Nationalism

The Broken Element in Christian Nationalism

/ JSB / 1 Comment

“Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves.” (Romans 14:22)

As the fervor of Christian Nationalism continues to expand within the American evangelical Church, it’s vital that sincere, covenant followers of Jesus Christ be able to distinguish between what is New Testament Christianity, and what is a perversion of the Way. This task of discernment requires at least four critical elements.
1. It requires that we accept the Word of God as the first, last and foremost resource for the formation of true spiritual understanding.
2. It requires that we be people who actively listen to, and dialogue with the Holy Spirit, Who illuminates, and “teaches us truth”, from the Word.
3. It also requires that we cultivate an ear to hear the Spirit’s circumspect truth re the external issues in the fallen world, as well as honest perspective re the true, attendant issues (pride, fear, lust, hostility etc.) in our own heart.
4. It requires that we have a primary predisposition to die, and submit our sin-disposed selves to an ongoing journey of applying the truths that the Holy Spirit shows us in the Word, in our world, and within our own selves.

It is primarily in the neglect of this fourth element that many in our Christian family are becoming ensnared in the allurement of American Christian Nationalism. We say that we are people who “rightly divide” the Word of God, and apply its true light with objectivity to our lives and our culture. And so we may rightly deduce that the Word of God stands firmly against matters of sexual infidelity, atheism, destruction of human life, and the honor of God. But do we also hear what the Word says about the innate predisposition of our own soul to self-gratification, self-glorification, self-evaluation, self-determination, and self-sufficiency? Who is helping us to ruthlessly, and responsibly apply the truths of the Word that expose the pride, the lust, the covetousness, and the hostility that vexes our own souls? Are we committed to such excruciating integrity of character, even at the expense of our own “image”?

Simply put, where zeal for truth exists alongside a spirit that has no will or intent of being leveled by that truth, truth profits us nothing. Indeed, where this spirit persists you will find all kinds of pretentious viciousness, depravity and wickedness.

Where the corrupting plots of Christian nationalism are concerned, I do not pray for individuals to find “true truth”; by either discovering how evil, or good an individual, or talking point is. I pray for our neighbors, sisters, and family members to be swallowed up in a spirit of humility and cross-bearing that surrenders to Jesus, as the Way of truth…

This is an ENORMOUSLY IMPORTANT distinction.

It isn’t the false narratives that chiefly corrupt Christian nationalists. The subversive force of Christian Nationalism is its stubborn repudiation of the baseline dynamic that connects human beings to a Savior, and a King – humility, gratitude for mercy, meekness, quietness, deep trust, repentance, chesed-love, and despair of self.

What Christian nationalism offers our greedy culture is an endless appetite for “truth storylines” that will “guarantee” greater security, stability, and self-worth. By contrast, what heaven offers this same homicidal, and unstable world, is a baby.

This personalization of truth is what Pilate stumbled over. (John 18:38) It was also what offended the Pharisees when Jesus answered their theological questions by pointing to Himself. “Before Abraham was, I Am” (John 8:58), and “unless you believe that I Am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24), and “I (Myself) Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6), and “This is the work of God, that you believe in the One Whom He has sent.” (John 6:29).

Jesus’ scandalous personalization of truth is what offended many of His disciples to the point that they no longer followed Him. “Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood…” (John 6:53) Essentially Jesus was saying, “I Am pure theology. And I AM all the theology you need. Unless you feed on Me, all your theology getting will not profit you one bit. Unless you lose your life-seeking ways, you are not worthy of anything else I’m going to say.”

This is why Jesus didn’t feed His disciples nefarious conspiracies about the workings of an evil world. He knew their uncrucified selves wanted to build utopias on earth with this “dirt information”. Jesus knew what was in the heart of humanity… They wanted a king; a king who would make sure they had an abundant supply of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… so that their unbowed souls could attain to the levers of power and influence that their prideful selves believed they deserved – and were even destined for. This innate, ubiquitous desire is common to all of mankind. It was what the Lord abhorred in Israel when they clamored for a king in (1 Samuel 8:7) “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do everything the people request of you. For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is Me that they have rejected as their king.'” 

