Delusions

by: Michael Wilcock

After twenty years of Josiah’s thoroughgoing reforms, his son Jehoiakim inherited what in our times might be called a “Christian nation.” Judah was outwardly religious. Its dollar bills — if it had had them — would have declared “In God We Trust.”

But it was a hollow claim. In spite of all the efforts of both king and prophet, the hearts of the people were still not right. Jeremiah had long since accused them of not loving their God, and with the start of a new reign it quickly became obvious that they didn’t really understand him either. The temple in Jerusalem was a thriving operation, and as long as the people looked after that they assumed the Lord would look after them. But obeying him? They weren’t interested. They proudly went to church on Sunday, so to speak, but then happily centered their daily life around other “gods.” And unless they grasped what the temple was really about, and changed their lives accordingly, they stood to lose not only it but everything else as well.

We are surrounded by folk who labor under the same sort of delusion today, who assume that paying lip-service to God is enough. In this respect also the prophet’s mantle now falls on the Christian church. If we don’t dispel the fog and make the truth clear, who will?