an army of over 185,000 soldiers. Sennacherib the king sent his envoy, Rabshakeh, to discuss the terms of surrender with the leaders of the city. Rabshakeh argued there was no hope as the Assyrian army had destroyed all the nations before them. Egypt would not be able to save them. Isaiah the prophet had promised that God would deliver them, but the Assyrians had seen that Hezekiah had taken away all the idols of the land, commanding worship only in Jerusalem. The Assyrians had destroyed the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah, all of whom had trusted in their gods. Samaria had fallen to the Assyrians, and their gods were powerless to stop them.

The Assyrian army was the greatest fighting machine on earth, and it threatened to destroy Jerusalem. When the people looked beyond the walls of Jerusalem, all they could see was a vast army hungry to plunder and kill. They had heard of the destruction of the Assyrians in the cities surrounding them, and hope seemed dim. The heart of Hezekiah and the people was filled with despair and trouble at the sight of the Assyrians. There was no strength left in them. When Hezekiah heard the news, he went into the house of the Lord and sent word to Isaiah.

Isaiah assured Hezekiah the city would not fall to the Assyrians. The prophet tells the king that Sennacherib will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where he will be killed. Rabshakeh sends another letter to Hezekiah, warning him against not submitting to the Assyrians. When Hezekiah received the letter from Rabshakeh, he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed earnestly, seeking the favor of the Lord. Isaiah assures the king that no harm will come to Jerusalem. On a certain night, an angel of the Lord went out and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers. Sennacherib king of Assyria fled back to Nineveh and was killed by two of his sons when he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god.

Hezekiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel. The son of Ahaz was the greatest king since Solomon for his faith and trust in the will of the Lord. Hezekiah held fast to the Lord and did not depart from obeying the commandments of the Lord. His faith was tested when the Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem, but he took his problem to the Lord, and the Lord answered in a mighty way. The king trusted in Isaiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. Faced with a letter seeking the destruction of the city, Hezekiah took the letter to the house of God and spread it before the Lord. God delivered His people through His love, grace, and power.

Prayer is taking things to the Lord, small and great. Hezekiah had a prepared heart to do what he did as a natural outgrowth of his faith. When he received the troubling letter from Rabshakeh, he did not attempt to devise a strategy to defeat the Assyrians through his wisdom. He took it to the Lord in prayer. Spreading the letter before the Lord in the house of the Lord was how Hezekiah looked at his problem. God answered according to divine will. Prayer is understanding the need to take things to the Lord and let Him decide how to respond. There would come a day when an army surrounds Jerusalem, and there is no deliverance. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple of Solomon to the ground. Righteous men and women were praying and taking it to the Lord, but the will of God determined that the answer was captivity.

Hezekiah shows the lesson of trusting in the Lord. He believed God could deliver them and was assured by the prophet Isaiah. Not all the kings believed the prophets of God. Jeremiah was treated with contempt, but his words were true because they were the words of the Lord. Prayer is learning to take matters to the house of God and spreading forth the petitions and supplications to a merciful and righteous God. It must begin with trust. If there is no trust or faith, there is no prayer. Hezekiah had faith, and God answered his prayer. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7)

Reserved For Fire

In 1908, a massive explosion occurred in Siberia when a meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere, flattening over 800 square miles of Siberian forest near the Tunguska River. The explosion is attributed to a meteor air burst, the atmospheric explosion of a stony asteroid about 160–200 feet wide. It is thought that three people were killed in the blast. In 2015, June 30 was designated “International Asteroid Day” to commemorate the 1908 event, considered the largest impact event on Earth in recorded history. Scientists have studied meteors, asteroids, and comets, with a particular concern for the consequences of one or more of these objects hitting the Earth in modern times. Bill Nye said, “If the Earth gets hit by an asteroid, it’s game over. It’s control-alt-delete for civilization.” The good news is that Bill Nye is wrong. An asteroid will never hit the Earth and “delete” civilization.

Scientists postulate numerous theories about what would happen if certain events were to unfold. Is it possible there is an asteroid in space large enough to hit the Earth and kill everyone on the planet? Yes. There is no doubt the universe is filled with rocks so large that a strike on Earth would decimate every living thing on it. The possibility of such a thing happening is the real question, with a very real answer. Nothing is going to destroy the planet, including global warming. Humanity fears the power of the nuclear bomb and a nuclear winter, where everyone dies after a large-scale nuclear war. Twenty-five million people died from the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Plague, between 1347 and 1352, with its effects lasting another four hundred years. There are conditions where millions of people could die, but nothing is going to destroy the earth because God has reserved the fate of the world to His will.

