SEEK YE FIRST 
                          THE KINGDOM OF GOD 
                      HOME    ARTICLES    THE KINGDOM     FOUNDATIONS     LINKS                                

  GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD
   
By Mae Shurow

I would ask that you keep these thoughts in mind as you read: 

• The Bible has only one interpretation, but many applications. 

• Physical Israel is a type or shadow of Spiritual Israel, 
  which is the church. 

1 Cor. 15:46 “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual,
    but that which is natural; and afterward that which is
    spiritual.”  The church is the second born,  who, like Isaac
       and Jacob, is the child of promise who receives the blessing
       of the firstborn son, per Romans 9:7-8 “Neither, because they
    are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac
    shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children
    of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children
     of the promise are counted for the seed”

  (Also see Gal 3: 16, 29).

• All the things that happened to Israel are for our instruction (1   Corin. 10:6-11).  They are things that happened in the physical, but have a spiritual fulfillment today.

You may not agree with the above concepts if you have been taught under a dispensational interpretation of the Bible.  However, I have been quite convinced by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that these concepts are Biblically sound, even though my own background was in a dispensational church. 

Possessing The Land:

The Lord gave instructions to the Israelites to go up and possess the land which He set before them (Deut. 1:21), and to destroy the nations, and their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves (Deut. 7:1-5). He promised “For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies...” (Deut 20:4). But Psalm 106:34-39 says: 

• “They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them: 35But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. 36And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. 37Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, 38And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. 39Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.” 

Destroy means to “demolish, bring to ruin, annihilate, wipe out, get rid of.”  But of course, God’s people didn’t do this, but instead mingled among the heathen and learned their ways, thus sacrificing their children’s lives for eternity because their children learned to worship idols instead of the living God.  They also tried to conquer the nations in their own way, without the presence of the Lord (Deut. 1:42). 

NOW Jesus instructs His people: 

• Matthew 28:19, 20“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:…and lo, I am with you alway,”

>  “The nations means the Gentile nations or the Gentiles in general as spoken of all who are not Israelites and implying idolatry and ignorance of the true God, i.e., the heathen, pagan nations.” (Zodhiates, 2000, # 1484).

• Mark 16: 15 to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,”
                  > “[World] also stands for the heathen world, the
                     same as (1484), ‘the nations.’” “people associated
                     with a world system and estranged from
                     God—‘people of the world’” (Louw, 1996, LN 9.23).
  
• Luke 24:49 "...but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

SO THIS IS THE PICTURE:

• THEY were to destroy the people and their idolatry.
• Now WE are to destroy in a different way—we are to destroy (wipe out, annihilate, get rid of) idolatry by preaching the gospel.
• But THEY went into the land and mingled with the heathen;
• Now WE have gone into the world and done the same. 

WE have mingled among the heathen and learned their works, (sacrificing the lives of our children along the way) and went whoring with our own inventions—done things our own ways instead of letting God fight our battles…The application I see is that we are not to mingle the ways of the heathen and use them to fight the battle of the Lord.  The works of the heathen are a snare unto us (Psalm 106: 36), and, as God’s people of old were defiled by the practices of the land, we have been defiled by the practices of the world.  

We will never possess the land, or the world, as long as we are defiled.  Doing things our own ways and in our own strength defiles us greatly!

•  Ezekiel 33:24-26 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? 26Ye stand  [rely] upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and SHALL YE POSSESS THE LAND?

• Ezekiel 36:17-20 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it BY THEIR OWN WAYS AND BY THEIR DOINGS: THEIR WAY was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. 18Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: 19And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to THEIR WAY and according to THEIR DOINGS I judged them.  And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.

• Psalm 106:39 Thus were they DEFILED WITH THEIR OWN WORKS, and went a whoring with their OWN INVENTIONS.

In Isaiah 66:1-5, the Lord says, "...Where is the house that ye will build me?...Yea, they have chosen their OWN WAYS, and their soul delighteth in their abominations."  Read the whole of Isaiah 55:7-11, but verses 7-9 in particular say:

• Isaiah 55: 7-9 "Let the wicked forsake HIS WAY and the unrighteous man his thoughts...For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are YOUR WAYS MY WAYS, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are MY WAYS higher than YOUR WAYS, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 

The conventional explanation for Isaiah 55:8-9 is that it means God's ways are mysterious and we can't understand them.  But that's not the point of this passage! He is saying, don't do things YOUR WAYS, do them MY WAY!  These verses go on to say that God's ways are prosperous--like the rain that He sends waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud, His Word will not return void, but will accomplish what He pleases, and shall prosper in the thing whereto He sends it. 

