Disobedience and Idolatry: Lessons from Israel's Fall

Disobedience and idolatry lead to destruction, but God's love offers hope and restoration for His people.

### The Consequences of Disobedience and Idolatry: Lessons from Jeremiah
* 🙏 We begin by acknowledging that **God hears our prayers and will fulfill them**, reflecting on the changing seasons and the **end of summer**.
* ☀ This summer felt **unusually hot**, prompting daily visits to a local sundae soup restaurant and workouts at the gym, where even the owner noted the **heat**.
* 📖 The title "**The End of Summer**" symbolizes a poetry collection that captures the **regret of lost love** and the **fleeting nature of happiness**, paralleling the Israelites' **misplaced confidence** in God’s **eternal blessings**.
* 📜 The Israelites believed in their **eternal blessings** due to God’s choice of them, yet their disobedience and idolatry led to their downfall, as illustrated by the fate of **King Zedekiah**.
* ⚖ Jeremiah 52:3 reveals God’s anger resulting in the Israelites' exile, highlighting the **consequences of their evil actions**, which included **disobedience to God's laws** and the **worship of idols**.
* 🔥 The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple serves as a stark reminder that **ignoring God's commandments leads to dire outcomes**, as seen in the tragic end of Zedekiah and the burning of the royal palace.
* 💔 Despite their failures, God's promise of restoration is evident through the eventual release of King Jehoiachin from captivity, showcasing His **enduring love and commitment to His people**.
* 🌱 Ultimately, we are called to examine our lives for disobedience and idolatry, recognizing that **true spirituality and love for God** must take precedence over **self-centered desires**.

We will greet each other by looking at our neighbors. God hears our prayers. God will surely fulfill our prayers. Amen, amen. It seems like this summer was really hot. Every morning, I go to a famous sundae soup restaurant across the street. There’s a gym on the third floor. After my early morning prayer, I go to that gym. The gym owner usually doesn't say much, but when I walked in to take a shower and ran into him, he said to me, It seems like it has gotten a bit cooler. He usually doesn't say things like that, so I could tell how hot it was by looking at my face. Last night, we also slept without the air conditioning for the first time in a while. We slept with the window open.

It seemed like summer would never end, but it feels like it is finally coming to a close. The title The End of Summer does not mean that summer itself is ending; it is the name of a poetry collection. The poet had someone they loved throughout the summer last year, and they thought that person would never leave them. However, that person ended up leaving. There is a sense of regret about the end of what felt like a summer that would last forever and the reflections on oneself are recorded in poetry. People often yearn for permanence, but not everything goes according to one's wishes. The Israelites believed they would be blessed forever. Why did they think that? Because God chose them. In this world, as Moses expressed, the only one who exists from eternity to eternity is God.

Because the eternal God promised to give eternal blessings, the people of Israel had confidence. They had their own reasons for this confidence. Although they were enslaved in Egypt, they eventually experienced the Exodus, and the nation that God chose and led out entered the land of Canaan, which God had granted. There, during the times of David and Solomon, they enjoyed great prosperity and thought it would last forever. However, God communicated to the people of Israel the reasons and conditions for their eternal blessings. In Deuteronomy 5:29, God said, Oh, that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever. They had to share a single mindset, which was to fear God.

If the Israelites had acknowledged God, they would have existed, but they did not. Today, we are looking at Jeremiah 52:3, which states, The Lord's anger against Jerusalem and Judah caused Him to cast them out of His presence. We examined the text from verse 12 to the end of the chapter, and in the preceding verse 3, God, who had made an eternal promise, is speaking about casting them out. Why did this happen? It is God's way of casting them out, which is so desperate. In verse 11, just before the one we read, it is recorded, He put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with chains to take him to Babylon, where he remained in prison until the day of his death. Zedekiah was the king of Israel. What was the result of being cast out by God? All his sons were killed before his eyes.

As soon as he was killed, his eyes were gouged out, and he was allowed to live in Babylon until the end. This is in stark contrast to the promise made to the people of Israel that they would be blessed forever. We have examined all of Jeremiah's words up until last week. The passage we are looking at today is the last content of the last chapter. If you think back to July 1st, we had been reading Jeremiah from chapter 1 to chapter 25 last year, and starting from July 1st, we moved on to chapter 26, continuing through to chapter 52. Ah, but in chapter 26, verse 1, there is a record that says, Oh, I'm sorry, first, what kind of person was Zedekiah? Why was his eyes gouged out? God evaluates him in this way. In verse 2 of today’s passage, it says that he followed all the actions of Jehoiakim.