(Aside: This is also the root of why the Christian nationalism that’s festering in our nation, directly parallels with the Christian nationalism that overtook the church in Germany less than a century ago. There was a reason the devil gave the Nazi’s a broken cross for its emblem. And through it, he achieved some of the greatest evil ever perpetrated in human history… something to meditate on…)

In place of our daily reach for “the truth”, the Lord, Who is Spirit gives us great grace to lay down our lives for the increase of His desire to intimately reign over all people. If you can receive it, this grace is an even more endemic and life-giving truth about ourselves, and His ability to intimately lead us; one that isn’t built on merely collecting greater insight and being able to identify the machinations of a curse-riddled world, but one which brings forth the breaths of life itself, through deeper, and more wholehearted unity with, and sacrificial love for the Lord of life, Himself.

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JSB • December, 2025

Finding the Transcendent Way of Jesus

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FINDING THE TRANSCENDENT WAY OF JESUS
Beloved family. Stay true to the gospel of the Kingdom! Stay true to our King! Stay true to the cross!

Right now, heaven is searching for transcendent and unadulterated voices that will speak the truth of God to both the lost in the world, and the deluded in the Church.

It’s instructive to recognize that the voice of Christ – and the way of God – is almost never a singular, polarized antithesis to the way of godlessness. It is nearly always also a bur under the saddle of carnal, religious idolatry. History is packed with relevant examples:

A. In Exodus, there was the way of the Egyptians, the way of the Children of Israel, and then the way of God through Moses and Joshua. YHWH opposed the religious/idolatrous way of the Children of Israel (Exodus 32) as resoundingly as He did the paganism of the people of Egypt.

B. In Joshua 5, the Captain of the Lord’s armies declared He was not for the descendants of the Children of Israel, nor for the people of Jericho. He was looking for those who would “be on the Lord’s side”. It was a transcendent moment that moved Joshua (the man who would not leave the tent of meeting in Exodus 33) so profoundly that he fell at the feet of the Captain in holy worship.

C. In Daniel 3, there was the way of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, there was the way of the faithless children of Judah, and then there was the transcendent way of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, who would not bow to the kingdom image that all the rest of the Babylonians, including captive Judah were bowing to.

D. In Jesus’ day, there was the way of the pagan Romans, and then the way of the Pharisees, and the crippled people of Judea. Jesus walked in a transcendent way above the rampant false gods of the Hellenistic world, and the false, religious zealotry of the Jews – calling all to repentance.

“Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)

E. Across the ages, kingdoms have risen in opposition to oppressive religion (ie. the Russian revolution, the populist movement in South Africa etc.), and kingdoms have risen up against virulent godlessness (the crusades, and many of the South American regime changes in the 60’s, and 70’s). In the VAST MAJORITY OF THE CASES the kingdoms that have risen against the ruling political power were NOT the way of Christ. (The Marxists weren’t the way of Christ replacing the religious elite in Russia. Pinochet wasn’t bringing the Kingdom of heaven to Chile. And Mandela wasn’t bringing the way of Christ to the people of South Africa.) There remained a transcendent way above, wedged and salted into the kingdoms that were in polar apposition to each other.

F. In the 1930’s, the Nazi’s rose to power promising to inoculate Germany from the godless ideology of communism that was sweeping the nations in eastern Europe. No one today believes Naziism was the way of Jesus. Nor would any Bible believer assert that the way of Stalin and Lenin were the government of heaven on earth. Faithful disciples of Jesus, the “ELECT” if you will, were borne and forged within the midst of the “trouble” (thlipsis – “tribulation”) of the intense cultural pressures that existed between these polarized ideologies. And so you had the Corey and Betsy TenBooms living for Jesus in spite of the Nazi opposition, and you had the Ivan (Vanya) Moiseyevs, living faithfully for Jesus under the thumb of communist Russia. BOTH LIVED FAITHFULLY FOR JESUS even though their secular cultural ideologies fought wars against the other…

