Kingdom's Keys Fellowship
Where God's Kingdom Meets Man's Heart.
Bible Study, Maybe the Old Testament is not so old after all.
Psalm 79:1
“O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.”
The nations have invaded, defiled and reduced.
1.invaded your inheritance (the land)
2.defiled your holy temple (the heart)
3.reduced Jerusalem to rubble (the community of faith)
When we seek to understand what God is telling us in the Old Testament it is essential we read through the lens of spirituality because, as the Apostle John says (4:24), God is Spirit. What are the spiritual intentions of God in these words?
First, the nations. When we see the word nations we need to look at its meaning from an Old Testament perspective. The nations are all those outside of Israel, the only covenanted nation of God. God had given Israel His Law and the cover of His presence to be the vehicle for the recovery of mankind to Himself. It would be Israel that bore the Messiah, the deliverer of humanity. What Israel had been called to do was to clean out the Promised Land by eliminating idolatry, the worship of foreign fertility gods and the immorality around which foreign nations were built and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. The nations had lost contact with the Creator God by setting up their own shrines, self-destructive ethics and behavior and then invading, intruding and impressing their lifestyles on Israel. But more importantly it is the spiritual invasion from the kingdom of darkness by the devil and his spirits that have invaded the land of lost mankind.
Second, ‘your inheritance.’ God’s inheritance is His people, their hearts and His plan to restore them to His original intention to be an image and likeness of Him. God’s nation was invaded and His people compromised themselves with the lifestyles of these nations. The lifestyles of the nations were and are fueled by the devil’s spirits of pride, lust, greed, anger, compromise and a host of others that distract the heart and lead them into self-indulgence and isolation.
Third, ‘your holy temple.’ Each human heart is a temple. Paul tells us our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that the community of the faithful is also a temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.3:16) both of which have been defiled with idolatrous thinking and behavior.
Fourth, ‘they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.’ When the land is invaded, the heart defiled then what follows is that the community of the faithful (Jerusalem) is reduced to rubble. It falls apart from within.
Now read these verses in the context of the present. Here are two startling figures. Did you know that one in every four hits on the internet is a pornographic search? And, further, that the annual income in the pornographic industry is more than the combined annual income of the three major sports leagues, the NFL, the NBA and MLB? Take a look at TV news, newspapers, TV shows, the proliferation of raw language and raw movies. Immorality is a rampant disease and no one is perfect in any of this. As Paul quotes, “There are none righteous, no not one, all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10ff).”
Think also about the invasion, defilement and the rubble of institutional churches that have compromised the faith with the culture. Many of them look, sound and act like the ‘nations’ around us. Need we say more? No wonder we need a Reformation, no wonder we need a Savior, someone who knows our condition and has borne our sorrows, our isolation and given us a way to not only be restored to God but the ability to offer that restoration to others.
Prayer--- O Father in Heaven, the Creator of people, their hearts and the community you have called into being, we are a people defined, confronted and shaped by your Word so clearly and so honestly. Please send your Spirit into our hearts, among your people and into the world, restore us to what you intended. Let us see Jesus risen and standing before us beckoning us to follow Him right where we are. Where our hearts are not line up with your heart, give us a jolt of truth, where our community of faith needs healing, touch and bring us together to sense your presence and where the world needs reconciling employ us to show who you are as the only One who can put the pieces together. Here we are Father; send us, in Jesus’ name. Amen
“O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.”
The nations have invaded, defiled and reduced.
1.invaded your inheritance (the land)
2.defiled your holy temple (the heart)
3.reduced Jerusalem to rubble (the community of faith)
When we seek to understand what God is telling us in the Old Testament it is essential we read through the lens of spirituality because, as the Apostle John says (4:24), God is Spirit. What are the spiritual intentions of God in these words?
First, the nations. When we see the word nations we need to look at its meaning from an Old Testament perspective. The nations are all those outside of Israel, the only covenanted nation of God. God had given Israel His Law and the cover of His presence to be the vehicle for the recovery of mankind to Himself. It would be Israel that bore the Messiah, the deliverer of humanity. What Israel had been called to do was to clean out the Promised Land by eliminating idolatry, the worship of foreign fertility gods and the immorality around which foreign nations were built and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. The nations had lost contact with the Creator God by setting up their own shrines, self-destructive ethics and behavior and then invading, intruding and impressing their lifestyles on Israel. But more importantly it is the spiritual invasion from the kingdom of darkness by the devil and his spirits that have invaded the land of lost mankind.
Second, ‘your inheritance.’ God’s inheritance is His people, their hearts and His plan to restore them to His original intention to be an image and likeness of Him. God’s nation was invaded and His people compromised themselves with the lifestyles of these nations. The lifestyles of the nations were and are fueled by the devil’s spirits of pride, lust, greed, anger, compromise and a host of others that distract the heart and lead them into self-indulgence and isolation.
Third, ‘your holy temple.’ Each human heart is a temple. Paul tells us our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that the community of the faithful is also a temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.3:16) both of which have been defiled with idolatrous thinking and behavior.
Fourth, ‘they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.’ When the land is invaded, the heart defiled then what follows is that the community of the faithful (Jerusalem) is reduced to rubble. It falls apart from within.
Now read these verses in the context of the present. Here are two startling figures. Did you know that one in every four hits on the internet is a pornographic search? And, further, that the annual income in the pornographic industry is more than the combined annual income of the three major sports leagues, the NFL, the NBA and MLB? Take a look at TV news, newspapers, TV shows, the proliferation of raw language and raw movies. Immorality is a rampant disease and no one is perfect in any of this. As Paul quotes, “There are none righteous, no not one, all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10ff).”
Think also about the invasion, defilement and the rubble of institutional churches that have compromised the faith with the culture. Many of them look, sound and act like the ‘nations’ around us. Need we say more? No wonder we need a Reformation, no wonder we need a Savior, someone who knows our condition and has borne our sorrows, our isolation and given us a way to not only be restored to God but the ability to offer that restoration to others.
Prayer--- O Father in Heaven, the Creator of people, their hearts and the community you have called into being, we are a people defined, confronted and shaped by your Word so clearly and so honestly. Please send your Spirit into our hearts, among your people and into the world, restore us to what you intended. Let us see Jesus risen and standing before us beckoning us to follow Him right where we are. Where our hearts are not line up with your heart, give us a jolt of truth, where our community of faith needs healing, touch and bring us together to sense your presence and where the world needs reconciling employ us to show who you are as the only One who can put the pieces together. Here we are Father; send us, in Jesus’ name. Amen
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Comment by Mary Anderson on February 14, 2009 at 3:37pm
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Thank you Whitey, I join with you in that prayer; my heart needs a jolt of truth. I hope you will do more studies like this one.
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