The Pursuit of Power (4)
Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating the whole earth; the nations have drunk her wine, therefore the nations are going mad. Jeremiah 51:7 NASB
In the hand– Babylon was an instrument in the hand of YHWH for His purposes. The text tells us quite clearly that the power of Babylon was no accident, no serendipitous political occurrence. It was be-yad YHWH, “in the hand of YHWH.” He is the Master of history. Should we forget that, we will suffer the same stupor that accompanied the nations who drank Babylon’s wine.
Did you notice that God Himself provided the golden cup that intoxicated the nations? His purposes were served in the dulled consciousness and drunken actions of the nations. Their alcoholic addiction to power provided the necessary environment for God’s display of sovereignty. The nations did not fall simply because they were disobedient. They fell because God allowed them to pursue madness. He removed His protective shield. Without the Spirit’s restraint, men became what they desired. The yetzer ha’ra directed their actions. But that does not mean the consequences did not serve God’s purposes.
Jeremiah provides the proper response to this madness. “Wail for her; take balm for her pain; if perhaps she may be healed” (v. 8) for the Lord is about to bring vengeance (v. 6). “Do not be silenced by her iniquity” (v. 6). Suddenly, the distillery of the world’s intoxication is broken. The barrels have split. The wine is spilled. Disaster peers from the horizon. What must the righteous do? Anything but remain silent!
Cry out to the Lord. Take pity on those who are about to expire. Offer healing wherever needed. Do something about this madness! Plead on behalf of the inmates that God might yet spare them. Perhaps God will turn away His wrath. Perhaps. Declare the righteousness of YHWH in Zion. Purify yourselves. Prepare for His victory.
We need Jeremiah today. Why? We need Jeremiah because we live in Babylon, that great empire that refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Lord. Because we live in such a place, we are removed from the blessings of His land – our land. We are strangers in a strange place, but we are not abandoned. Babylon is in our hand too. We are here to manifest His righteousness in a world gone mad. We are here to restrain drunken behavior, to resist addictions to power, to clean up the vomit of those whose indulgence exceeds their capacity. Silence is tantamount to sinful endorsement. Failure to act is the equivalent of faithlessness.
Today you will certainly encounter someone who is drunk on the wine of this godless culture. Your first reaction may be one of revulsion and a desire to flee. But if you are to serve the purposes of the coming King, you must wail, plead, and heal. Today is the day. Tomorrow He comes.
Topical Index: be-yad YHWH, hand of God, leadership, power, Jeremiah 51:7
Rev. 18:3 identifies what the wine of Babylon is: “the wrath of her fornication”. What is fornication? The adultery of idolatry. Our Lover is the God of heaven, but when we trust anything else more than Him, we are cheating on our symbolic, symbiotic love relationship with Him.
The power of this planet is our trust in alternate systems of safety. We build little Babels – other ‘ways’ to bless ourselves – and, like Skip wrote yesterday, “other ways to approach God”; to appropriate His blessings without complying with His conditions. Unholiness is adultery, for in the places that He has not sanctified us into a holy place to “dwell among (in) us”, we are still married to our sins, and His presence would burn us as He annihilates sin with His presence. The only safe way we have to approach Him is to leave our sins behind us first, but all sin is installing some other source of power other than the power of aligning our power of choice with His will. When we trust in our alternate systems of safety, of community, of provision, of strength and of religion FIRST, and then try to ‘add’ God to the picture as one more insurance of safety and peace, we are cheating on the marriage.
Is. 30 gives the remedy to stand up to the godless power systems. “In returning and rest shall you be saved: in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength”. If we are to be the antidote to the poisonous intoxication of this world, we must sober up first ourselves and show the world what it looks like not to have to play the power games of its vain search for safety and peace without the Saviour and the Prince of Peace.
Powerful entry today Skip. True, I believe, but hard to hear. Because God begins to go deeper into the recesses of our lives where we have hidden resources that are not Him. Of course, they are not hidden to Him. Hebrews 4:13.