It’s not so difficult to see the parallel today in America. There’s been a decades-long thrust of godless humanism that’s become virulent and oppressive throughout our culture, and now a strident, authoritarian nationalism that has taken aim at the evils of “the left”, and “the woke”. We dare (and it is a risk) to learn the long lesson of history – especially our own “people of God” history and realize that the Lord is most always NOT on one side or the other of these warring, political factions. His way is transcendent. His way is pure. His way is nailed to a cross to the glory of the One Who will one day rule ALL the nations.

Friends. Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, Daniel, the John the Baptist, the disciples, Augustine, Luther, Wesley, and Bonhoeffer, all found the transcendent way of the “ELECT” of God. And it behooves the American Church to find it in our tumultuous hour as well.

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JSB • September, 2025

Race and Revival

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RACE and REVIVAL 

The Moravians stood shoulder to shoulder with native Americans during America’s first great awakening.

Evangelists and abolitionists marked the second great awakening.

Azusa, was led by a one-eyed black man, and embraced nearly every ethnicity on earth.

Like the very first “revival” recorded in Acts 2, all the great nation-wide revivals in America also ushered in grand, societal-shifts toward heaven’s value for race. 

The last bonafide, national revival we had was the Jesus People Movement of the late 60’s and 70’s. One of the reasons it was so pervasive was because it participated in the national humbling of the general populace re: our nation’s long history of racial sin, while casting a broad vision for the multiethnic culture America was becoming. The Spirit of the Lord touched all aspects of our society as a result.

Race was one of the chief issues that Jesus confronted through all four of the gospels. It was a perpetual component of the Acts of the apostles. It was an issue that was repeatedly addressed in the epistles. And it is a sparkling facet of the beauty of redeemed humanity in the book of Revelation.

To be racially tender (even toward Haitians, Afghanis, Central Americans, Canadians, Greenlanders, and Mexicans) is to make room for His Kingdom, even at the expense of our own kingdoms. To love with humility and empathy across convivial norms, and divisions is part of the warp and woof of what it means to be a New Testament Christian. It is to be like Jesus.

At the same time, the way of the devil is to ply self-justification, insensitivity, and a “look out for my own” mentality into communities. It is the way of antipathy, and the anti-cross. It plays on fear, rather than excelling at love. It is the anti-1Corinthians13 way. Neither does it value making oneself poor, meek, mournful, hungry for justice, peaceful, pure, or merciful. The way of the devil diminishes the distinctively deep, and wonderful elements of ethnicity. It is a form of “trashing family” as sure as sexual perversion, divorce and abortion.

With this in mind, with the callous, defensive, insular spirit that’s currently in vogue with so many of our MAGA evangelical leaders, I don’t believe we are “making a way” for the increased Presence of the Lord, and a modern, nation-wide revival. To the contrary – much of the neo-nationalist rhetoric seeks to shift our collective attitude in ways that grieve and militate against the Lord of the nations.

Racial celebration remains one of the most cherished elements marking great surges in Kingdom expansion. And right now, our ways are stained with indifference, unrepentance, and lack of compassion toward our neighbors’ racial wounds and inequities.

O, Father of glory! Give us a considerate, and contrite heart for Your magnificent design for race.

_____________________
JSB • June, 2025

It’s Time for An American Church “Barman Declaration”

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What is the nature of the nationalist fervor which has fallen upon our nation?
How do its tenets pollute the ethos of the ekklesia, and the pure proclamation of the gospel?
How does the nationalist fervor influence the body of Christ to walk out of step with the Spirit and ways of our Lord, Jesus Christ?
What are the real, and pragmatic faith issues that are at risk, because of this fervor?
What evangelical declarations need to be reenforced within the Church in this hour?

