TICKLING THEIR EARS
Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
Judah and Benjamin had turned to idol worship like the Northern Kingdom and all the other countries that hated them and they hated. God had sent Jeremiah to tell them that because of their turning from the Lord the Lord was going to bring an army to conquer them and send them into exile. But instead of repenting of their idol worship and returning to the Lord, they only hated the message and hardened their hearts even more against the Lord. In turn the prophets of their idol worship told the people that Jeremiah was wrong, and instead of war there would be peace, peace, peace. God in turn said that they were foolish and senseless people, who had eyes but did not see, and who had ears but did not hear. Then he added and my people love it this way with the closing statement of but what will you do in the end? The answer would be they would weep bitter tears, be taken into captivity and die. What a sad end to a people that God had chosen to reveal himself to the world. They had the opportunity to serve and glorify Almighty God, and they instead turned from him to worship idols so they could be like other helplessly lost people. They went from a people who were greatly blessed to a people that would be cursed.
II Timothy 4:3,4 says, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Well, as you can see from Paul’s writing to Timothy things hadn’t changed much from the days of Jeremiah. And things haven’t changed much since the days of Paul and Timothy. People are still gravating to people that will tell them what they want to hear. This can be a real challenge and temptation for teachers, pastors and evangelists. Do they compromise what they need to say to get a following they desire, or risk telling what God has given them to tell the people? Do they want the people to be happy and praise them with compliments, wealth, or risk rejection and loss of a job? Well, being called to a task by God like Jeremiah that was doomed for rejection and persecution isn’t easy for sure. And you don’t even have to be a teacher, pastor or evangelist to experience this. Just being a Christian qualifies a person for rejection, persecution, and even exclusion. Many Christians all over the world are persecuted every day simply because they believe and follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
In 1915 the country of Turkey began a program of genocide against Christians living in the Ottoman Empire. Before it was finally stopped 1 ½ million Christians were killed and many more deported. Today in the middle eastern countries Christianity is still greatly oppressed and recently we have seen Christians massacred by ISIS. Being a lover of Jesus is certainly not easy for many Christians even now all over the world. And why is this? It is not because they are bad people, but rather they are not willing to compromise to the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God that came to save the world, and there is no other way to God and heaven but by Jesus.
As we read the Book of Revelation we see that as the time gets closer to the return of Jesus, the persecution of Christians and the rejection of Jesus will only grow worse. Rev 12:11 says, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Rev 20:4b,c,d says, “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ISIS certainly go the attention of the world and God by beheading Christians several months back. Rev 7:14b says, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” So as you can see right up to the return of Jesus Christians will be persecuted and killed, but take heart we will have believe correctly and will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven.
So why does it have to be this way? Rev 9:20,21 says, “The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood - idols that can not see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. So I guess the easy answer is they don’t want to stop any more than the Hebrews of Jeremiah’s day. They wanted to do these things! None of these things are impossible to stop doing. It is as it always has been, and that is we sin because we want to do it! And because we want to do it we do not want to be around anyone that is telling us different. We want to be around people that agree with us regarding our sin. We want to hear words that encourage us to even do more. We want our ears to be tickled and not to have our toes stepped on. Sin will only continue to get worse, because it will be more politically correct and acceptable by the world and even the church. Even today the church is accepting and promoting same sex couples and their marriages.
The big thing today is allowing transexuals the freedom to use restrooms of the opposite sex. What does this say for not only morality, but decency and respect for private matters such as relieving oneself. It is no wonder that the Lord will have had enough and ultimately destroy the earth and send those rebellious sinful people into the pit of hell.
People will always find excuses for sin, and people that will help them justify it. The question is, “Do you really expect God to wink at what is an abomination to him? I don’t think so! In fact I know he will not. So it doesn’t matter what the world may say or think. Hell will still be full of people that have spit in the face of Jesus, and Lord Lovers and Upper Roomers as Arlie Neaville calls us will just have to stay true to Jesus no matter what the world may say or do!
Prayer: Lord, please help us to stay strong in you and not compromising to the ways of the world no matter how much they or even the church may justify their sinfulness. Please help us to live a life that only glorifies you. We ask this in Jesus holy name.