Conversely, Haggai 1:5-7 gives us a picture of what happens when we do things our way. 

• ·   Haggai 1:5-7 "Now therefore thus saith the Lord of host: Consider YOUR WAYS.  Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag of holes.  Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider YOUR WAYS." 

Our ways are not prosperous, our ways are vain.  His ways bring forth fruit.  Our ways may appear to be fruitful, but they only bring forth counterfeit fruit. We must consider our ways, consider how we do things, whether they are God’s ways or our own.  We hold “revivals,” but are they of our own doing, or of the Lord?  Do we see people’s hearts really changed, or is it back to business as usual when the “revival” is over?  Programs like “Forty Days of Purpose” are storming the land, claiming revival, and swelling the ranks of church membership.  But is it lasting revival? Are our methods birthing those who truly know the Lord?  Are hearts truly humbled and lives truly changed?  Are the people bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit in their lives?  Are we building God’s House with HIS WAYS? 

•      Psalm 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

•      Jeremiah 17:5-6 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert,… but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness….

•      Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,… her leaf shall be green;… neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

•      Isaiah 50:11 Behold, all ye that kindle a [your own] fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

•      Jude 1:12…clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit…

When the Israelites went into the land, they very quickly (within a matter of a generation or two) mingled with the heathen, forsaking God’s way for their own ways. 

• Judges 2:17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.
• Judges 2:19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.     

As the people of God went into the world, they also very quickly mingled with the heathen. Gentile nations being brought into the faith resulted in disputes about how much should be required of the new converts from paganism, and the apostles and elders came together to consider the matter (Acts 15:6).  The consensus was that the necessary things were that they would abstain from pollution of idols and from fornication (whoring after other gods) (Acts 15:20, 28-29).

Instead, as history tells us, Gentile thought, philosophy, and practice was mingled into the church very quickly.  Just as the Israelites learned the ways of the Hittites, Canaanites, Jebusites, etc., the early Christians learned the ways and practices of the Greeks and Romans.

• “That Christianity has been in large degree smothered by Greco-Roman humanism cannot be doubted by any student of the Scriptures or church history” (Purves, 1888). 
• “Christians found ways to redeem local cultures and salvage elements in those cultures that naturally pointed to Christ, whether Hebrew, Syrian, Greek, or Roman. Christian leaders accepted Constantine's conversion in a positive light and saw the "Christ-mass" celebration as a vital part of the process of converting the pagan world….[There were] practices that the early church co-opted for its own purpose of glorifying Christ” (Christianity Today, 1999 ¶5).

The problem is that we were never commanded to salvage any elements of pagan cultures, but to DESTROY the pagan practices with the preaching of the gospel, and to teach them to observe all things whatsoever Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:20).   

Because of disobedience, the Lord left the pagan nations among Israel instead of driving them out as He had promised.

• Judges 2:20-23 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 21I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 22That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 23Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

The Lord left the pagan nations there to test Israel, to see if they would obey the commandments of the Lord (Judges 2:22, 3:4) But what happened?

• Judges 3:5-7 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: 6And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.

You must understand that when the Israelites worshipped and served the pagan gods and the groves, they were just doing what seemed to be practical at the time. Trees were thought to contain gods because their branches reached to the sky.  Groves of trees also offered protection from the hot sun and shelter from the harsh elements—they were good places to build dwellings.  Hosea 4:13 says, “They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good.”   It seemed GOOD to them!  To all appearances, this stuff really worked!  Just as such things as astrology, therapy, behavior modification, and a host of other things appear to us to work today! 

The word “shadow” here means “shelter, protection, i.e. that which keeps an object safe from harm or danger as a figurative extension of shade which come between a light source and an object.  God is to be the source of protection for his people…therefore the Psalmist prays that God may hide him ‘under the shadow of his wings” ”(Swanson, 1997, #7498).