These were questions that stirred within Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and other pastors and theologians, who were watching a menacing political spirit overtake the people of God in 1930’s Germany.

In 1936, when Bonhoeffer did most of the writing of his book, “The Cost of Discipleship“, the Nazi rallies in Nuremberg were at their height of popularity. These rallies would run for a week, and include marches of various segments of the nation (ie. Labor workers, women and mothers, youth, religious etc.) who would participate in elaborate, festive parades that would snake through surrounding villages – all culminating in the large amphitheater in Nuremberg.

The Rally included speeches on the topics of The Power of the German Workforce, the Bolshevism in Theory and Practice, Homeland Security, The Youth Movement, The Task of the Judiciary, The Task of the German Press/Newspapers, The Financial Health of the German Government

On the seventh day of the rally, “the Fuerher” would address sometimes upward of 700,000 attendees.

“I see before me endless columns of the flags of our new Reich. I make this prophecy to you: This Reich will grow in the coming centuries, becoming strong and powerful! These flags will be borne by ever new generations of our people. Germany is healthy once more! Our people is reborn! I greet you as the hope of the present and the guarantee of our future. Fight! and Be upright and determined, fear no one and do your duty! If you do so, the Lord God will never leave our people. Heil Germany!” Adolph Hitler • September 14, 1936

The following Sunday, hundreds of thousands of these same people would go to church. (In 1936, 95% of the German population identified as Christian – 65% Protestant, and 30% Catholic.)

The pro-Nazi “German Christian” movement became a force in the church in 1933, primarily preaching that Bolshevism was using race as a way to pollute and divide the German people. The majority of Protestant churches, Lutheran, Methodist and Baptist fell in league with the Nazi Party by 1936, forming the “Protestant Reich Church”, and glorified Adolf Hitler as a “German prophet”.

Early on, some Catholic bishops prohibited Catholics in their dioceses from joining the Nazi Party. This ban was dropped after Hitler’s March 23, 1933, speech to the Reichstag in which he described Christianity as “the foundation for German values”.

The Reich Ministry of Church Affairs was established in July of 1936, creating for the first time in Germany an independent, centralized government ministry with responsibility for the Reich’s religious life.

The German Churches and the Nazi State https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-german-churches-and-the-nazi-state

Two years earlier, (1934) Bonhoeffer, along with a handful of other leading Protestant theologians, seeing the growing contraChrist spirit overtaking much of the German Church, formed “The Confessing Church”, centered around “The Barman Confession” (originally titled, “Theological Declaration Concerning the Present Situation of the German Evangelical Church”)
http://postbarthian.com/2018/05/21/karl-barth-and-the-barmen-declaration-1934/

“The Barman Declaration” (chiefly written by the Swiss theologian, Karl Barth) contained six propositions, each rooted squarely in Scripture, stating its implications for the present day, and rejecting the false doctrine of Nationalism. The declaration asserted the church’s fidelity to Jesus Christ alone, Who stands as Lord in every sphere of life – and Who’s ways are to govern the manner of His Body’s witness within each of these spheres as well.

THE BARMAN DECLARATION
In view of the errors of the “German Christians” and of the present Reich Church Administration, which are ravaging the Church and at the same time also shattering the unity of the German Evangelical Church, we confess the following evangelical truths:

1. “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved.” John 10:1,9

Jesus Christ, as he is attested to us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God whom we have to hear, and whom we have to trust and obey in life and in death.

We reject the false doctrine that the Church could and should recognize as a source of its proclamation, beyond and besides this one Word of God, yet other events, powers, historic figures and truths as God’s revelation.

2. “Jesus Christ has been made wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption for us by God.” 1 Corinthians 1:30

As Jesus Christ is God’s comforting pronouncement of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, with equal seriousness, he is also God’s vigorous announcement of his claim upon our whole life. Through him there comes to us joyful liberation from the godless ties of this world for free, grateful service to his creatures.

We reject the false doctrine that there could be areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ but to other lords, areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.