What does he do? He is committed to our salvation, he has promised to bring to maturity that which concerns us. He has promised to present us to the father with massive joy! He is committed to us. Amazing. That loyal love of God, I guess you call it hesed! Look at me, I’m learning…..
I guess you could say the woman at the well was “mad” because she had five husbands
(drug of choice? ) and the one she was living with wasn’t even her husband. What was she looking for? Jesus said, “the water that I will give you, will,
‘BECOME in you’ a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life “.
To certain degree I find Laurita’s comments difficult to take in, because it is powerful truth. Truth that wants to come in and ( mess with me!)!rearrange my existence. Actually turns out to be repentance. It’s not repentance if I return to the pigpen and continue to eat the husks. Just like The Truth that most likely changed the life of the woman at the well. God doesn’t do it FOR us, a teaching that has caused many people to fall or grow discouraged and walk away. He does it with us as we surrender !
It’s interesting to me how God allows us to continue to drink at other wells until they become dust in our throats. Oh how great the love of God is in giving us the freedom to choose. How many parents today continue to maneuver, manipulate and manage the lives of their children who struggle with other gods. God in essence releases us to choose, in fact in some ways, he sets up the choice before us. Didn’t somebody once say, “choose you this day whom you will serve?”.
Oh, Larry, its so difficult to let the children go and watch them walk straight through the gates of Babylon! You just touched my wound, too. But, if we don’t allow them their choices, it only drives them away from us and they HAVE to have us by them – keeping our mouths shut and our hands off – just like YHVH did with us when we grabbed our inheritance and ran.
One other point. Laurita said, “ The only safe way we have to approach him is to leave our sins behind us first …..”. But isn’t this the very place that we struggle? Leaving our sins behind us sounds simple, but Paul says, “ lay aside every weight and the sin that SO EASILY besets us…”. Isn’t this where a major struggle ensues, where we come face-to-face with our yetzer ha ra?
It’s difficult for me to lift others up consistently if I am crippled myself ….. thought that comes to mind for me is “physician, heal thyself!”.
Today has been placed in our hands!
“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Jn 20:21
His Spirit indwells us with the same resurrection power that was in Yeshua.
And that same Spirit “intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Rm 8:27
Like Yeshua, we pray to the Father at every turn. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful
and effective.” James 5:16. By faith we believe this; by faith we have seen this. And by faith
we DO this.
“The world and its desires will pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 Jn 2:17
This, too, we know by faith. We know everything by faith — including who we are:
“You did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.” Jn 15:16
And so, today, we go about our Father’s business.
I’ve been reading this blog for a while now. Skip, I deeply appreciate your mind and your heart! I also am encouraged by those who love YHVH and share their faith through their responses. I simply can’t understand people who long for the day of the Lord’s vengeance. I keep praying that we would come to our senses. I just can’t fathom the end of grace and the horror that time has run out. My heart aches and grieves over blinded minds. I don’t know how to restrain drunken behavior. People don’t like real Truth. My own children love Babylon. I do wail and plead. I do weep over our wretchedness. I know I too drink from Babylon’s cup and that really causes angst. I easily become overwhelmed and discouraged that I don’t seem to hear His Voice guiding me as to how I can practically be that source of light and salt. Your daily insights are inspiring me to keep looking for those opportunities to show concern and compassion. Thank you
Sometimes, we may all seem to have spiritual “Schizophrenia”, as some people like to wrongly use the term (more accurately, it should be [formerly, “Multiple Personality Disorder”, but now] “Dissociative Identity Disorder”, or, as the colloquial expression goes, “Split Personality“, or maybe even “Bipolar Disorder”).
Why say that?
Well, three weeks and a couple days ago, in Today’s Word, “Acting Unexpectedly”, it was, “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.” [Jer. 7:16].
