What we understand is that Judah, in the time of King Josiah and the prophet Jeremiah, engaged in “casual harlotry” or idolatry (Jer. 3:9). This was during the great revival under Josiah’s leadership. Everything looked good on the outside (read about it in 2 Kings 22-23).
But when you read the story in 2 Chron. 34-35 you
might get an idea of how they took things lightly. Josiah made a covenant and “he made all who
were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand” (34:32). “Josiah removed all the abominations from all
the country … and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the LORD
their God” (34:33). For celebrating the
greatest Passover ever (35:18) Josiah “gave the people lambs and young
goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present”
(35:7); and “his leaders gave willingly to the people” more animals for
Passover offerings (35:8-9). The laws
concerning Passover were that each family provided their own lamb. It is quite possible that the people were
much more like spectators in worship than fully engaged in their love for the
LORD. Thus, the LORD would chide the
people in his call to repentance. “Judah
has not turned to me with her whole heart, but in pretense” (Jer. 3:10). What have we seen in Deut. 6:4-5? The unity of God demands the worship of the
entire person, all the heart, soul and strength. God did not get that in the revival of
Josiah. He got it from Josiah but not
the people.
We should also
review Solomon’s situation, because this “casual harlotry” in the southern
kingdom goes back to the great king. What
was he thinking? All I know is what the
LORD said in the record of 1 Kings.
·
Having built a house for Pharoah’s daughter (1
Ki. 7:8), which was finished after the temple (1 Ki. 6:37-38; 7:1,8), and
various other great buildings, the LORD came to Solomon a second time (1 Ki.
9:1-9). God put His stamp of approval on
the temple as the place where He would put His name. But he also warned Solomon that if he or his
sons did not follow Him then He would cut off Israel from the land and the
temple would be a disgrace (9:8).
·
Nevertheless, Solomon loved many foreign women,
from all the nations around Israel, nations that the LORD had forbidden
Israelites to intermingle through marriage (11:1-2). When Solomon became old, those wives turned
his heart after other gods (11:4-5). He
even built high places for their worship (11:7-8). He facilitated their idolatry. We are not told the extent to which Solomon
might have joined them in their religions.
But it was evil enough to allow the high places in the sight of the people
of Israel. Solomon lost any integrity
and political will to encourage and enforce true worship.
Wholehearted worship, the kind called for in
Deut. 6:5, demands total exclusivity. As
David put it, in his prayer of confession, “the sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart – these, O God, You will not despise”
(Ps. 51:17). Again, “broken” is defined
as “to break, break in or down, rend violently, wreck, crush, quench.” There cannot be a “casual” approach to
whole-hearted worship.
No comments:
Post a Comment