3. “Let us, however, speak the truth in love, and in every respect grow into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body is joined together.” Ephesians 4:15-16

The Christian Church is the community of brethren in which, in Word and Sacrament, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ acts in the present as Lord. With both its faith and its obedience, with both its message and its order, it has to testify in the midst of the sinful world, as the Church of pardoned sinners, that it belongs to him alone and lives and may live by his comfort and under his direction alone, in expectation of his appearing.

We reject the false doctrine that the Church could have permission to hand over the form of its message and of its order to whatever it itself might wish or to the vicissitudes of the prevailing ideological and political convictions of the day.

4. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to have authority over you must be your servant.” Matthew 20:25-26

The various offices in the Church do not provide a basis for some to exercise authority over others but for the ministry [lit., “service”] with which the whole community has been entrusted and charged to be carried out.

We reject the false doctrine that, apart from this ministry, the Church could, and could have permission to, give itself or allow itself to be given special leaders [Führer] vested with ruling authority.

5. “Fear God. Honor the Emperor.” 1 Peter 2:17

Scripture tells us that by divine appointment the State, in this still unredeemed world in which also the Church is situated, has the task of maintaining justice and peace, so far as human discernment and human ability make this possible, by means of the threat and use of force. The Church acknowledges with gratitude and reverence toward God the benefit of this, his appointment. It draws attention to God’s Dominion [Reich], God’s commandment and justice, and with these the responsibility of those who rule and those who are ruled. It trusts and obeys the power of the Word, by which God upholds all things.

We reject the false doctrine that beyond its special commission the State should and could become the sole and total order of human life and so fulfill the vocation of the Church as well.

We reject the false doctrine that beyond its special commission the Church should and could take on the nature, tasks and dignity which belong to the State and thus become itself an organ of the State.

6. “See, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:20 “God’s Word is not fettered.” 2 Timothy 2:9

The Church’s commission, which is the foundation of its freedom, consists in this: in Christ’s stead, and so in the service of his own Word and work, to deliver all people, through preaching and sacrament, the message of the free grace of God.

We reject the false doctrine that with human vainglory the Church could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of self-chosen desires, purposes and plans.

The Confessing Synod of the German Evangelical Church declares that it sees in the acknowledgment of these truths and in the rejection of these errors the indispensable theological basis of the German Evangelical Church as a confederation of Confessing Churches. It calls upon all who can stand in solidarity with its Declaration to be mindful of these theological findings in all their decisions concerning Church and State. It appeals to all concerned to return to unity in faith, hope and love.

Verbum Dei manet in aeternum.
(The Word of God endures forever.)

Is it time for the American Church to establish her own Barman Declaration? Is it past time?

What is the nature of the nationalist fervor which has fallen upon our nation?
How do its tenets pollute the ethos of the ekklesia, and the pure proclamation of the gospel?
How does the nationalist fervor influence the body of Christ to walk out of step with the Spirit and ways of our Lord, Jesus Christ?
What are the real, and pragmatic faith issues that are at risk, because of this fervor?
What evangelical declarations need to be reenforced within the Church in this hour?

____________________
JSB • March 22, 2025

Party Rally of Honor by Dr. Walther Schmitt http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/pt36int.htm

The 1936 Nazi Rally Order of Ceremony
https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/pt36.htm

Jeremiah, the False Prophets, and the Church of Sodom

/ JSB / 3 Comments

Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in 627 BC. He gained national notoriety when he first prophesied the destruction of the Temple during the wicked King Jehoiakim’s reign in 609 BC. He warned that if the Judeans would not repent before the Lord, and put away their sinful practices, the destruction of the Temple and exile would follow. Unwilling to listen, the wicked king, the nobility, and the priesthood persecuted Jeremiah and attempted to have him silenced – permanently.