And we all may say, “Yes and amein!“
Now today it is, “Today you will encounter someone who is drunk on the wine of this culture. Your first reaction may be one of revulsion and a desire to flee. But if you are to serve the purposes of the coming King, you must wail, plead, and heal.”
And we all may again say, “Yes and amein!”
But wait a minute! Are we to do one, or the other, or both? Don’t pray, pray, or don’t pray AND DO pray?
HOW to respond to the “Babylon” that we witness, experience, and by which we can be so emotionally impacted, AND serve the purposes of the coming King, can be so complicated and confusing…..to our NATURAL minds.
Reprove or don’t reprove or both? Preach the word in season and out of season or don’t cast your pearls before swine, or both? Which is it?
Well, Solomon said, “For everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven….”. [Ecc. 3:1-8]
So, shall we guess? Shall we just, undiscerningly, “go with the flow”, according to our religious culture, or otherwise? Shall we lean on our own intellect? Shall we just go with our “heart”? Shall we just do what “The Word” says, though it may be out of context or not His Word for that time or situation? Or shall we be flattering man-pleasers who just tickle the ears of our hearers?
We don’t need a religious “prophetic” spirit!
Nor do we need a romantic, religious, emotionalistc sentimentalism, do we?
What shall we do?
Well, we DO need to PRAY…..THAT’S for SURE!
But FIRST of all, NOT for Babylon!
We need to FIRST of all to pray for…..
“THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY”! [Rev. 19:10]
After all, THAT is the “testimony of Yeshua”! THAT is the “witness “ or the “evidence given”, the marturia (Greek) of the coming King!
And once having received the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, then we may do something of the excellent Biblical exhortations Skip is giving us:
“Cry out to the Lord. Take pity on those who are about to expire. Offer healing wherever needed. Do something about this madness! Plead on behalf of the inmates that God might yet spare them. Perhaps God will turn away his wrath. Perhaps. Delare the righteousness of YHVH in Zion. Purify yourselves. Prepare for His victory.”
Otherwise, all of our best intentions, human affections, and efforts will bear little fruit, at best!
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Ruach ha-Kodesh to those who ask Him!” [Luke11:13]
“But you will receive power when the Ruach ha-Kodesh has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and through all Judah, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (even in “Babylon”).“ [Act 1:8]
“‘You are my witnesses’– it is a declaration of Adonai– ‘and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me no God was formed, and there will be none after Me.“. [Isa. 43:10]
We must be engaged in the “Pursuit of Power”!!!
Yes, we must PLEAD…..FOR THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY…..then we will know HOW to pray and WHAT to DO!
Jerry and Lisa
I have the same questions and concerns and I think you explained the answer very similar to what I understand. We must not pray for Babylon or that born out of Babylon… wait is that not what we do when we pray for a better income to afford a little more from what is in the market.
Neither should we pray for those that have fallen prey. We need to pray that we are ready to redeem without judging when they repent. As we all know we cannot change an addict unless the addict wants to. And it is a long long long patient and tiring walk to help them overcome. And we may need to pray for that patience strength and humbleness so that we fall not into the same trap which starts by opening the door for temptation by telling others why their conduct is wrong. You then open your mind to listen to their justification and the word is sown… We need to offer that teaching of redemption and remain but the pillar in their life through which God can guide to redemption… For there is but one mediator the person revealing salvation through the spirit of holiness…
Isn’t it nice to know that the Bible doesn’t shy away from contradictions.
APPARENTLY, it doesn’t shy away from contradictions! But does it or doesn’t it? Are they really real or are they only imagined? Does Messiah intercede for those “readied (or fitted) [katartizo] for destruction” or only for those he has “prepared [proetoimazō] for glory”? But additionally, why is it “nice” for YOU to “know” that?
By the Messiahs own words, scripture can’t be broken. The contradictions are because we don’t understand, or are not seeking them out. God doesn’t contradict Himself. But, I’m not so sure it’s “nice” to know that, as much as it’s beneficial for the operation in the kingdom of God. Knowing things seems to be more of a burden than not knowing, but without it, intercession isn’t possible. Someone said, pick up your cross and follow me. I guess the question is whether we are willing to come to the knowledge of the truth and willingly take that burden as He who took that burden for us.