Because they did evil in the sight of the Lord, they will not enjoy the eternal blessings and meet such a miserable end. Ultimately, this is due to the evil they committed in the sight of the Lord. So, what exactly is the evil they committed from God's perspective? What evil did Jehoiakim commit? The passage we saw in Jeremiah 26:1 mentions that when Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, began to reign as king of Judah, the word of the Lord came to him. In verse 4, it says, You shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me, nor walked in the law that I set before you.' The reason they cannot enjoy eternal blessings is that they committed evil before God, and the essence of that evil is their disobedience to Him.

그들이 무엇에 순종하지 않은 거냐면, 하나님의 율법을 행하지 않았다는 것입니다. 하나님의 율법은 무엇입니까? 여러분, 십계명에 하나님의 율법이 기록되어 있잖아요. 사실 십계명 말고도 하나님께서는 매우 다양하고도 섬세하게 시내산에서 그들에게 율법을 주셨지만, 열 개로 축약해 놓은 십계명과 그걸 축약해서 예수님께서는 우리에게 이렇게 말씀하셨어요. 첫째는 하나님을 사랑하는 것이고, 둘째는 내 이웃을 사랑하는 것이라고 말씀하셨어요. 그러나 그들은 그 사랑하는 데서 실패했다는 것입니다. 위로 하나님을 사랑하지 않고, 옆으로 이웃을 사랑하지 않았다는 것이에요. 그들은 하나님보다도 다른 것들을 더 많이 사랑했습니다. 율법만 행하지 않은 게 아니에요. 그들의 악은 또 한 가지가 더 있는데, 25장 7절에 보면 여호와 김이 무엇에 순종하지 아니었습니까? 너희 손으로 만든 것으로서 나의...

You provoke anger and say that you did it yourself, that is, you made idols with your own hands and worshipped them. You regarded things that are not God as gods, things that are not the Creator as the Creator, and things that are not the Father as the Father. Therefore, the evil that the people of Israel ultimately committed can be summarized in two ways: what has been talked about throughout Jeremiah is disobedience and idolatry. Why is disobedience and idolatry so frightening? Disobedience and idolatry prevent us from approaching the eternal God. In most cases, the reason we do not obey God's word is that our thoughts are more important than God's word. We consider our own thoughts and experiences, which we live by in the present, to be more important than the eternal word of God, or we regard visible people around us as more significant than the invisible God.

The money that is immediately visible, the profits that are immediately apparent, feel much greater to me. That is why we do not follow the teachings. What about idol worship? Because God is invisible, we do not serve Him; instead, we serve something else, and when we do that, we become interested in the byproducts that come from it. Those young and famous singers are called idols. The name idol itself implies worship. Of course, when that name was created, the word idol was used because, in the eyes of teenagers, they are very beautiful and attractive. But why do children like these idol singers? In fact, they have nothing to do with me. I don’t know much about idols, but during my time, idols included groups like Girls' Generation and TVXQ. In your time, there were groups like Fin.K.L.

There might have been some people, but have you ever met them? There will be no opportunity to connect with them in the future either. Here, a few of our youth group friends are sitting, and among them, there probably isn’t anyone who has had a chance to shake hands with an idol singer. Why are they so obsessed? Why do they like them so much? Why are they so crazy about them? It’s not that. They find joy in the music they create and sing, in the clothes they wear, and in what they display. They feel a primal stimulation from what they offer. Have you listened to the songs that kids are singing these days? I don’t understand the lyrics. It’s definitely in Korean, but I can’t comprehend what the lyrics mean. I can’t understand it, and the sentence structures aren’t perfect, but those stories stimulate the ears, which is why they follow along. That’s the byproduct. We also serve things other than God, and from that...

There are byproducts that fulfill my desires, stimulating both my central and peripheral nervous systems. Even if I don't talk about them specifically, how many things in the media we consume, especially on YouTube, stimulate us? The saddest part is that these things take away goodness from the eternal God through disobedience and idolatry. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, God says that He has made everything beautiful in its time. We shouldn't be addicted to the trivial things of the world, the idols, and the distractions. Instead, there is a yearning in our hearts for the soul. That yearning has faded away due to sin. For example, when you buy flowers from a flower shop and bring them home, you cut the flowers and put them in a vase. How long do you think they will last?

