Our Declarations of Peace

They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.                  -Jeremiah 8:11

When we approach Scripture what kinds of things are we looking for?  Do we want something that will make us feel good about ourselves or our circumstances?  Do we want to find something that will make us feel like we are right where we need to be in our walks with God?  This is often the case.  We want to find a Scripture that will give us reassurance that the lives we are living and the place where we have found ourselves is exactly what God wants.  There are times when we want to do this so badly that we are guilty of stretching the truth of God’s Word – if not completely ignoring it – so that we do not have to change the way that we are living.  God talked about this through the prophet Jeremiah, and again through Ezekiel (Ezek. 13:10). 

The people of Israel faced the judgment of God on more than one occasion.  They rebelled against their Lord and Deliverer continually.  But it always seemed that no matter how far they strayed they were always able to find for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (2 Tim. 4:3).  There were always teachers who would proclaim peace to “God’s people” even in the face of the obvious judgment pronounced on them by God Himself.  We do not know all the reasons that this happened, but we could speculate that they wanted to carry favor with Israel and enjoyed the prominence that this constant positive “self-help” message would bring.  But what the message would not bring is favor with God.  It would never bring real, lasting peace – peace given by God – to the people of Israel.  It only brought the inevitable.  As the people continued to live in rebellion against God (because they were taught that it was alright) His anger was kindled and the people learned that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:30).

People have not changed much.  We like to feel good about ourselves and the way we are living.  We don’t like to be challenged and pushed toward God.  We would much rather find teachers who will tell us what our “itching ears” want to hear.  But what peace do we gain from that?  Does focusing on only what we perceive to be the “positive, uplifting” parts of Scripture really draw us closer to God?  It may draw us closer to what we want to believe God to be, but it never really gives us a complete picture of the God we serve, or His Son, Jesus Christ.  We begin many of our conversations with, “My God would not…” or “My Bible never says…”  The reality is that any God that is not revealed through Scripture is not really God.  Are we trying to find the God of Heaven, or our god?  Do we not read the same Bible?  Why do the ones read by some seem to be missing so many pages?

It seems like an attractive prospect to look for the things we want to read in Scripture.  It seems just as attractive to focus on the attributes of God that make us feel good, but to do this is to sell ourselves short.  We miss an understanding of the fullness of God.  We will never know the extent of God’s love unless we begin to understand His jealousy.  We will never know how far He is willing to pursue us until we understand His judgment and the reasons for it. 

We can convince ourselves that it would be far better for us to spend more time on the “positive” parts of Scripture, but the price of doing this is far greater than we realize.  We put ourselves in a place where we feel secure, not in God, but in sin.  We also set an example for other Christians that our own vices are alright and do not need to be overcome.  When this happens others look at the witnesses we have become, and they do not see those who are determined to live for God, but those who “declare peace when there is no peace.”  When Christians become comfortable with our life in this world, and our association with worldly things and worldly views on Scripture, we have taken the place of the prophets in the days of Jeremiah.  God’s desire has always been to have a people who are different from this world (Lev. 11:45).  Are we willing to be those people?

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