After the traumatic exile of Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim’s son) and 10,000 other leading Judeans twelve years later, there was widespread concern in the land. Suddenly, Jeremiah’s bleak prophecies appeared to be materializing. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia was rapidly conquering the world, and the tiny nation of Judah was extremely vulnerable. However, a group of false prophets arose in Judah who predicted a miraculous downfall of Babylon followed by the return of Jehoiachin and the other exiles.

Around the same time, Egypt was fanning the flames of revolt against Babylon. This led King Zedekiah to host an international summit in 593 BC to discuss the formation of an anti-Babylonian coalition. This summit gave the people of Judah all the more religious and political encouragement to oppose Jeremiah’s message of humility and surrender to the ways of the Lord. Why repent and be broken before the Lord, when the hour called for strength, and unity under the banner of national pride and integrity?

Jeremiah appeared at Zedekiah’s summit wearing a yoke; a picture of the Lord’s call for Judah (and the rest of the nations) to dutifully submit and entrust themselves to YHWH’s dependable leadership.

In essence, the line was drawn in the sand. Will Judah attempt to make herself great in the ways of the world? Or would she clothe herself with the Lord’s definition of greatness, namely, “to walk in humble fidelity to God”?

Thus said the Lord to me: Make for yourself thongs and bars of a yoke, and put them on your neck. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by envoys who have come to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem…The nation or kingdom that does not serve him – King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon – and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will visit – declares the Lord – with sword, famine, and pestilence, until I have destroyed it by his hands. As for you, give no heed to your prophets, augurs, dreamers, diviners, and sorcerers, who say to you, “Do not serve the king of Babylon.” For they prophesy falsely to you – with the result that you shall be banished from your land; I will drive you out and you shall perish. But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serves him, will be left by Me on its own soil—declares the Lord – to till it and dwell on it. (Jeremiah 27:2-11).

After Jeremiah’s dramatic presentation, the false prophet Hananiah son of Azzur publicly confronted Jeremiah, breaking his yoke and announcing that Babylon would fall in two years (Jeremiah chapter 28). Of course, we are privy to the course of history. Jeremiah was indeed the true prophet, and Hananiah, and the other court-prophets were false.

However, in the real time of the story, one must ask: How were the people – even the most God-fearing ones – to distinguish between true and false prophets? This question was not merely a matter of academic interest. Jeremiah’s forecast of seventy years of Babylonian rule (Jeremiah 25:10-11; 29:10) came with political ramifications: remain faithful to the ways of the Lord, even under the thumb of Babylon, or suffer the destruction of their nation. By predicting the miraculous demise of the pagan empire of Babylon, the false prophets supported strident, prideful, national revolt against Babylon. These were the social media contentions of their day. What was being argued influenced not only matters of state, but also the very survival of the people, their families, and their way of life.

Some false prophets were easier to detect than others. Their flagrant disregard for the Torah discredited them as true prophets. However, Hananiah son of Azzur and Shemaiah the Nehelamite (Jeremiah 29:24-32) both sounded righteous. Neither preached idolatry nor laxity in Torah observance, and both spoke in the name of God. After each prophet made his case, Jeremiah “went on his way” (Jeremiah 28:11). There was no way for the people to know who was right, and therefore they would have to wait to see whose prediction would be fulfilled.

Waiting, however, was not a helpful option. The false prophets were riding the crest of national zeal for revolt now, and what Jeremiah was calling for looked so passive – submissive even.

Before the Lord, Jeremiah bemoaned the mockery he endured on account of the peoples’ refusal to receive his words: “See, they say to me: ‘Where is the prediction of the Lord? Let it come to pass!’” (Jeremiah 17:15). Although Jeremiah would ultimately be vindicated, in the fire of revived national resolve and fervor, his way seemed meek and impractical.

