The Land Mourneth

Jer 23:1 10-11
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

As I was reading this familiar passage in Jeremiah a portion of scripture jumped out at me as if I were reading it for the first time. 

Do you know what I mean? You read and study God’s word over and over and suddenly something clicks in your spirit. It’s been there all the time but now the Holy Spirit quickens it in your spirit.

For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth

Because of swearing. The Hebrew word here is 'alah {aw-law'} meaning to make an oath or a covenant. Because of making oaths, the whole earth laments. Because of making oaths, the pleasant places are dried up. And who’s fault is this? The prophet and the priest.

This entire chapter is addressed to the priests and prophets of Israel. It applies today to the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers of the church. They are all profane. God has seen their wickedness in His own house.

What is this wickedness of which God speaks?  What is it that has the land in mourning? It is the swearing of oaths, the making of pledges and vows by God’s people.

Math 5:34
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

Jesus said not to swear an oath. James repeats this warning almost verbatim in his letter

James 5:12
But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

The apostate church is built on pledges, vows, oaths and covenants. And God says it is wickedness!

Think about it. How many religious organizations can you name that don’t ask for support in the form of pledges or vows? Are there any?  Virtually every so called Christian television, radio ministry solicits funds from God’s people in the form of pledges, vows and oaths. And God says this is wickedness. When you commit a pledge to these ministries you become a spiritual adulterer.

You don’t like that do you? You think I’m wrong, don’t you? Well let me prove this to you by the word of God.

Phil 4:6
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
 
Who does God say to make your request to? Does He say let your request be made known to your television audience? Does He say let your request be made known to your listeners, or your readers, or your partners?

No! He says let your request be made known unto GOD!

When a preacher trusts in the pledged support of his congregation he becomes an adulterer before God.  He is showing that he doesn’t really believe God will supply what he needs for his vision so he leans to the arm of the flesh. He calls on people to meet that need. He has great confidence in the flesh and no faith at all in GOD.

And when you answer the call to become a partner in that mans vision you become a partner in his adultery. You stop looking to God to supply your need. You begin to think that your provision is based not on God’s goodness but upon your own performance. You must fulfill your vow so that God will bless you. You begin to believe that if you break your covenant with that man, God will stop providing for you. In this way, the man becomes your god, your source, your idol. This is adultery. It is bondage. It is sin. 

Jer 23;10
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.

Because of covenants and oaths, the pleasant places are dried up. The pasture land where God’s people are supposed to be fed has become dry and withered. They are places of drought rather than places of abundance.

Their course is evil. The direction or lifestyle of these prophets and priests is malignant and displeasing to God.

Their force is not right. The power or strength on which they depend is not right. It’s not of God. It is of the flesh.

Where is all this happening?

Jer 23:11
For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

Right there in the house of God!

Don’t close your eyes to this. It’s right there in front of you. From the local church pastor who initiates a pledge drive to support his building program all the way up to the biggest TV preachers who invite you to become a “covenant partner”. They have all become profane before God.

The leaders of today’s apostate church have no understanding of how to walk by faith. They do not know how to wait upon the Lord. They don’t understand that what God has ordained He will supply. 

No, they take up a vision of their own heart. They don’t wait to see if it’s from God. They won’t tarry to see if God will supply for that vision. No sir, they get a vision from their own heart and they want to run with it. They know how to get what they want from Gods people. They have hearts trained in covetous practices so they don’t have to wait. They seduce you into an adulterous covenant with them. They make you a partaker of their own sin.

Jer 23:14
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

They make no distinction between the holy and the profane. They see no difference between the saved and the unsaved. They tell anyone who will listen that if you’ll support this vision, if you’ll send in your pledge, you’ll be blessed of the Lord!

Jer 24:16
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

God says not to listen to their lies. They make you vain. That word is habal {haw-bal'}. It means they fill you with empty hope.  They cause you to become empty. The pleasant places are dried up.   

Jer 23:17
They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

Do you see it? The church is full of people who despise God, whose lips praise Him but whose hearts are far from Him. The church is full of those who walk not according to Gods will but according to the will of their own wicked hearts. They do their duty by attending church but the rest of the week they do whatever they want, never giving one thought to Gods will for their lives. God calls these people evildoers.

Because they depend on people to fulfill their pledges and covenants, the prophets and the priests strengthen the hand of evildoers. They tell everyone that God wants to bless them. They refuse to speak of sin, and God’s righteous judgment. No sir, that might offend someone. That might cause some to stop supporting the ministry. Better to tell them that they shall have peace. Better to tell them that no evil shall come upon them. Better to make them comfortable in their sin.

Jer 23:32
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

The prophets prophesy false dreams. They cause Gods people to err by their lies and their lightness. That word is pachazuwth {pakh-az-ooth'}. It means recklessness, extravagance, and frivolity. 

Isn’t that a perfect description of the leaders of today’s apostate church? Are they not reckless, extravagant and frivolous? Don’t they always put first the temporal things as evidence of God’s blessing and rarely mention the true riches of God.

1John 2: 15-17
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever

All that is in the world is passing away. All the houses, all the cars, all the money, all the high paying jobs and glamorous careers, all are passing away. Only those who do the will of God will survive. Now, tell me how important are those material things? How important is that new house? How important is that new car? These things are frivolous. They are temporary extravagances that mean nothing in the overall scheme of God’s plan for your life.     

……therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

Think of all the big ministries we have in America today. Think of all the so called mega-churches, all the organizations calling for revival, fighting the culture wars, calling upon Christians to take back America. Think of all this and tell me have any of these organizations profited the people.

Do we have peace in this country? Is evil decreasing? Is righteousness advancing? Is the true kingdom of God being proclaimed? Is there repentance in the land?  

Isn’t it time we repent of our adultery toward God? Isn’t it time we forsake our pledges, vows, and covenants toward the visions of apostate men and turn back in full obedience to God and His will. God will take care of our material needs and give us true riches only when we lay down our lives, take up our cross and obey Him.

In closing allow me to make one thing clear. I am in no way saying it is wrong to support God’s work upon the earth. I am not saying that ministers have no right to material support from their congregation. What I am saying is that it is wrong to tie that support to a pledge, vow, or covenant. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. If God puts it on your heart to support a particular work then do it. But do not enter in to a daily, weekly, or monthly pledge of support.

Any man that requires a pledge, vow, oath or covenant from you is surely operating by the arm of the flesh. I can promise you that the vision he is building is a vision of his own heart and not a vision from God.

In 2Cor 9 Paul writes that when he comes to Corinth, he will be collecting material goods (including money) for the support of the church in Macedonia.  The believers in Macedonia were suffering great persecution and material privation. This support from Corinth was a good work but Paul did not ask the people for a monthly pledge. He didn’t ask for the Corinthians to make a covenant with him for the ongoing support of the Macedonians. He said simply that every man should give according as he had purposed in his heart 

2Cor 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

This should be the model for Christian giving. If any work is of God, God will cause people to support it. If it is not from God, it doesn’t deserve our support. Let it fail. 

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Steve Lumbley 2005  www.apostasywatch.com
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