When we Go after the Temporal

I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Poem Ozymandias

What will your gravestone say? What will your life reflect? Will it reflect a life as a humble servant of God? Or will it reflect that you laid up your treasure on earth?

You shall be like God

That is the original lie given to Adam and Eve in the garden. We pursue things, people, lifestyle, knowledge, acceptance that makes us comfortable, not holy.

God does not want us to be comfortable. He wants us to be dependent on him. Israel’s struggle with obedience is much like our own. This morning, let us not think that we are better than Israel, but learn from Israel and obey the Lord.

We are going to read through a portion of the Moses’ first message in the book of Deuteronomy. There is a common theme between all of these passages.

Deuteronomy 4:1–2 ““Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”

Deuteronomy 4:5–6 ““Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”

Deuteronomy 4:9–10 “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’”

Deuteronomy 4:14 “And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.”

Deuteronomy 4:15–19 ““Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.”

Deuteronomy 4:23–26 “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.”

Deuteronomy 4:27–32 “And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.”

Deuteronomy 5:1 “And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.”

Deuteronomy 5:32–33 ““Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.”

Deuteronomy 6:7–9 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Deuteronomy 6:10–15 ““So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.”

Deuteronomy 6:16–19 ““You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.”

Deuteronomy 6:24–25 “And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’”

Do you get the point? These are only a few of the many reminders for Israel not to lose sight of the Lord, what he has done, and what they are supposed to do. Israel is to observe, learn, obey, and teach. They are to live continually in a state of worship lest they become distracted by the temporal things of this world.

By the middle of the book of Joshua, we see that Israel has already forgotten. In the book of Judges, Israel is no longer following the Lord, but “do what is right in their own eyes.”

When Jeremiah begins this message to the remaining tribes of the nation of Israel. The northern Kingdom has already been dispersed and the southern Kingdom of Judah is getting ready to go into the Babylonian Captivity. This message by Jeremiah took place under he reign of Josiah. During Josiah’s reign, the forgotten book of the Law was rediscovered, the feasts and temple worship restored. Everything looked promising for the spiritual revival of Israel, but God had something else to say.

We will be going through chapter 2 of Jeremiah. We are not going to take the verses in order. This is Hebrew prose, meaning that there is a structure much like a story poem. It would be similar to the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem the “Song of Hiawatha”.

Israel focused on the temporal

Israel forgot their first love

Jeremiah 2:1–3 “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown. 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.’ ””

Israel pursued things that did not matter

Jeremiah 2:6–8 “Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and pits, Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no one dwelt?’ I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit.”

Israel forgot what was truly important

The people forgot what God did for them

Key leaders forgot (Priests, judges, rulers, and prophets)

Jeremiah was told that he would speak directly against them. Jeremiah 1:18 “For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city and an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land— Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land.”

Israel Rejected Reality

Israel pursued their selfish desires

Jeremiah 2:5 “Thus says the Lord: “What injustice have your fathers found in Me, That they have gone far from Me, Have followed idols, And have become idolaters?”

Jeremiah 2:8 “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit.”

The spiritual leaders left God and prophesied of Baal.

Israel followed gods that do not profit

Jeremiah 2:11 “Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit.”

Israel ascribing God’s attributes to idols that cannot save

Jeremiah 2:27–28 “Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble; For according to the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah.”

Israel Rejected chastening and chose blindness to the truth

Israel Rejected the chastening of the Lord

Jeremiah 2:30 ““In vain I have chastened your children; They received no correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion.”

Israel rejected God’s authority and accepted wickedness

By normalizing wickedness

Jeremiah 2:19–20 “Your own wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing That you have forsaken the Lord your God, And the fear of Me is not in you,” Says the Lord God of hosts. “For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.”

By denying that sin is sin and it bears consequences

Jeremiah 2:22–23 “For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord God. “How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; Know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,”

By denying that the role that God had created for them

Jeremiah 2:20–21 ““For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?”

Application

2 Timothy 3:1–9 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.”

Israel became lovers of the temporal and not of God.

Have you rejected who God is and turned him into a god of your design?

Do you have a form of godliness that allows for you to live any way that you choose?

Israel Denied the reality that the Lord is still in control

By not trusting in God, but rather in their allies.

Jeremiah 2:18 “And now why take the road to Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, To drink the waters of the River?”

Jeremiah 2:25 “Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘There is no hope. No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.’”

Jeremiah 2:37 “Indeed you will go forth from him With your hands on your head; For the Lord has rejected your trusted allies, And you will not prosper by them.”

Israel biggest ally at this time is Egypt. The very nation that would kill King Josiah because he was warry of being a vassal state of Egypt.

Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

Israel trusted in their own way. They did not seek after the Lord or trust in the Lord to direct their paths. They were too busy doing what was right in their own eyes.

God’s faithful Love

God remembers Israel’s sin

Jeremiah 2:11–13 “Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,” says the Lord. “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.”

God’s future plan for Israel

Jeremiah 29:4–14

A plan of Redemption and Restoration

A plan of Peace

A plan that far exceeds Israel’s deserved blessing

It is easy for us to see Israel and with arrogance think that we are better than Israel because we do not have a golden calf sitting outside of our house. Consider these questions.

Have you forgotten what God has done for you?

Have you been pursuing things that will not matter in eternity?

Have you been ascribing God’s attributes to yourself or to something in your life?

Where is your satisfaction, in eternal or in the temporal?

Are you comfortable in life and independent from the Lord? If so, what do you need to change?

Do you view yourself the master of your own destiny or rather a living sacrifice to the Lord?

Have you been rejecting biblical wisdom because it is too hard, too rigid, too uncomfortable, instead listening to people that affirm your desires?

Are you rejecting reality and substituting one of your own that supports your sinful desires?