Outwardly Religious
The prophet Jeremiah spent decades of his life sharing the Words of God to an outwardly religious Israel/Judah. The people to whom he was prophesying were a people that had been chosen of God. They were chosen as a promise to Abraham that through Him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed”. Jesus the Savior of all mankind would come through the lineage of Abraham. The descendants of Abraham, the Israelites/Hebrews were enslaved by the nation of Egypt. They originally came to that state as a family of 70 but grew under their bondage. God through Moses delivered the people and brought them to Mt. Sinai of Arabia. There they were told by God, “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God then brought them to the land of Canaan as He had promised Abraham. Before entering, Moses shared with them these words, “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.” Moses then shared with them the blessings God would bring upon them if they obeyed and he also shared the curses to come upon them if they disobeyed (Deuteronomy 27/28). Israel failed in following the commandments of God with all of their heart and soul. Thus, a disobedient, hard-hearted people set on destruction was the nation to whom Jeremiah would prophecy.
Jeremiah 6:10 – “…the Word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn: they take no pleasure in it.”
Israel, being the nation chosen to be blessed above all others, had a rich history of God’s deliverance and grace. They built a great temple in Jerusalem which God agreed to acknowledge with His presence. Nations knew of the might of the God of Israel. Israel had great and constant sacrifices to God. Yet, despite the display of their religiousness, most of the people had no love for what God had instructed them or recognition of what he had done for them. They were a nation of hypocrites and God was about to destroy them by the hand of the Chaldeans led by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah saw this. Jeremiah experienced this. His prophetic words called for their repentance, but the heart and soul devotion spoken of by Moses was not present with these people.
Hypocrites aren’t just a danger to themselves; they are a danger to others. Their outwardly religious hypocrisy influences others to discount the glory, power, and provision of God. God will not be mocked by pretend, superfluous religiosity. God knows what He wants; He knows what He has commanded. Due to blatant hypocrisy, many people walk away from or avoid religious bodies of people claiming to be God’s faithful. They see great displays of religion, but little substance regarding the teaching and keeping of the commandments of God. Studies show that young people recognize this hypocrisy and not being properly instructed in the scriptures or seeing hearts embracing the Word of God, they are walking away from “organized” religion in great numbers.
Acknowledging that the true worshippers of God are abundantly surrounded by hearts which truly have no pleasure in obeying God’s commandments, what is mankind to do? Walking away is not the answer. Business is full of hypocrisy, but people keep engaging in it so they can make money. Society is full of hypocrites, but people rarely leave and become hermits. Married life has hypocrites, but people keep on marrying. Heaven is going to be the only place where there will be no hypocrites, but if a person avoids obeying the commandments of God and being part of the Lord’s Church, they will spend their eternity in hell with the hypocrites they tried to avoid. So true worshippers, such as Jeremiah, continue on in the midst of the hypocrisy, following God’s commands and sharing His Word. They call for repentance, they call for devotion, they call for the obedience which God commanded. They do so knowing that many, even most, will not listen, will not turn, and will be destroyed. In the maelstrom, those truly seeking God, do not turn away from the truth or the love of it, despite the presence of hypocrisy. The devoted work to change it. Committed souls may have to dust off their feet from time to time, but they move on, not away from, and steadfastly cling to the Words and commandments of God.
God has chosen the Church which Jesus built (Matthew 16:18, Acts 2:47) as the home of the believer. He has provided a path that is a light to the feet of those who will follow, “for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.”. In seeking the path of God, do not be distracted by the weak and flailing hearts of others. Do not turn back when you see others falter or worse yet, relish in their disobedience to God while putting on a show of religious pomp. “…for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength…” Jeremiah trusted and obeyed God completely. His devotion was not a show, but it was a labor of love in the midst of an outwardly religious Israel whose hearts had gone cold. Inside and out, let us keep the fires of our heart burning in service and honor to our God.