I’m not sure if you are saying that the “burden” of seeking the truth to sort out what seems to be contradictions in His word, but are not, is the same as taking up our cross, but I wouldn’t agree with that view. It can be a burden, of sorts, to work out apparent contradictions in our understanding, but that is not the suffering of taking up our cross. Taking up our cross, in my understanding, is suffering the opposition of others for obeying YHVH’s word to us, His instructions in righteousness, and enduring it patiently. It is going all the way in obedience no matter what the cost, no matter what the loss, and forgiving, doing good to, and praying for our enemies.
Sorry for the confusion, that’s not what I was saying. The 2 issues are separate things but that doesn’t mean they aren’t related insofar as our conduct in the Kingdom is concerned. As an example, you speak of contradictions (or at least seemingly contrary) in regards to Jeremiah being told not to pray for this people and our command to pray for others. (generally speaking) Just because the nation, or any nation, is at the point that God deems it appropriate to remove it, doesn’t mean that He refuses the offering of salvation to the individuals of that nation. Snatching out of the fire, so to speak. Look at our nation, has it come, or will it come to the point that it’s removal will be the only possible way to prevent further damage? Don’t know, that’s God’s decision to make but, even if it were the case it doesn’t mean that deliverance isn’t offered to the individual within the culture. To pray, or not to pray……..
Are you quite sure that “Scripture can’t be broken” means “no contradictions”? Or are you, perhaps, reading that text from a Western perspective? Take a look at Richard Nisbett’s book on The Geography of Thought.
So, Skip, are the “contradictions” of the Scriptures really real or only imagined, and if you claim they are really real, can you prove it by the Scriptures (and not just another man’s book)?
But if you’re not so inclined to answer that question, or why it is for you, as you say, “nice to know that the Bible doesn’t shy away from contradictions”, maybe you will consider this question:
Are you quite sure that if we “encounter someone who is drunk on the wine of this godless culture”, we “must wail, plead, and heal” if we are “to serve the purposes of the coming King”?
I would say that I don’t even know if Messiah Yeshua even ever did that when encountering the many people he encountered in such a condition. Consider, for one example, his response to “the rich young ruler” (Matt. 19) who was drunk on all the property he owned and was grieved when Messiah answered him as to how he could inherit eternal life, telling him to “go, sell what you own, and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven and then come, follow me”. There didn’t seem to be any “wailing, pleading, and healing” going on THERE!
First of all, it was the young man, the one who was “drunk on the wine” of his “godless culture” who initiated the encounter and not even Messiah, and when the young man didn’t hear what he wanted to hear and walked away with his head hanging down, Yeshua just let him be on his way and without any indication that there was any emotion or great intensity of effort put into trying to save, deliver, or heal the young man. No wailing. No pleading. No healing. Messiah just appeared to be relatively content with letting the young man make and suffer the consequences of his own choices. And so he also did with others, even Pilate who was drunk on the power of the godless culture of his day, in response to whose questions Messiah did not even utter a word. As well as Messiah’s dealing with Judas Iscariot, his disciple and betrayer, to whom he merely said, “What you’re about to do, do quickly!”.
It seems to me that Messiah only earnestly “ministered” to those, “vessels of mercy”, who were being “prepared [proetoimazō] for glory”, those who sought him for the truth, to learn righteousness, and for healing and salvation, and not “vessels of wrath”, who were being “designed for destruction”. [Rom. 9:22-23]
So, personally, having been one who has been weak or overly sensitive in conscience in the past, as well as one who has also, on many occasions been melodramatic and given to sentimentalism, as well as having been overly and religiously zealous in the past, I am concernedd and appeal to you to consider that such a statement, “But if you are to serve the purposes of the coming King, you must wail, plead, and heal” when you “encounter someone is drunk on the wine of this godless culture”, is a potentially false guilt-inducing statement for those who are weak or overly sensitive in conscience or prone to a religious and/or an excessively zealous spirit, and may even be coming from such. No one needs to be tied to the wrong “whipping post”! No me! Not you! Not any of us! He whom the son sets free is free in deed! His yoke is easy and his burden is light! I know that doesn’t mean there is NO yoke or burden, but compare to the yoke and burden of that of the adversary, whether from family, “church”, or the world at large, it is easy and it is light.