To address these difficulties, Jeremiah presented alternative criteria by which to ascertain false prophets. He staked his argument in the Torah’s assertion that a prophet who preaches idolatry is a false prophet regardless of successful predictions or signs:

As for that prophet or dream-diviner, he shall be put to death; for HE URGED DISLOYALTY TO THE LORD YOUR GOD (ki dibber sarah al A-donai Elohekhem) – who freed you from the land of Egypt and who redeemed you from the house of bondage – to make you stray from the path that the Lord your God commanded you to follow. Thus you will sweep out evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:6)

Strikingly, Jeremiah extended the Torah’s example of idolatry to include anyone who did not actively promote repentance before God. Since the false prophets predicted the unconditional downfall of Babylon irrespective of any repentance on the people’s part, they must be fraudulent: 

In the prophets of Samaria I saw a repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. But what I see in the prophets of Jerusalem is something horrifying: adultery and false dealing. They encourage evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. TO ME THEY ARE ALL LIKE SODOM, AND ALL ITS INHABITANTS LIKE GOMORRAH. (Jeremiah 23:13-14).

More subtly, Deuteronomy uses the expression, “for he urged disloyalty to the Lord your God” (ki dibber sarah al A-donai Elohekhem). This phraseology is used to refer to specific prophets only twice in the books of the prophets: when Jeremiah censured Hananiah and Shemaiah, the two false prophets who appeared the most righteous:

Assuredly, thus said the Lord: I am going to banish you from off the earth… for you have urged disloyalty to the Lord (ki sarah dibbarta el A-donai) (Jeremiah 28:16)

Assuredly, thus said the Lord: I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There shall be no man of his line dwelling among this people or seeing the good things I am going to do for My people, declares the Lord – for he has urged disloyalty toward the Lord (ki sarah dibber al A-donai) (Jeremiah 29:32).

Thus Jeremiah distinguished the true prophet(s) from the false prophets, (even the most undetectable false prophets) according to whose words called for humility, and pure and simple obedience to the ways of the Lord, vs. those who urged disloyalty to the ways of the Lord. 

Beloved. This is where we find ourselves today. The parallel between the day of Jeremiah, and the 21 century American Church is striking. (We should let it strike us!)

There is undoubtably a world-wide plague of pagan godlessness that threatens to overtake our world – and our nation. But in the moment of crisis, the Lord is calling His people to resist the temptation to clothe ourselves in our own power and greatness; the worldly dynamics of increased wealth, increased political influence; hostile authoritarianism; and strident uniformity. Instead, He’s calling His people to remain faithful to His ways – the foundational ways that His Son laid out for us in the Sermon on the Mount: “Remain broken. Remain tender-in-heart. Remain meek. Remain hungry for God’s right order. Remain holy. Remain merciful. Remain peaceable. And repent of every way that you have let go of these realities of My Kingdom.”

One of the great, great lies of the last eight years has been the subtle invitation into a false way; a false hope; an invitation to become disloyal to, and distrust the power of the foundational ways of the Lord. The devil’s voice goes sounds like this: “You’re not electing a pastor. You’re electing a President.” In essence, the tempter is saying: “You don’t need the meek way of Jeremiah. You need the power of the hostile, lustful, strident, unrelenting, prideful, forceful, singular-minded way of the world. The way of Jesus’ beatitudes won’t work here.”

I’ve been praying for revival in my nation for all of my adult life. The picture of that revival is one that includes capital buildings as well as churches. It’s a vision of God’s matchless, eternal power and holy glory resting on Presidents, politicians, pundits and pastors. Perhaps we’d all be closer to that reality if we had more voices of the Lord proclaiming that we’ve become the culture of Sodom, and less vaunted victory cries of “America is back”. Perhaps what we need are more present day prophets speaking to our President like Jeremiah, and less time blessing the carnality of his power, like Hananiah. Perhaps it’s time to hear and heed the wilderness, yoked voices that are calling the people of God to repent, and remain faithful to the foundational ways of God.

____________________
JSB • December, 2024

#ChurchOfSodom

NOTE: In this BLOG, I am beholden to the Lord having called our house to pray/read through the book of Jeremiah three times over the last several years; AND an excellent exposition on the life of Jeremiah, by Rabbi Mark D. Angel.