“For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, even you yourself will be captured; and Chemosh will go off into exile together with his priests and princes.” -Jer. 48.7
The Moabites were a people who lived in what we now know as Jordan, mostly making their abode along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Their kingdom was often in conflict with Israel, and the God of Israel had a long-standing controversy with them. The prophets testify to this controversy.
Moab, as it is addressed in the prophets, presents the picture of a people poisoned by the spirit of pride, independence, and arrogance. This oracle from the prophet Jeremiah gives them an undesirable promise, that because of their pride and self-sufficiency, they will be captured and even their priests and princes, along with their god Chemosh, will go off into exile. This is to say that even their most ‘divine’ authorities and royal potentates would be of no aid to them in the day of the Lord’s judgment.
One of the characteristics that marks Moab is that as a people, she has been casual and laid back to the point of neglecting the truth of her condition, and the reality of God Himself. Listen to this description the Lord gives of Moab:
“Moab has been at ease since his youth; he has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs, and he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, and his aroma has not changed.” (v. 11)
We may have commended Moab for its uniqueness and self-expression, for maintaining its distinctive cultural and religious qualities in the midst of changing times. But the Lord saw Moab as arrogant, non-pliable, and resistant toward Him. He saw them as vessels that had “not been emptied,” and though their “aroma has not changed,” the prophet indicates that the Lord is not pleased with the spiritual “smell” that Moab gives off. Hear the words of J.A. Thompson on this:
Moab is here compared with wine which has been allowed to settle down with its dregs and sediment to age and mature and improve its flavor. It had settled quietly on its lees and had never been disturbed by being poured from vessel to vessel. The picture is one of complacency. But this would soon change.
(J.A. Thompson, The Book of Jeremiah: NICOT; Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI: 1980, p. 705)
The Lord would not continue to endure the presence of Moab’s complacency, and the trust in her own achievements that she feverishly held onto would soon be toppled by the work of His hand.
“‘Therefore behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.'” (v. 12)
Can it be said that much of the Church is living on Moabite grounds? Trusting in our own achievements, proud and self-sufficient, vessels that have yet to be tipped over and emptied of the wine of this age?
What aroma are we releasing into the atmosphere? Forget the way you look in ministry or at some religious meeting. What about the aroma you release in your home… in the work place… in your neighborhood… at the grocery store, etc.? Are we filling the air with our religious opinions? Are we lacking a true expression of the love of God? Are we grumpy and crotchety when the sanctuary lights aren’t shining on us? Are we loose on sin, flatterers of men, or timid weaklings? Are we swept up by the same waves of entertainment, media, and fashion that move and jerk the undiscerning hearts of those who are walking in darkness?
How much of our upbringing and culture that is not of the flavor and aroma of God’s kingdom still lingers in our lives, and what excuses have we secretly made to permit that kind of a mixture? How often are we quenching the Spirit of God and going into modes of speech and conduct that are in keeping with attitudes which our culture may have always accepted and sanctioned, but that the Lord is not in harmony with?
“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” -2 Cor. 2.15
Are we functioning as vessels that have not been emptied, that are still filled with the wine of this age? Are we willing daily to be tipped over, emptied entirely, and filled with the Spirit of God Himself? I am convinced that the Church is in a mostly ‘Moabite’ condition, and before the final day comes when the rebellious ‘jars’ are tipped over and shattered, we need to tip over our vessels without reservation, that God may fill us with His own love and purity.
The Lord will only fill those vessels which have been tipped over willingly. The ones that remain upright, recalcitrant and resistant toward His heart and call, will in the last day be tipped against their wills, and shattered by His hand.
We need to be tipped and emptied of the wine of this age, that we may taste of the powers of the age to come. Having been filled with the Spirit of life, we will live and speak as vessels that have been fit to set forth the Son of God to Israel and the nations.
“Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord.” -Is. 52.11b
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Revelation of John 18:4
Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
So many places, referring to the end of time, telling us that we are to come out of the ways of the world; out of the same place Jeremiah told the Moabites were in. Yeshua told us that He would come as a “thief in the night.” The parable of the “Ten Virgins” shows us that 5 out of the 10 virgins, the “called out ones,” were cast into outer darkness, with no chance of repentance. The Lukewarmness of the Laodiceans (people who thought they were saved-the hardest, impossible, ones to reach) would cause Jesus to “spit them out of His mouth,” unless they repented. The assemblies of people, in America, who call themselves Christians, “called out ones,” will perish with their god, Chemosh & Molech, because of all the delicacies, entertainments, idols, prosperity and sexual impurities.
My heart is sad and burdened for the great numbers of “churches” in America that are stuck in various forms of idolatries and the “emergent relevancy” they feel they need in order to reach a modern day society with more complexity in their thinking. It’s as if the churches are saying God has changed and is saying that prayer, self-sacrifice, more prayer, fasting, the ministry of the Holy Ghost, did I mention prayer?… is no longer relevant. In a way it’s true… for them. They will reach a people and many of them; for, today’s society has been watered down. The “spiritual DNA” is weak. The church has created its own problem. Now, in order to reach people, we need programs, events, entertainment, door prizes and raffles just to get people to listen to more watered down , ear-tickling messages. My heart is soooo sad and burdened. All I can do is pray and appeal to all those God opens the door to.