Even though such a statement may rightly stir up a few people to necessary and proper action and with a right spirit, it just may be a bit melodramatic and, therefore, may only produce an excessive religiously emotionalistic sentimentalism or ardor [and just for clarity and emphasis, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “melodramatic” is the characteristic of a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions, and “sentimentalism” is excessively having or arousing feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia, typically in an exaggerated and self-indulgent way.]
So, again I say, let us earnestly pray for the Spirit of Prophecy – His Spirit of Prophecy, to continue to reveal Himself, and to speak to and heal US, and also to lead and empower us so we may rightly know how we are to pray and what we are to do. Shalom.
What made the “good shepherd” good? Was it not because He left the 99 sheep and went to seek and save the lost one? Isn’t it all about perspective? We stumble over cracks in the sidewalk and exert ourselves to the extreme to climb our highest mountains yet the earth from space appears to be a polished ball. Aren’t all of us sinners equally lost in the eyes of heaven, and would not our Saviour have died for just one of the worst of us? Why should we see things any differently? I am as bad off as the worst: when they pass by I say “there go I in the eyes of God”. From my perspective I cannot afford to ‘look down’ on anybody!
I wouldn’t say that it is “all” it means, but it seems to be at least a part of it. Just going by what’s described in that section of scripture, those who were going to stone him were acting in opposition to the scriptures they claimed to uphold. As Peter (?) said, scripture is a congruent whole.
Shabatt Shalom, it would be work to respond…but it was a blessing to catch up with TW.
Today is the day. Tomorrow He comes.
Could you explain what you mean?
Also, what is your opinion of capital punishment?
Will this be the topic Labor Day weekend in Sarasota?
Oh my- I have been walking around telling people this Skip. We are in Babylon and in the “ church” the “pillow prophets” are a dime a dozen and in the world Ahab and Jezebel are running rampart. We still stone the prophets YHVH sends! In the words of a friend “ truth is lying dead in the streets and the head of the serpent is up”
Here’s another perspective on the seemingly contradiction of scripture in the Bible…there are degrees of sin (Jam. 1:15) but when sin is ‘full-grown’ then as Ps.11:3 says, “…what can the righteous do or what is the righteous One doing?” The children of Israel couldnot possess the Promised Land until the sin of the Amorites had reached its full measure (Gen. 15:16). Jesus in Luk.22:35-36 clearly indicates there is a time & season for everything and the disciples, while Jesus was with them, did not take purse, bag or sandals but nearer the time of his death, he tells them to take purse, bag and sell their cloak & buy a sword. We need the Spirit of Prophecy to know where we are in YHWH’s timeline so we have the wisdom to know what the Spirit is doing and align our will with His. What worked 200, 100, 50 or even 10 years ago may not be good enough when we have reached the full measure of our inequity. I always remember what Watchman Nee said about the Spirit of Judgement, “Error is not corrected by argument but by judgement…judgement manifests His mind”. Judgement is based on authority. As I look at our present cultural lawlessness, I see a love of power and a despising of authority. A good example of this is the media’s favour of Obama and his power compared to despising the authority of Trump as President.
Are we at the tippingpoint when the Spirit of Judgement on our culture is inevitable?
“The Church’s mission is not to accommodate her language to the existing language, to disguise herself so as to slip in unnoticed and blend in with the existing culture. Her mission is to confront the language of the existing culture with a language of her own.” Peter Leithart