If they are short, they lose their vitality in just three days, and even the longest ones lose it within a week. In the end, they must be thrown away in regular trash bags. Our condition is similar. The state we receive from God should be filled with a vibrant longing for the soul, but due to sin, we are cut off from God. Although we may be placed in a vase and appear like flowers, we are, in fact, beings slowly awaiting death. Disobedience and idolatry are therefore terrifying. If we were to express the longing for eternity in two words, what could we say? It is spirituality. Spirituality refers to the divine nature. It indicates that God's nature is within us. When we think of spirituality, we often feel overwhelmed by the holiness when a spiritual pastor speaks, and we perceive it as something sacred.

However, the more important meaning of spirituality is whether we can make judgments in our lives according to God's will, as God's character is within it. This is what spirituality is. Therefore, prayer is inseparable from spirituality because through prayer, we become more like God's character. However, the longing for the soul is what gives rise to our spirituality. God is the essence of the soul itself. So, if we lack spirituality, if there is no longing for God within us, this ultimately indicates that we love the present world rather than longing for eternity. You see, we have said that our desire for eternity has disappeared due to sin, which has severed that connection. But do you know what God has given us to reconnect that? He has given us eternal life.

We cannot create eternal life on our own; we are simply beings rushing toward death. However, God has given us eternal life so that we may participate in the divine nature and long for our souls. Therefore, eternal life does not merely end with going to heaven after death; it has an effect on us while we are alive. It enables us to love the world and to have a heart that loves God and our souls. Beloved saints, this longing is the only way for us to experience God's kingdom here on earth. What happened because of disobedience and idolatry? Today's text records that event. In verse 13 of chapter 52, it mentions the burning of the Lord's temple and the royal palace, as well as all the houses in Jerusalem.

The houses of the nobles were all burned down, and Nebuchadnezzar's chief officer, Nebuzaradan, invaded Israel. Not only did Zedekiah die, but all the temples and royal palaces were also set ablaze. It was good when they were disobedient, right? It was good when they were idol worshiping, right? They lived as they pleased. However, in the end, there is the judgment of God. God uses Babylon to judge them. In the deeper aspect of judgment, something happens. In verse 17, it says that the Chaldeans broke the two pillars and the bases of the Lord's temple and took them to Babylon. The temple being referred to here is Solomon's temple. The people of Israel longed for the presence of God to be with them; they desired a symbol that God would be with them forever. So God is with us.

Please be with me. The presence of God is desperately needed by us. Therefore, God made a covenant with them, granting them the tabernacle. In that tabernacle, through the sacrifices offered to God in the Holy of Holies within the covenant, God manifested His presence and revealed His glory. Initially, the covenant of God's presence in the tabernacle included a tent because they had to move in the wilderness. However, even until the time of David, the tent remained. David, who loved God so deeply, felt distressed because, as a king living in a palace, God's covenant was still housed in a tent. So he resolved to build a temple for God, and his son Solomon constructed a beautiful temple. Now, that temple has been completely destroyed, which symbolizes the presence of God.

The more astonishing thing is that while I was preparing my sermon, I felt a chill. The names of the two bronze pillars in the temple of Jehovah are Jachin and Boaz. I preached about Boaz last year. As I was looking at the words of Jeremiah and observing the process of Babylon seizing Jachin and Boaz, I received this message as a preacher: How much God knows about my idolatry and disobedience! I was speaking about the pillars of Jachin and Boaz being taken away, and it gave me chills from head to toe. How much must God be saddened by my disobedience and idolatry? Here I was preaching about the scene where Jachin and Boaz are established, and now I am being made to speak about how Babylon completely dismantles and takes them away. The meaning of the names Jachin and Boaz is this: He will establish and in him is strength.

Boaz mentioned that when God established Solomon's Temple, He told the people of Israel, I will be your strength, and this will last forever. However, those who did not love God were abandoned by Him, and all the pillars fell. God promised to restore them, saying that His word would rebuild them and be their strength. He used Babylon as His instrument to completely destroy the people of Israel. Remarkably, this word is fulfilled exactly as God had already prophesied in Jeremiah 27. In verses 21 and 22 of chapter 27, God speaks: The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, has said regarding the temple of the Lord, the palace of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem...

He spoke about the remaining instruments in this way: they will be moved to Babylon, and they will remain there until the day I take care of them. After that, I will bring them back and place them here. This is the word of the Lord. God has already warned us; it has been fulfilled. Beloved saints, as we receive this message while looking at the destruction of Israel, what should we think about and what lessons should we take? We must never forget that if we leave the disobedience and idolatry within us unchecked, it will surely lead us to destruction and judgment. Amen. Just as the poet wrote about the summer that ultimately leads to ruin, it seemed like love would never end, and that happy summer would last forever, but just like that, it eventually fades away when we disobey God.