People are amassing to themselves Preachers and Teachers with words tickling their ears. their vessels are being filled weekly, daily with the wine of the “wrath of God.” Teachings of “self-esteem,” “self-taught,” and all the “self-accomplishments” with the “Positive thinking” is polluting and confusing the minds of people. We can’t run and hide from the trials that come into our lives. We learn from experience, discipline and, at times, chastising. But many run from this kind of teaching. There must be a crushing in our lives in order for the “aroma” can come out. Spices, when rubbed, gives off their aroma. The blowing of God’s “north wind” of judgment and destruction comes upon the spices and causes new growth and aroma. Where’s the aroma of Christianity? Lost in the type of teaching and modern day philosophy in “christian” gatherings.
That Word of God’s to Jeriamiah regarding Moab was for them, of course, but is a picture for today’s “gathering,” including America; for, it once was a nation founded on the principles of the Kingdom.
But I ask a question: Yeshua will present to Himself a Church without spot, blemish or wrinkle. Is the “True Church” in this state, not having reached the numbers of those who will enter into it? And, are those calling themselves the church, really the “Tares,” that have grown within the gathering, but never being “the Church” as Messiah Jesus calls it. The Church is alive, thriving and marching hard in these times. We just don’t have all those who will be saved, on fire and marching hard with us yet. So, when we say, the “Church is sick,” it is not the “True Church of the Wheat,” it’s the “Church of the Tares.” this is not to say we don’t make mistakes, we are just not the “Tares” that have grown within our gathering? Father Yahweh is very jealous about His Church. When we say something about His Church in a negative way we may need to preface it with, “the Church of the Tares.”
Just a thought, to go along with this topic; my “ramble” for the day. “O Father, whatever it takes, cause this Nation to come back to you, but I understand that if you don’t judge America, You will have to apologize to Sodom and Gemmorah. But Father, in Your Wrath, remember Mercy.” Where sin abounds, grace (unmerited favor with the power not to sin) even more.
John,
Thanks for your statement. Let me first say that much of what you’ve written resonates with my heart. That being said, I want to reply with a bit of a concern to part of what you’ve written.
Regarding your words here quoted:
I would not say that the fact of the Church’s moral and spiritual sickness automatically reveals that the “sick” portion of the Body is the “Church of the Tares” across the board. I believe that such a statement would run against the grain of Paul’s view of the churches in their immaturity. I certainly believe there are ‘tares’ amongst the ‘wheat’ in the Church of America, but there are many ‘sick’ saints who are simply in need of encouragement, correction, or teaching, and who Paul would perhaps have rebuked or exhorted, without writing them off as ‘tares.’
Paul wrote to “His Church in a negative way”- in other words, with occasional statements of judgment and correction- without considering them “tares.” In fact, in the first chapter of 1 Cor., arguably the most corrective epistle, he calls the members of the Corinthian church “saints,” “holy ones.” This is far from labeling them tares.
There are many attending Christian meetings who have never been born from above, but there are also many saints who are simply in need of a greater revelation of the love of God, or in need of an increase in the fear of the Lord, or in need of greater Scriptural foundations. We all need our “jars” to be tipped over and emptied out, that the Lord might raise us back up in His own way, and fill us continually with new life.
There are “weak ones”, according to Paul, and it is up to the Body to pray for one another, and to speak the truth in love, that we might all come into the fullness of Christ together. Just as Israel can be so sick historically, and have the Lord calling Her back to Himself so faithfully, so can members of the Church be sick spiritually, and in need of a return to His heart. I agree that there are tares in our midst as well, and they need to hear the true word of repentance and mercy themselves. But to label all “sick” saints as tares is, I believe, a distortion of the apostolic example.
Grace to You,
BP
Thanks Bryan,
I agree with you, wholeheartedly. There are definite states of immaturity that would not include them as the “Church of the Tares.” I was reading II Peter today and found a marked difference in the two; that is, church of the Wheat vs. Tares. I have been riding on a “revelation curve” for a while and am trying to understand just what the Lord has for me to know. It would take a long time to expound on all the layers that interconnect to a main point of where we are at today as a church, what has happened over the past few decades and what God’s call is for His people. I know that there is great trouble in the church and to sort out the wheat from the tares is best left to God or we shall uproot the wheat while we are at it. However, I will, at times, attribute certain characteristics occurring in the church to the Tares, when it is a maturity problem and correction “in the Spirit” will be the balm and the growth needed.
I will write more on another occassion when my brain can aid my spirit. I am very tired. Thanks though for you concern and correct assertions about what I wrote.
The article states, “Are we functioning as vessels that have not been emptied, that are still filled with the wine of this age? “, then exhorts to move into love and purity. Where the statement quoted is the case it becomes essential to life to appeal to the Father in prayer to discipline us as the referenced article church for his children to come into His love and purity. If we could have stirred to life, and discerned the differences and distinctions involved, we would have. We need the disiciple of the Father to do so, and find the differences having the aroma of the best of wines.
Being filled with the wine of any age–and many believe this is the last age, of lukewarm relativism–will not suffice to come to purity and a heart of love reflecting it. So, pour out on us the Spirit of repentance and supplication, our Lord!