Will Truth Really Set You Free?
Today’s Verse and Thought
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,”(John 1:17).
Today there is a strong push to learn how to gain a person’s trust. Politicians, Companies, and NGOs spend millions of dollars trying to find ways to gain trust. Naively, we think that if we can trust someone, it’s because they are being truthful. But trust and truth aren’t necessarily compatible. In fact, many today in our culture who claim to “speak truth” are highly deceptive and untrustworthy.
How do cultural “experts” define truth?
“Finding your truth is a profound and transformative journey that requires self-reflection and introspection. It involves discovering and embracing who you truly are at your core and living in alignment with that authenticity. It requires a willingness to listen to yourself, to be aware of your truth, and to take action based on that truth.
Ultimately, finding your truth is about living a life that is authentic to who you are. It means breaking free from the limitations of societal expectations and embracing your unique gifts and potential. It may involve letting go of relationships that no longer serve your growth and surrounding yourself with people who accept and support your truth. (Psychology Today).
The concept of living “your truth” began more as a statement of theoretical authentic living, rather than supporting the concept that truth is never absolute.
Any rational human being knows that there are undisputable truths in the universe. For instance, if you throw a rock, it will fall. Water will make things wet. We must eat to live. Getting slapped hurts. Gavin Newsom is a horrible governor (Ok maybe that one is subjective - prove me wrong) but the rest are universal truths.
But just like so many other things in life, encouragement to live “your truth” quickly became exploited by those willing to capitalize on it for their own gain.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?’ ”(Genesis 3:1).
This truth will enslave you
In Jesus day, the Jews were under the political rule of the Roman government. While the Jews were allowed to govern with relative religious autonomy, Rome was still the political overlord. They enforced Roman law, often usurping God’s law, and Rome used their power to subject the Jews.
Ever since the creation of Israel, they have suffered long periods of enslavement from a variety of captors. So the “savior” they longed for, and expected, was a political one. They interpreted the scriptures that Messiah would be a king who would rule humanity on earth. They didn’t understand their own scriptures, or the timing of events.
“Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” (Isaiah 40:10).
When Jesus came, most of the Jews missed the Messiah because they were taught incorrectly. They didn’t understand what they needed freedom from, and what really enslaved them.
And it wasn’t Rome.
Jesus didn’t come as a political king, but as a human sacrifice. The Jews sought freedom from Rome; not freedom from sin. Everything Jesus was, and did, seemed opposite from what they believed. Sadly, they believed “their truth” but not THE TRUTH.
“Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.”(Jeremiah 8:5)
Israel had a serious sin problem.
As we look at the book of Judges(Bible study below), we will see that once again, even after all that God had done for Israel, they were still unwilling to live according to God’s truth.
The ancient Jews were no different than us today. They made a covenant with God, then as time went on, and they encountered other “truths” and were influenced by other ways of life, and they began to abandon God’s truth in trade for something that “felt” more authentic to their humanity - sin and rebellion.
Let’s face it; it’s natural to sin. When we are told to live authentic to who we are, it’s a deceptive statement because what we really are is a corrupted human being. Who we are - the sinful human - is the very thing that is against all that God wanted for us. The very thing that Israel sought, was the very thing they refused to believe.
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(John 8:31-32).
Jesus declared that there was a “truth” that would set the people free.
Just like in the days of Adam, Satan takes the concept of “truth” and twists it into lies. The people believed that the Messiah would come as a warrior and free the people from political slavery. So when that didn’t happen, they once again rejected the covenant that God was making with them.
Being a slave to Rome was nothing compared to being a slave to sin. As humans, we are susceptible to deception, and today is no different than during the time of the Judges. In the church today, we have a very serious and subversive deception problem.
Many US churches today erroneously teach that Christians are the “true Israel” and are responsible for “taking dominion” of the world. Just as Israel was looking for a political savior, so too are many Christians today.
“Dominion theology refers to a line of theological interpretation and thought with regard to the role of the church in contemporary society. Dominion theology is also known as Christian reconstructionism and theonomy. Dominion theology states that biblical Christianity will rule all areas of society, personal and corporate…
Those who hold these views believe that it is the duty of Christians to create a worldwide kingdom patterned after the Mosaic Law. They believe that Christ will not return to earth until such a kingdom has been established. The principal goal, then, of dominion theology and Christian reconstructionism is political and religious domination of the world through the implementation of the moral laws, and subsequent punishments, of the Old Testament (the sacrificial and ceremonial laws having been fulfilled in the New Testament). This is not a government system ruled by the church, but rather a government conformed to the Law of God.”(Got Questions).