God created the world by His word. The world is held together by the word of God. When the time comes for the earth to be destroyed, God has reserved that right to His will and His word. The sun rises and sets every day because God created the sun, moon, and stars. All of the oceans that cover the earth remain in place as He ordained. The human body functions in a remarkable manner, created by the hand of God. These are matters that remain unchangeable apart from the word of God. In the days of Noah, a global flood destroyed all life except the eight souls inside the ark. How could such a flood happen? God willed it. During the days of Joshua, the sun stood still, and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. How could the sun stay in the middle of the sky, and not set as on a normal day? God was in control.

The Earth will be struck by asteroids and meteors until the coming of the Lord, as that is part of nature. It would have been a greater travesty if the 1908 asteroid had impacted the Earth at a populated place. The death toll could be very high. There are more than eight billion people on Earth, and there is nothing that is going to destroy those eight billion souls except the will of the Lord who made the heavens and the earth. The heavens and the earth are preserved by the word of God that created them. That same word holds the heavens and earth together, reserved for fire until the day of judgment. No one knows when that day will be (not even Jesus Christ), but it is coming. The most important question to answer is whether you are ready to meet the Lord. Answer that question and you will find peace. The Lord is coming. What a day that will be. Prepare to meet your God.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance. (Psalm 33:10-12)

A Blessed Nation

In a secondary school textbook printed in 1868, the following statement was included in an Abridged History of the United States: “The government of the United States is acknowledged by the wise and good of other nations, to be the most free, impartial, and righteous government of the world; but all agree, that for such a government to be sustained many years, the principles of truth and righteousness, taught in the Holy Scriptures must be practiced. The rulers must govern in the fear of God, and the people conscientiously obey the laws.” (pp. 16-17). Those words will not be found in modern textbooks.

There was a time in the United States when the Bible was respected, revered, and read frequently enough that most people had a familiar knowledge of its contents. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, made it a practice for several years to read the Bible through in the course of one year. He would begin his day early by spending an hour contemplating scripture. Abraham Lincoln often quoted the Bible, calling it the greatest book and best fit God has given to man. Lincoln concluded that the Bible was the only way to know right from wrong. Woodrow Wilson, the 28^th president of the United States, said the Bible is the only book where a man can find himself in relation to the rest of the universe.

Every nation on earth has existed by the will of God. The Lord raises nations up, and He destroys them. History is filled with the ruins of great nations that yielded great power before being destroyed. When a nation turns its back to the word of God, it will die. For a government or nation to be sustained, the principles of the Bible must be taught and followed. The people must hunger for God’s word.

There was a time in America when most people knew scripture. Now, most people have little knowledge of what the Bible says. Truth and righteousness, right and wrong, can never be delegated by the whims of the people. Refusing to follow righteousness from the Bible is a death nil to a nation that forgets the Lord God. History bears witness to this reality. Most people cannot find simple teachings in the Bible. They have no idea what the Old and New Testaments are. Why? As the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Rejecting the knowledge of God is certain destruction for a nation. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when.”

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!'” Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 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.'” (Jeremiah 7:1-4)

Trusting In Lying Words

The Temple of Solomon was a beautiful edifice representing the dwelling place of God on earth. It was called the “House of the Lord,” the “House of My Glory,” “the Palace of the Lord God,” and the “Holy Mount.” It took seven and a half years to build, and after standing for more than three centuries, it was burned to the ground by the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar. Before destroying the “House of the Lord,” the Babylonians stripped it of everything of value that could be taken back to Babylon. A second temple was built eighty years later and stood until the time of Jesus, who prophesied its destruction. In 70 A.D., the Roman army razed the city of Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. I will never be built again.

Solomon built the temple according to the word of the Lord. Like Moses, who was commanded to construct the Tabernacle, Solomon followed a divine pattern and plan. After the temple was built in Jerusalem, the Tabernacle was dismantled and passed to the dustbin of history. Nothing remains of the Tabernacle, including the Ark of the Covenant. After the Temple of God was built in Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies until it was destroyed (probably) by the Babylonians. Nothing of the Tabernacle remains today.

