May His Word Speak This Day To This People.
The idolatry the people of God were guilty of thousands of years ago takes on a different form in this 21st century.(The Christ-Mass Lie)
Nevertheless, as God's people were guilty of idolatry then they're guilty of it today.
Jer 7:1-28 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. But go ye now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spoke to you, rising early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; Therefore will I do to this house, which is called by my name, in which ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, my anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices: But this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well to you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth from the land of Egypt to this day I have even sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words to them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call to them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say to them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth hath perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Deut. 7:1-11 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perrizites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give to his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take to thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art a holy people to the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people to himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bond-men, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations: And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
1 Kings 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made.
1 Kings 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had DEVISED OF HIS OWN HEART; and ordained a feast to the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
Devised - Which he appointed without any warrant from God. (Wesley)
WARRANT, n.
1. An act, instrument or obligation, by which one person authorizes another to do something which he has not otherwise a right to do; an act or instrument investing one with a right or authority, and thus securing him from loss or damage; a word of general application. (Webster)
3. Authority; power that authorizes or justifies any act. Those who preach the gospel have the warrant of Scripture. We have the warrant of natural right to do what the laws do not forbid; but civility and propriety may sometimes render things improper, which natural right warrants.
4. A commission that gives authority, or that justifies.
5. A voucher; that which attests or proves.
6. Right; legality.
Matt. 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.
Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. To make the command of Christ their rule. There is a law of faith, and we are said to be under the law to Christ; we are by baptism bound, and must obey. To observe what Christ has commanded. Due obedience to the commands of Christ requires a diligent observation; we are in danger of missing, if we take not good heed: and in all our obedience, we must have an eye to the command, and do what we do as unto the Lord. To observe all things, that he has commanded, without exception; all the moral duties, and all the instituted ordinances. Our obedience to the laws of Christ is not sincere, if it be not universal; we must stand complete in his whole will. To confine themselves to the commands of Christ, and as not to diminish from them, so NOT TO ADD to them. (Henry)
whatsoever I have commanded you; every thing that Christ has commanded, be it what it will, and nothing else; for Christ's ministers are not to teach for doctrines the commandments of men; or enjoin that on the churches, which is of their own, or other MEN'S DEVISING, and was NEVER ordered by Christ; (Gill)
Matt. 15:9 In vain they do worship me, etc. - By the traditions of the elders, not only the word of God was perverted, but his worship also was greatly corrupted. But the Jews were not the only people who have acted thus: whole Christian Churches, as well as sects and parties, have acted in the same way. Men must not mould the worship of God according to their fancy - it is not what they think will do - is proper, innocent, etc., but what God himself has prescribed, that he will acknowledge as his worship. However sincere a man may be in a worship of HIS OWN INVENTION, or of man’s commandment, yet it profits him nothing. Christ himself says it is in vain. To condemn such, may APPEAR to some illiberal; BUT whatever may be said in behalf of sincere heathens, and others who have not had the advantages of Divine Revelation, there is NO EXCUSE for the man who has the Bible before him. (Adam Clarke)
But in vain do they worship me,.... In the Hebrew text it is, "their fear towards me": which is rightly expressed here by "worship"; for the fear of God often intends the whole worship of God, both external and internal: here it only signifies external worship, which these men only attended to. They prayed in the synagogues, read, and, in their way, expounded the books of Moses, and the prophets, to the people, diligently observed the rituals of the ceremonial law, brought their offerings and sacrifices to the temple, and neglected nothing appertaining to the outward service of it; and yet it was all "in vain", and to no purpose; since the heart was wanting, no grace there, they acted from wrong principles, and with wrong views; their worship was merely outward, formal, and customary; and BESIDES, they ADDED doctrines and TRADITIONS of THEIR OWN INVENTING AND DEVISING. (Gill)
Many other such like things ye do, Mark 7:8. Note, SUPERSTITION is an endless thing. If one human INVENTION and INSTITUTION be admitted, though SEEMINGLY ever so INNOCENT, as this of washing hands, behold, a troop comes, a door is opened for many other such things. A special means to soundness in the faith is to turn away the ear from FABLES and the fancies of men. (Henry)
Tit 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish FABLES, and commandments of men that turn from the truth.
14 And may not listen to Jewish fables He now shews in what “sound faith” consists — when it is NOT CORRUPTED by any “FABLES.” But in guarding against the danger he prescribes this remedy — not to give ear to them; for God wishes us to be so attentive to his word, that there shall be no entrance for trifles. And, indeed,when the truth of God has once gained admission all that can be brought against it will be so tasteless, that it will not attract our minds. If, therefore, we wish to preserve the faith uncontaminated, let us learn carefully to restrain our senses, so that they may not give themselves up to strange contrivances; for, as soon as any person shall begin to listen to fables, he will lose the purity of faith.
ALL trivial INVENTIONS he calls “fables,” or, as we would say, “trifles;” for what he immediately adds, about “the commandments of men,” has the same meaning. And he calls those men enemies of the truth who , not satisfied with the pure doctrine of Christ, MIX up with them their own fooleries; for ALL that MEN OF THEMSELVES CONTRIVE ought to be accounted “fabulous.”
He attributes this vice chiefly to the Jews, because, under the presence of the divine law, they introduced superstitious ceremonies. The Gentiles, being aware that they had been wretchedly deceived during their whole life, more easily renounced their former course of life; while the Jews, having been educated in the true religion, OBSTINATELY DEFENDED the ceremonies to which they had been accustomed, and could not be convinced that the Law had been abrogated. In this manner they disturbed all churches, because, as soon as the gospel began to make its appearance anywhere, they did not cease to CORRUPT its purity by MIXING it with their leaven. Accordingly, Paul not only FORBIDS them, in general terms, to degenerate from sound doctrine, but points out, as with the finger, the present evil which needed to be remedied, that they may be on their guard against it. (J.C.)
There are a multitude of enemies to the Truth about the Christmas LIE, even as Nehemiah encountered when building for God according to the Truth of His Word.
Neh. 6:1 Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies...
But the prophet was steadfast in his answer, Neh. 6:4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.
The prophet answers again, Neh. 6:8 Neh 6:8 Then I sent to him, saying, "No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind." (ESV) And I send unto him, saying, `It hath not been according to these words that thou art saying, FOR FROM THINE OWN HEART THOU ART DEVISING THEM;(YLT)
The same Hebrew words are used by Nehemiah to describe their Lie as in 1 Kings 12:33 "So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had DEVISED OF HIS OWN HEART;..." to describe this Lie Jereboam instituted as a feast (festival) day for the people of God.
