Has Truth “Perished” From Our Generation?
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesNot long before the southern Kingdom of Judah was delivered into Babylonian captivity under the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah the prophet reminded the people that they were to obey God who had delivered them from the oppressor in former days so that all would be well with them.
However, we read that like their ancestry, “they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their own evil hearts, and went backwards and not forward.” (Jeremiah 7:21-24).
Because of their exceeding disobedience to the Lord and to the words of His messengers, they were rejected by God and thus sent into seventy years of Babylonian exile (Jeremiah 25:10-14).
As a result of their disobedience, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to inform them that “truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth” (Jeremiah 7:28). They had become a “generation of His wrath” (Jeremiah 7:29). Why?
Consider the following suggestions later given by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 13:10 as to why truth had perished from among them:
Refusing To Hear The Word Of The Lord
Man is obligated to hear the word of the Lord if he hopes to be saved from God’s wrath (Deuteronomy 32:1; Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 22:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).
The Hebrew writer indicates that “without faith it is impossible to please him [God]” (Hebrews 11:6); yet Paul informs us that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). God speaks to men today through the inspired Scriptures (1 Corinthians 2:6-10; 1 Corinthians 14:37; Gal. 1:8-12; Ephesians 3:3; 2 Timothy 3:16).
Let us always be ready to “hear the word of the LORD” (Jeremiah 22:29) and be careful to make it a part of our daily lives (Acts 17:11).
Hardening Of The Heart Against The Will Of The Lord
When a doctor diagnoses a patient with hardening of the arteries, that patient becomes very concerned and seeks further medical attention. However, many have a spiritual infirmity known as a “hardening of the heart” (2 Chronicles 36:14-16; Hebrews 3:12-15). Unfortunately, people are not as concerned with the spiritual “hardening” of their heart as they are with the physical hardening of their heart.
There are three basic areas where members of the Lord’s church must never grow spiritually calloused or “hardened”: (1) Evangelism (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16); (2) Edification (Hebrews 10:25; cf. 1 Corinthians 14:26; 2 Corinthians 12:19; Ephesians 4:12); (3) Benevolence (Proverbs 3:27; Gal. 6:9-10).
Worshiping And Serving The Creature More Than The Creator
Israel forgot the good law which Moses delivered to them so long ago (Jeremiah 2:26-32; Hosea 4:6; Hosea 8:11,14) and disregarded the powerful words of Isaiah in Isaiah 44:6-19. As the wooden images that they had fashioned into “idols” were nothing more than mere wood and not “gods” at all, we too must be careful not to fashion for ourselves “gods” out of material things, i.e. food, family, fun, finances, friends, or feelings.
These things, like the pieces of wood in Jeremiah’s day, are not in and of themselves bad but if we allow them to take preeminence in our lives, we will today become even as they were then!
Conclusion:
Brethren, has truth “perished” from our generation as in the generation that Jeremiah wrote about?
Thankfully not yet, but we must do everything possible to prevent God’s truth from “perishing.” We can only accomplish this goal by (1) “hearing the word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 22:29) and then (2) acting upon it (James 1:18-25).