During the final days of the nation of Israel, men like Jeremiah and Isaiah warned the people in the trust of a false hope that as long as the Temple stood, God would take care of them. What the people did not understand was that the Temple of the Lord was not the source of their power, but rather the word of the Lord. The remnant that remained from a once powerful nation trusted in lying words that said if the Temple stood, nothing could happen to them. Many years before, the southern tribes witnessed the annihilation of their northern brethren at the hands of the Assyrians. Prophets warned the remaining tribes to take heed to themselves, or the same fate would fall upon them. They did not listen. The people trusted in a false hope in a building that would be destroyed.

Jeremiah tried to bring the hearts of the people back to the Lord. God’s people had turned their hearts away from the Lord’s word. The lingering influence of Manasseh dominated the land with wickedness and idolatry. Josiah sought to bring reforms to the nation, but after his death, Jehoiakim ruled the land with the same evil his fathers had done. There would be no respite for the people. They trusted in seeing the Temple as their salvation, but their hearts followed after all the evil of their forefathers. The problem was that they believed God would save them because the Temple stood. Their lives were out of context with true worship.

Early in Israel’s history, the people of God went to war with the Philistines. Israel was soundly defeated by the Philistines, with four thousand troops being killed. The elders of Israel were frustrated by the loss and called for the ark of the covenant to be brought from Shiloh to save them from the hand of their enemy. They brought the ark into the camp with shouts so loud the earth shook. The Philistines were afraid when they heard that the ark had come into the Israelite camp. To the dismay and surprise of the Philistines, Israel was again defeated with a great slaughter of thirty thousand foot soldiers – and the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant. The people believed in lying words that if they had the ark with them, God would protect them. What they failed to remember is that victory comes from God when the hearts of the people are faithful.

The tabernacle was captured and Solomon’s temple destroyed because the people believed the only thing they had to do was to bring the ark into the camp or see the Temple standing in Jerusalem, and God would bless them. They trusted in lying words. Some people believe that as long as they sit in a church building a few times a year, God will bless them and save them. They have their name on the church roll. Their parents and grandparents were members of the church, and through spiritual DNA passed down from one generation to another, salvation is secured because they are card-carrying members of the church of Christ. As long as they go through the five acts of worship after they follow the five steps of salvation, Heaven is assured.

Trusting in lying words is believing in things that will not save. The tabernacle was a crucial component of the Law of Moses, and the temple served as a place of worship, as instructed by the Lord. God does not dwell in temples made with hands or church buildings with names on a sign. If the heart is not serving the Lord, it doesn’t matter what building they sit in. God commanded burnt offerings and sacrifice, but what He demanded was obedience. That has not changed. God commands many things, but He still demands obedience. Do not trust in the lying words that will not save. Trust and obey.

Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” (Mark 12:38-40)

Receiving A Greater Condemnation

The scribe had developed in the time of Jesus to be a man who was a teacher of the law, a man of letters, someone who read and interpreted the extensive and complicated Law of Moses. In modern times, they would be considered the lawyers of the day. When Moses wrote the Law, the priests served to teach the people the law, but after the captivity, scribes began to take a more influential role in teaching and interpreting the law. Ezra was a priest and a scribe who was an expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel.

Jesus was often challenged by the Jewish scribes of His day. The people recognized that the teaching of Jesus was with authority, unlike the teaching of the scribes. More often than not, the scribes joined themselves with the sect of the Pharisees to attack Jesus. It was the Jewish elders, chief priests, and scribes who would convince Pilate to crucify Jesus. The teaching of Jesus addressed the iniquity of the scribes, who, under the semblance of piety, would demand that the people treat them with great pomp and circumstance, the best seats in the synagogues and feasts; who took from the poor and disenfranchised for their own gain and indulgence. A scribe would offer a glowing and lengthy prayer to show the people his pious heart. Jesus knew the hypocrisy of their hearts.

As leaders of the people, the scribes would be judged more harshly than the people they oppressed. There were many reasons why Jesus said the scribes would receive a greater condemnation. Under the mask of religion, the scribes had created a religious order that elevated themselves above the people in a proud, arrogant, and haughty manner. They oppressed the people by taking advantage of their ignorance and would take property through deceit from widows. The Law of Moses protected the poor and widows, and what the scribes were doing was an outrage against the will of God. They would receive a greater condemnation because they were supposed to be leaders of the people to protect them, not abuse them.

God holds spiritual leaders to a higher standard because of their position of influence. James pointed out that those who teach the word of God will be judged more strictly. It is a grave responsibility to teach the gospel of Christ. Preachers should never take lightly their responsibility in preaching God’s whole counsel. Shepherds of the church will give an account for their leadership. They serve the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Abusing the position of power and influence will be met with the greater condemnation of the Lord God.