Idolatry is not immediately judged by God, so it seems okay. Since God doesn't judge us right away, it feels like this level of disobedience is acceptable. I haven't faced any major issues living my life without obeying God's word. Although I am regularly serving things other than God, it hasn't really affected me significantly. However, God warns us clearly through His word today, and we must realize this. Reflecting on this message, I asked myself what areas of God's word I am not obeying. I pondered what aspects of my character, Seon-seok, I am being disobedient to and what idols I might be worshipping. I found a clear answer regarding my disobedience: it is that I am not loving. Our God has called us to love.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 13, the Lord asks His disciples to love one another while washing their feet before bearing the cross. However, as I reflect on the areas where I am disobedient, I realize that there is a lack of love within me. I do not love my family, my wife, and my children as I should. I may say I love them, but there are times when I love myself far more than my family. I can feel it deeply at times. When I am in ministry, I tell my colleagues, such as our multicultural pastor, our associate pastors, and our evangelists, that I love them, but I wonder if I truly love them in my actions. Have I ever used them for my own purposes or calculations? What about in the church? When I look at the congregation, do I genuinely love them?

What about outside? In that place where I do not see anyone, do I love them? I realize with great sorrow that I have never obeyed the Lord's command to love. What kind of idolatry have I been practicing? Ultimately, I find that I am at the center of it all. I need to be respected more, I need to be recognized more, I need to do better, I need to rest more, I need to wear better clothes and eat better food, I need to enjoy more. In the end, I come to understand today that at the root of disobedience and idolatry is the love of self. Therefore, our fierce battle of faith is not about loving ourselves but about loving God. We must constantly fight against the attacks of the devil and sin that tell us to love ourselves, in order to love God.

Loving Christ and participating in the ministry of love that the Spirit of Jesus carries out is, I believe, our way of life. Amen. Do you know why this is our way of life? The scripture today speaks to that. In the last chapter of Jeremiah, chapter 52, verse 31, suddenly the name of a person appears. It mentions that after 37 years of King Jehoiachin of Judah being taken captive, on the 27th day of the 12th month in the first year of King Evil-Merodach of Babylon, he lifted up the head of King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. Suddenly, Jehoiachin is set free. Jehoiachin was the king before Zedekiah, and he was appointed as a king by Babylon for a short three-month reign. However, he was soon taken captive. Then Zedekiah ascended to the throne, and he lived as a prisoner in Babylon. But suddenly, after the story of Zedekiah ends, the temple and everything...

God spoke of the destruction that came as a result of your disobedience and idolatry, and He introduces a woman, Jehoiakim, who is now the king of Babylon. There is Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and there are local kings who govern various regions. However, the Lord has appointed a woman as the highest authority, surpassing even Nebuchadnezzar. Why did God allow such a thing to happen? Through this Jehoiakim, God intends to send the Israelites, who were held captive in Babylon, back to the land of Canaan, to Israel, and begin the reconstruction of the temple in Israel. Although the people were foolish, disobedient, and engaged in idol worship, leading to their complete destruction, God once again uses King Jehoiakim to carry out His work.

You are starting because you love. Just like parents look at their children, even when that child is truly disobedient, deserving of punishment, and seemingly hopeless, God promises not to abandon you as His child. This is shown to us through the fulfillment of God's word in the last chapter of Jeremiah. God is telling us that ultimately, there is an answer in love. When we begin to love God beyond just loving ourselves, the promise of His word will once again be fulfilled in our lives. This message appears in the last chapter of Jeremiah today. If we think about it from God's perspective, how shameful it is that the temple has been destroyed! This is the space where God promised to dwell and actually did, the area that contained the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.

The miraculous works of God were present in the covenant, but now, the Israelites are being ruthlessly oppressed in Babylon. Isn't it a matter of pride, everyone? Why did Babylon take the pillars? Because they are made of gold and silver, which are valuable and can be used. However, silver is not only heavy but also not as valuable as it seems. Babylon has numerous garments that are even better and more famous. So why did they take all of this? They intend to use it as spoils of war. They want to trample on Israel and declare that the Babylonian god Nebuchadnezzar is much stronger than the God of Israel. Isn't this a shameful matter before God? Yet, God is willing to bear that shame. As the Israelites witness the destruction of the temple, they realize that they are losing their connection to God.

