A few weeks ago, I purchased a new pair of jeans - simply because they were at a bargain price! However, there was a problem - the legs of the jeans were much longer than are mine. Thankfully, I have a wife who is very clever with a sewing needle and she was able to alter the jeans to make them the perfect fit that I wanted.
In every era there has been a spirit of the age that challenges our acceptance of the Bible. The temptation is to remove, or alter, those portions that seem to be old-fashioned, or that don't agree with our own contemporary points of view. Whether it's the doctrine of hell; or God's views on sexual behaviour; or whatever; many feel pressured to reject parts of the Bible. Inevitably, some truths will be offensive in every day, or age.
Many centuries ago, a Jewish king named Jehoi'akim was handed a scroll with a message from God, given through the prophet Jeremiah. As the scroll was read aloud, the king took offence, and we read: "It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house and there was a fire burning in the brazier before him. As Jehu'di read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words, was afraid, nor did they rend their garments." (Jer 36:22-24).
The account continues with Jeremiah being told, by YHWH: "Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoi'akim the king of Judah has burned. And concerning Jehoi'akim king of Judah you shall say, 'Thus says YHWH, You have burned this scroll, saying, "Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?" Therefore thus says YHWH concerning Jehoi'akim king of Judah, He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.'" (Jer 36:28-31).
In the end, Jehoi'akim did, indeed, lose his kingdom, and his life. In the eleventh year of his reign, he ceased to pay 'tribute' to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, whose vassal he was. Nebuchadnezzar responded by besieging Jerusalem and, according to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Jehoi'akim was killed during the siege, and his body thrown over the city wall.
When we selectively edit the Bible to suit our personal fancy, or when we neglect its teachings, we show that we do not fear (or reverence) Almighty God. Rather than submit to what he says, we exalt our own finite reasoning, and fallible conscience, above His inspired Word.
Any time you're tempted to overlook, or ignore, a portion of God's Word, because it doesn't fit with your personal plans, remember that "All Scripture (and in context, that applies to the Scriptures of the First [Old] Testament but, in reality, it applies to the whole of the Bible) is given by the inspiration of God." (II Tim.3:16). That written Word tells us all that we need to know to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
He is our Certainty in uncertain times - and His Word is unchanging.
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