It may be difficult to believe pagan ideas become embedded in our culture.  One example everyone will be familiar with is the custom of  “Knocking on wood” to ward off bad luck. The practice originated from tree worshipers who would “Knock on wood” to call on the spirit who lived in the tree for protection.  Although this superstitious act has been retained in our culture, the custom seems silly today.  In reality, some of the modern “practical” things we trust in to keep us safe are just as silly in light of the Word of God.  For if we have not sheltered ourselves in our great God, I fear we will come up short. 

It has been said in this article that what happened with Israel foreshadowed what is happening in the church, and the similarities continue to be easily traced.  Because of the church’s disobedience in mingling with the ways of the world, the Lord has left Greek philosophy, humanism, psychology, and pragmatism among us.  It is in our very churches, taught in our seminaries, and proclaimed from our pulpits.  Paganistic methods of  educating our children intermingle with Bible stories in our Sunday Schools.  Bible studies centered around psychological principles, but couched in Biblical terms, fill our Christian airwaves and our Discipleship Training at church.  These things are square in the middle of the holy place of the house of the Lord today, just as Ezekiel spoke of in his day:

 Ezekiel 8:6-17 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. 9And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. 10So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. 11And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth. 13He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. 14Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. 16And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. 17Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here?  

At one time, things got so bad among the Israelites that the book of the law of the Lord was lost in His very house.  When Josiah began to purge Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, the book of the law was found (2 Chron. 34). Josiah was heartbroken upon hearing the words of the law (2 Chron 34: 19), for he realized how far Israel had strayed from the ways of God.  He called “all the people, great and small, and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord” (2 Chron 34:30).   

And at one time, things got so bad in the history of the church (during the Dark Ages) that the Word of the Lord was lost.  The Word was restored to the people during the Reformation, with it’s cry of Sola Scripture. And for a time, the commandments of the Lord were partially restored.  But before long, the old practices soon crept back in, just as they crept back into the temple of the Lord after the death of Josiah (2 Kings 23: 30-32).     

If revival is to come, the house of the Lord must be cleansed, and all the filthiness and uncleanness found in the temple of the Lord must be brought out, just as happened in the days of Hezekiah:

• 2 Chron. 29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

• 2 Chron. 29:16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord.  And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook of Kidron.

We must be clean and holy before we can possess the land, or the world.  The thing that defiles us more than anything is trusting in our own strength, our own ways, going up to do battle without the presence of the Lord.  The greatest idol we have defiled ourselves with is our confidence in ourselves!  This goes back to the fact that the temple of the Lord cannot be built with man's tools.  "...if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it" (Exodus 20:25).  

Our programs, our methods, our strategies are OUR WAYS, not God's ways, and are themselves defiled.  Our programs are compromised to the core, for they are laced with psychology, humanism, and a man-centered gospel.  We need training and discipleship, true, but not the current man-made formulas.  

What is God's way to possess the land?

•      Isaiah 57:13 ...he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

•      Ezekiel 36:23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

To sanctify God means to hallow His name, to treat Him as holy.  The heathen, the nations, the world, shall know that He is God when His people treat Him as holy—treat Him like He really is God!! We need to learn to do nothing in our own strength, to trust in Him, to follow Him, to listen for His voice, to wait on Him, and allow Him to fill our mouths.  This takes time....walking with Him, learning to listen... 

Sprinkle clean water upon us, Lord, and cleanse us from all our filthiness and all our idols! (Ezekiel 36:24)    

How Do You Live?

Do you live by faith in God today, or do you live by the practices of Greek/pagan humanism?  The two are diametrically opposed:    

 It is so easy to be polluted by the culture and to compromise when we are not planted firmly in the Word! Our ways of thinking change so subtly that we are not even aware of it.  Many Christians today imagine that they live by the Word of God. In actuality, most of us live by pagan practices we are not even aware of that have become deeply embedded in the house of God.  Our Lord has left Greek paganism, philosophy, humanism, psychology, and pragmatism among us, in the very temple of the Lord, to test our faith.  What will YOU trust in?   How will you live?

BACK TO ARTICLES

HOME

*All emphasis  mine.

Copyright ©2005 by Mae Shurow 
Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution 
provided proper citation of authorship is included.

Christianity Today.  December 6, 1999.  Directions: Is Christmas Pagan? Retrieved
        December 1, 2005 from http://www.ctlibrary.com/2079