When you do not obey the word, you will face the dire consequences. How can we know such an intention? God has rebuilt the temple through Zerubbabel. After completely destroying the temple, if no one is left among the people of Israel, that visual material has no meaning. However, God allowed the destruction of the temple once again, and the fact that the people of Israel rebuilt it shows that God wants you to witness the terrible destruction. God is someone who sets aside His pride to save His children. Where is this evident? It is evident in that the only Son of God, Jesus, was crucified, stripped of His clothes, and suffered humiliation that no human could bear. Yet, the Son of God came to this earth and...

You have experienced humiliation and shame because you love. It is because you want to save with that love, and ultimately, that love is the only way that brings each person closer to God. This is the path you have chosen. Beloved congregation, where is there a life free from disobedience and idolatry? It is clear that destruction awaits us, but ultimately, God has shown us through His love that there is hope. Tonight, we have two things to pray for. First, we must thoroughly examine ourselves to see in what areas we are being disobedient and worshiping idols before God. Then, as we pray tonight, we need to remember once again how God's love has manifested among us despite this. And we should not just remain in that memory but now turn away from disobedience.

Beyond idolatry, with a heart that longs for the soul in my life, I love God. The traces of my life and my obedience in following God should guide our steps toward eternity, showing us where to go and what to do. We must hold onto that path as we pray today. I sincerely hope that this grace will be among us tonight, in the name of our Lord. Amen. Amen.

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더드림사랑의교회

Reflections on the End of Summer and God's Promises

The speaker shares their experiences of a hot summer and the transition to cooler weather, reflecting on the fleeting nature of time.

The title "The End of Summer" refers to a poetry collection about lost love and the regret of impermanence.

The speaker draws parallels to the Israelites' confidence in God's eternal blessings, highlighting their eventual downfall due to a lack of acknowledgment and fear of God.

Zedekiah's eyes were gouged out as a punishment for following the evil actions of Jehoiakim, leading to a miserable end for both.

The people of Israel were denied eternal blessings due to their disobedience to God's law and the worship of idols.

The core of their evil was prioritizing their own thoughts and experiences over God's word, preventing them from approaching the eternal God.

The Allure of Idols and the Search for Spirituality

The visible profits and immediate gratification lead people to idol worship, as they are drawn to the byproducts of serving something other than God.

Young and famous singers, often called idols, provide joy and stimulation through their music and image, creating a strong obsession among fans.

This distraction from God and the pursuit of trivial things ultimately lead to a loss of spiritual vitality and a yearning for a deeper connection with the divine.

The Importance of Spirituality and God's Presence

Spirituality is about making judgments according to God's will and longing for His presence.

Prayer is essential for becoming more like God's character, and eternal life is given by God to reconnect us and fulfill our longing for Him.

The destruction of Solomon's temple symbolizes the severed relationship with God, highlighting the importance of His presence in our lives.

The preacher felt a chill while preparing a sermon on the bronze pillars Jachin and Boaz, reflecting on his own idolatry and disobedience.

The names Jachin and Boaz signify God's establishment and strength, but their removal by Babylon symbolized the consequences of abandoning God.

The message emphasizes the importance of addressing disobedience and idolatry, as they can lead to destruction and judgment, while also calling for a commitment to love as per God's command.

The author grapples with their lack of love for family, colleagues, and the congregation, realizing self-love has been at the center of their disobedience.

They acknowledge the need to fight against the temptation to prioritize themselves and emphasize the importance of loving God.

The sudden mention of King Jehoiachin's release from prison in Jeremiah 52 serves as a reminder of the transformative power of love and grace.

God's Plan Through Jehoiakim: The Restoration of Israel

God introduced Jehoiakim, a woman, as the highest authority in Babylon, surpassing even Nebuchadnezzar, to send the captive Israelites back to Canaan and begin the reconstruction of the temple.

Despite the Israelites' disobedience and idol worship, God uses Jehoiakim to carry out His work and promises not to abandon His children.

The destruction of the temple and the Israelites' oppression in Babylon serve as a shameful moment for God, but He is willing to bear that shame for the sake of restoring His people.

The Importance of Obedience and God's Love

Disobedience to God's word leads to dire consequences, but God's actions, like the rebuilding of the temple through Zerubbabel, show His desire to save His children.

The crucifixion of Jesus, enduring humiliation and suffering, demonstrates God's ultimate love and sacrifice for humanity.

The message encourages self-examination, repentance from disobedience and idolatry, and a commitment to follow God's path towards eternity.