In the Book of Judges, Israel abandoned God’s truth in exchange for pagan truth. In modernity, Israel missed the Messiah because they didn’t know the truth of Scripture. Today, we too are missing the truth as we trust deceptive messages that are coming disguised as angels of light.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”(John 14:6).
The truth is, Israel had a sin problem, both in antiquity and in Modernity. And Gentiles have the same problem. We have taken THE TRUTH and turned it into A TRUTH. There is only one Savior and Messiah, and it isn’t the reformed church.
We all have a sin problem. And Jesus message is the only trustworthy message of spiritual truth. The Bible, all 66 books, are the words and testimony of God. If the Politicians, corporations, and NGOs were wise, they would realize that it’s the truth that builds trust, and the real truth only comes from God.
“The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving,” (Proverbs 14:8).
Today’s Question
Bible Study
The Book of Judges
The book of Judges tells the continuing story of the leaders of Israel. The judges here are similar to tribal chiefs; not court judges. The story begins with the death of their leader, Joshua. The book contains several stories that may be familiar with anyone growing up in Sunday school.
The prophetess Deborah, and General Barak, and Deborah’s famous battle and victory.
The story of Deborah, Barak, Sisera, Jael and the deadly tent peg.
Gideon (AKA Jerubbaal) and the sign of the fleece.
Gideon/Jerubbaal and the army of 300 against the Midianites.
The story of Samson and Delilah.
One of the prevailing themes in the book is the downward moral spiral of Israel, and repetitive evil that is overviewed in chapter two.
Israel’s downward spiral after the death of Joshua
Remember back in the wilderness, we read about the rebellion of the adult generation that came out of Egypt. They turned their backs on God, and bowed down to the golden calf when Moses went up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments.
They refused to go into the Promised Land because of the bad report of giants in the land. They also desired their lives back in Egypt - where they were enslaved. God caused that generation to “wander” for 40 total years in the wilderness. He then declared that the next generation would take the land instead. Then the next generation of Israel, led by Joshua, began to take the land, as they renewed their covenant with God.
After the death of Joshua, there were still Canaanites living in the Promised Land. In the beginning of Judges, there’s a list of people and towns that still needed to be cleared out. But the people of Israel ignored God’s decree to completely drive out the Canaanites from the land. Instead, they were influenced by the pagan religions, and enslaved the inhabitants.
Seven times in Judges we read that “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” One of the primary reasons that God wanted the Canaanites out of the land in the first place, (besides the giant problem), was the influence of the moral corruption that had permeated the land since the days of Babel.
Remember back in Genesis when God sent Israel to live in Egypt during the famine, He promised Abraham that in the fourth generation the people wold come out of Egypt and go back to the Land. But first the “sins of the Amorites” had to reach their full.
“And they [Israel] shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”(Genesis 15:16).
The inhabitants of Canaan worshipped many gods. They had rituals with temple prostitutes; held religious orgies, and sacrificed children in the fire to the Baals of Canaan. God chose His people to live a different kind of life. They weren’t to participate in these detestable pagan practices, but their sinful nature kept pulling them away from God’s Laws.
We had already witnessed how the pagan culture of Egypt influenced Israel back in the wilderness during the Exodus.
“And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” (Exodus 32:7-8).
Now here in Judges, we once again see the people influenced by the false religions of the land. Remember from a previous study that this rebellion was prophesied by Moses when he told the Israelites that God foretold of their future corruption.
“For I [Moses] know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”(Deuteronomy 31:29).
Before entering the Promised Land, God had assured the people that if they followed His laws and commands, that He would bless them and be with them. He would drive out the people from the land. But it was a conditional promise.
“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” (Exodus 34:11).
This week as we look at some of the highlights from the book of Judges, we will witness the influence of Canaanite religions in Israel as each judge listed began a downward spiral when, basically, they fired God, and turned once again to pagan deities.
Verses to Explore
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.’ ”(Leviticus 18:1-5).
“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”(Romans 6:16).
Today’s Prayer
Father today I pray for truth.I don’t want to believe something that makes me feel good or sounds good, I want to believe in your good truth. I pray that my understanding of your Word is based on your wisdom and not on any kind of cultural influence. There are many deceptive voices in the world today, and we can be deceived. Keep us from the lies of satan. Help us to see the truth- even if it is painful. Show us the truth about ourselves, our relationships, our attitudes, our actions, and our beliefs. We want the truth. We pray that you open our eyes wide to your truth. Amen. All praise and glory belong to you.❤️