06/09/2023 - EQUALS WITH EQUALS

• 
• 
• 
• 

For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.  Jeremiah 11.13

One of the coincidences that occurred in the kingdom of Judah was the tie between the number of cities in that kingdom and the number of gods that came to be worshiped and served by the people descended from Abraham. The coincidence doesn’t stop there. They also matched the streets of the great king’s city and the altars erected to indecency. They burned incense to the false and non-existent god Baal, made up by someone at the behest of Satan.

Why did the children of Israel, brought out of the Egyptian captivity by the strong hand of the Lord, play the fool, when they should worship the true and only God? Well, demons are masters of lies and prefer to tempt those who are not well in their faith in the Lord. Since the Israelites only desired material things, such as prosperity, applause, and other things that come from people who are not sure of eternal life, they were deceived (1 Timothy 6.9,10).

The prophet Isaiah was used in various ways to speak out against the religious system adopted by Judah in those days. In one such denunciation, he clearly describes the deviation of his people and that of the northern kingdom: inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? (Isaiah 57.5). Failing to serve God leads people to aberrations!

The people who were supposed to evangelize the world with God’s best, becoming wise people and an example to the nations (Deuteronomy 4.6), now imitated the lost ones of that region. The prophet called the rebels’ attention: Among the smooth stones of the stream is your portion; they, they are your lot! Even to them you have poured a drink offering; you have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these? (Isaiah 57.6). A time of pain and shame!

Isaiah went on to show the foolishness of the people’s actions, who put their beds even on the tops of mountains to offer sacrifices: On a lofty and high mountain you have set your bed; even there you went up to offer sacrifice (Isaiah 57.7). Deviation from God’s Word causes decency to end and morals to go so low to the point of being disgusting. Imagine how the Lord would treat those who were meant to be good examples, but rebelled!

What happened in those days can happen again today. Those who, without the preparation of Heaven, call themselves ministers of God, will certainly fall for the devil’s trickery: “Also behind the doors and their posts you have set up your remembrance, for you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me, and have gone up to them; you have enlarged your bed and made a covenant with them; you have loved their bed, where you saw their nudity” (Isaiah 57.8). Prepare yourself in the Word and in prayer (Acts 6.4).

Never set out for the work without the help of those with experience. The lack of a biblical basis leads the hasty to fall victim to the devil (1 Timothy 3:6). Isaiah said that some go to hell (Isaiah 57.9). May this never happen to you, for the Lord has called you to get ready to go to Heaven!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares