The Loss of a Kingdom (Part B)

Christians are not to respect concocted gods.

Not to give an inch. It's the God of Enoch, the God of Abraham, the God of Peter and John and Paul, and there is no other. And we have to be very clear about this. Ecumenicism claims, ecumenicism and Christianity claim to be Christians and they do this very thing. They, oh everybody's God is fine. We can all pray together. We're going to pray together. We're all going to the same place.

The universality of God, you know, he's everybody's father. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of 2 Kings chapter 17 as he continues his message, The Loss of a Kingdom. This is a comment that he's not going to wipe out the planet again like that because of these, because of man. And he says, the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

Some youth have a little bit more evil than some of the others you've noticed, right? But this is sermon material to unbelievers of, you know, what happened to a kingdom, the loss of a kingdom. Whether it is a kingdom of multitudes, a household or an individual, it should not go down this way.

Samaria's fall and deportation, 722 years there about before the coming of Christ, the end of the north, the resettling of the people in other lands and people from other lands back and forth as I mentioned. Unlike Judah, Israel as a kingdom will never be restored. It will be over. We have a consolidated Israel now.

They don't know who they are as far as tribes go. That will be resolved. Messiah will again. He will revive the Jewish kingdom and he will be the king of course and ruler of the earth. There is no report of deportees returning to Israel from the north of the northern tribes as there is with Judah. With Judah, we have the book of Ezra and Nehemiah for example and there the captives are returned or returned to Judah and these are significant differences.

There will again not be another northern kingdom. Verse 7, for so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt and they feared other gods. So again, this is spiritual. This is the spiritual world negatively impacting the physical world and it's the same thing, the same cause that brought Adam and Eve down. It's not listening to God and we listen and we say yeah well there are things in my life I just can't see me get the victory on but I love the Lord and I want to obey him and God takes that very seriously because put two people together.

One struggling wants to obey and another one struggling not because they want to obey because they just want control of their lives. Well one is the thief on the cross that didn't want Messiah. They didn't want to repent and the other is the thief on the cross, the outlaw on the cross that entered into paradise that day. Anyway, now the historian is going to start commentary based on the Torah. He breaks out his Bible and he's just going to hammer this because he knows future generations of his people are going to be reading these things and he's doing his part to spiritually counter the evil spirits. So let's take a few Old Testament verses. Leviticus 18, do not defile yourselves with any of these things for by all these things the nations are defiled which I am casting out before you. So God said we told you don't get too high minded about yourselves that you're better than these people but he says I'm throwing them out because their evil is just it cannot continue and I'm using you to do it but if you start doing this I'm going to throw you out and this is what we're seeing prophecy fulfilled. There's a lot of prophecy, New Testament some too already fulfilled and there's a lot more to come. Deuteronomy 7, nor shall you bring an abomination into your house lest you be doomed to destruction like it you shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it for it is an accursed thing.

Don't go bringing in some voodoo mask and hanging it up on your wall as decoration. You got to say I take this seriously and you know we are called to these standards and it's hard sometimes. Well I have more here from Deuteronomy but I would love to read it. Deuteronomy 8 19 and 20 but I'm going to move on unless we run out of time. He continues here in verse 7 and they feared other gods. Now this is the fourth time in this section of Scripture that we're going to read this.

Well this is one of four, the first of four. This is not the fear of repentance and reverence not righteously so. This is the fear of acknowledgement of a man-made respect. This is the fear of we'll worship Yahweh too.

We just throw him in with all the other potted idols. That's what this is. There's no deference in this. This is an insult. So and the context is stark with this.

There's no debating. This is the words here they feared other gods. Well they said well look we're in the land of Israel and lions are going to show up and start eating people because that's what lions do. I'm not lying.

Anyway that's pretty good. You'll use it later. I know you will. This fear is well the lions are killing people. We need to find out what God is over this locale, this territory. See that's the kind of fear. This is superstition. Christians are not to respect concocted gods.

Not to give an inch. It's the God of Enoch, the God of Abraham, the God of Peter and John and Paul and there is no other. And we have to be very clear about this. Ecumenicism claims, ecumenicism and Christianity claim to be Christians and they do this very thing. Oh everybody's God is fine. We can all pray together. We're all going to the same place. The universality of God. He's everybody's father.

No he is not. Jesus said right to their face, you are of your father the devil. How can they then be the universal God? Because they don't care what the Bible says.

They just need it to do some stuff like call the place they gather a church. And they have robes on, expensive robes too. And people just gobble this chunk up. Whatever happened to the emergent church? Is it still emerging? I mean but this is another, the practice is still going on.

But all of a sudden it's gone. What are those poor people going to do? And so the frustration in the righteous. Paul says and I burn with indignation. He said I hate what evil gets away with.

And how can you not? You know we talk about you know did God love Hitler? Well in this sense he did. He loved everyone enough to die for them to give them the opportunity to come into heaven. That is love. No God has no other motivation to die, to send his son to die for people than love. Because what's he get out of it? Oh you're in heaven now. Now I'm going to have a good time. So in that sense he loved him.

But in the emotional sense, like hey let's go out to dinner sometimes and have fun together. No. God does not love in that way. Because now you twist up everything for the unbeliever too.

He's trying to get their head around it. Wait a minute you're telling me God is loving this child molester? And in the sense he loves them in the sense that their sins can be forgiven and he put as we would say his money where his mouth is. But if you think he's going to be cozy with that cozy kind of affection and love?

Not at all. And this love actually it runs out. You cannot say God damns people to hell and while he's doing it I love you. That's schizophrenic. We have a word for that. And to assign such behavior to people in the negative and somehow make it positive with God is irrational.

And so I think this is important when we tell unbelievers. Let me tell you something about this love of God. It is agape love. It is not Eros. It is not Philo. It has some of that in there.

But it is on another plane. And the cross of Christ that's God's love. And the Romans they didn't understand this. They said ha ha your king was crucified. And so they blasphemed. They would you know humans with a donkey's body on a cross as part of their graffiti because they couldn't understand a king dying for his people. And we are supposed to be there to help them with that if they let us.

And the way they let us is by being a good worker and being a decent enough person to engage in conversation without it going getting ugly. Although there's always going to be parts to it that are ugly because the truth to a lie the truth is ugly. But to the truth a lie is ugly. And of course truth must prevail.

Well I'll come back to all of that. But verse 8. And walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had cast out from before the children of Israel and the kings of Israel which they had made. So they wiggled free from their Bible to make believe God's.

It would be like you know in a real sense coming to church singing songs serving and going off to the university and becoming an antichrist. The equivalent of following tooth fairies. How come no one follows tooth fairies? Why don't they get more attention on the fake gods? I mean why not? Some of them are kind of cute don't you think?

See the insanity of it? Because there's no difference between tooth fairies and Zeus and I think God is. You're still making it up. Imaginary beings resembling humans in some way with magic powers. That is gods of the pagans. And I'm going to hit that a little bit more because the Bible does. This is what happens to apostate Christians.

I say it a lot. Consider the things somebody will believe once they turn away from the truth. And the kings of Israel, bottom of verse 8, which they had made. So they turned from the god of truth. These kings, the people, followed their lead.

The kings had the influence. They were wicked politicians to the glee of the citizens. We see this today. Who would vote for Nancy Pelosi? I mean who would do it? It's just insanity and it's a mass psychosis.

It's like a blight on the earth. Where does this come from? Straight out of hell.

Straight out. Chuck Schumer. Who would vote for these people? You say, well you're messing with politicians. No I'm talking about abject sinners who have no problem killing children and empowering people to do a sex change on a child. That is worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. Hey I'm preaching. I'm preaching.

This is a fact man. I would tell it to their face. I don't care what.

I mean it's just, I would wish I had a chance to tell it to them straight out. You are going to hell unless you repent. Our loving God will send you to hell if you don't fix your relationship with him. Because he's not going to allow you up into heaven to cause the same kind of evil in heaven that you're causing on earth. Well, verse 9, well also the children of Israel secretly, verse 9, did against Yahweh their God things that were not right and they built for themselves high places and all their cities from watchtower to fortified city. How do you do anything secretly against God because Yahweh is God?

Well you can't. Psalm 139, verse 8, if I ascend into heaven you are there. If I make my bed in hell you behold are there. So there's no escaping God. I remember once in my life, I was on a flight somewhere and I believe it was over the state of Utah and I must have been catching some Mormon vibes. I'm kidding.

I was over Utah I think but I did not know why. That doesn't, no, that's voodoo. Anyway, I'm in a plane and I felt God is not up here.

There's a voice. And that Psalm came to my mind. Hallelujah Lord, that's right. If I ascend to the heavens and you know air travel then was not as hellish as it is today.

Today it's like, you know, do you want first class torture or do you want cargo torture? Anyway, so there you go. Just, you know, these verses are in the Bible for us to recall and use against the enemy.

You can behave as though you're hiding from God and men but you cannot hide from God. Things that were not right. It says so much. You're doing things that just aren't right and you know it. Paul makes similar statements. He talks about and whatever else. He said I can't itemize every sin you're doing and I'm not going to try.

You know, you know what's not right. But they built for themselves high places in all their cities. They couldn't get enough of it. I just love it.

Man, let's put an idol over here. But isn't this Yahweh's land? From watchtower to fortified city.

From remotely populated areas to highly populated areas. It's likely a proverb, strong hyperbole. It shows up again in chapter 18. So he's just employing that idiom. Verse 10, they set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. Well sacred to them, not to God, sacrilegious to Yahweh. Some of these were phallic symbols. They had no shame about these things and they worshiped before them full steam. Verse 11, there they burned incense on the high places like the nations whom Yahweh had carried away before them and they did wicked things to provoke Yahweh to anger. Wouldn't it be nice if somebody YouTubing this would look to censor it and get convicted and repent? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

I voted for that lady. I need to repent before God. Anyway, back to verse 11, they burned incense on the high places like the nations whom Yahweh carried away before them, the Canaanites that is. And they did wicked things to provoke Yahweh's anger. They're provoking the Lord and thinking they're getting away with it. Blatant sinners, the simple worldlings today just plodding along as if there's no judgment to come. Acts chapter 24, Paul ministering in chains to Felix, the governor, and then Luke writes, Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now.

When I have a convenient time, I will call for you. I have had that happen to me witnessing to people. Okay, that's the end of the conversation. I don't want to hear this anymore.

A polite as they can be because they need to be polite, think well about themselves. Verse 12, not all the time, For they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, You shall not do this thing. You can see a teeth gritting historian. An idol is really man in God's place. He just put himself in God's place.

I'll tell you what you're like. Literally the Hebrew for idols is dung. You can go fact check that with your concordance and you will be back again saying you're right again pastor. It just bugs me that you're right all the time. Anyway, these are, you know, pellets. God is, and Ezekiel just goes crazy with this stuff.

He turns loose. The Hebrew word gilam is what is used here and it is literally rendered dung in other sections of scripture. It is disparaging. It is sarcastic.

It is a last call to wake up. You're not supposed to worship this dung. That's what it is. Some of the commentators use vulgar language. Well, not really vulgar.

They're being very just to the point. And we may say, whoa, boy, he really got off the reservation with that one. But he's right.

He's just not appropriate in all forums. So it appears only in the plural, this Hebrew word. And I've covered this from time to time. Always a reference to idols. Ezekiel 14, son of man, these men have set their idols, and that's that word gilam, in their hearts and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity.

Should I let myself be inquired at all by them? And in the next verse he says, I'm not. I'm not going to hear it. They can pray to me all they want.

I am not listening. And that's, again, part of our message. Well, does God hear the prayer of the sinner? Well, certainly when the sinner repents, but I also think God hears the cry of the sinner when he's giving them time to repent. We find this in Revelation.

I gave her space to repent. Anyway, the disgusting nature of the idolatry, what it did to lives, is reflected mostly, I think, in the child sacrifices that we're going to come to. So the prophets, they weren't pulling punches with this stuff. You know, you sit in the counter, boy, pastor, that was a little hard. Well, let me quote you some Ezekiel in the Hebrew and tell me if that's harsh.

I'd rather you be offended by me than go to hell happy. Verse 13, yet Yahweh testified against Israel and against Judah by all of his prophets, every seer, saying, turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. So the historian, he's fired up because he uses old school terminology, which it's the same meaning the way he's using it. In a strict sense, the seer refers to the one that's able to see the hidden things because God has shown him and the prophet is the one that speaks what God has to say. But the author of Chronicles uses them interchangeably because it is the same thing. God shows them things and then they speak it.

And so it's not, at this time in Israel history, that was the old school phrase. If you look at some of the writings of great pastors, many of them are called reverends because their positions were reverend positions. I prefer pastor.

I don't want anyone to call me reverend. Turn from your evil ways. No. Keep my commandments and my statutes. No. According to all the law which I commanded your father. No. And which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

No. That would be a good sermon to a Jewish person today who follows the rabbis, the rabbinical writings, but they're not listening to their own scripture. They're not paying it. They think Isaiah 53 is about the nation Israel. They make, you know, some people make everything, they're race-centric or they're sexually-centric.

Everything's a little dirty joke. Israel has a tendency of making everything Israel-centric and miss the Messiah by doing it. The only thing that should be central is God and for us, the Lord Jesus Christ, central to everything. That would be a good way to say, take them to this verse and say, you don't listen to Hosea. You don't listen to any of them. Verse 14, nevertheless, they would not hear but stiffen their necks like the necks of their fathers who did not believe in the Lord their God. And when Stephen told them this to their face, they killed him for it. The scripture, their scripture, they were adamant about rejecting Yahweh just as there are those raised in a Christian home and church and adamant about rejecting him. And yeah, we're adamant about not giving up on them and we will pray and continue to intercede on their behalf whether hell likes it or not. And we will not become jaded and say, why even bother because sin gets away with so much. Yeah, it doesn't get away with everything.

It didn't get away with you. Verse 15, and they rejected his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and his testimonies which he had testified against them. They followed idols, the dung gods, became idolaters and went after the nations who were all around them concerning whom Yahweh had charged them that they should not do like them. They were to be separate and the Jews have maintained separation after the last fall of Jerusalem, but they're still not listening. They're just as a people retaining their separate nature and that's what's caused them to survive and that is God's doing because they're going to be there when the revelation of Jesus Christ begins to take place. Well, he delivered them. Verse 15 is what the writer is saying and yet they have no use for him. All right, God, thank you very much. Now get out of my face.

Verse 16, so they left all the commandments of Yahweh their God, made for themselves molded images, two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. See, he's into this. He's laying it out. He's departed from telling history. He is history in it, of course, but it's now he's just focused on his sermon.

I think as he's writing the history, he gets to a point where the Holy Spirit inspires him to unleash these truths. Thanks for joining us for today's edition on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We trust that what you've heard today in the Book of Second Kings has been something to remember. If you'd like to listen to more teachings from this series, go to crossreferenceradio.com. Once more, that's crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. Our time is about up, but we hope you'll tune in again next time as we continue on in the Book of Second Kings. We look forward to that time with you. So make a note in your calendar to join Pastor Rick as he teaches from the Bible right here on Cross Reference Radio.