Paul Vieira

Long ago, six hundred years before the birth of Christ, there lived a man named Jeremiah. He had this message that God was leaving the building but the people didn`t believe him. The popular idea circulating around the ancient city of Jerusalem was that God would never allow anything to happen to their established system of worship, especially when it came to the temple that God had instituted. The people believed that as long as they went to church, they were safe. The looming threat came in the form of a massive world empire called Babylon and its self-indulgent king Nebuchadnezzar. He was conquering nations left and right, but the people of Jerusalem were assured by their ‘prophets’ that nothing would ever happen to them and their beloved temple. Why were they so sure? Did God tell them that He would protect them?

Actually, they were standing on a Bible verse. Through Isaiah 37:6, 7, 29, God promised to protect the temple from being destroyed! However, this truth was meant for a generation that lived over 100 years previously, another moment in history when the people of that city were under fear of being attached by the world power of their day, the Assyrians. The inhabitants of Jerusalem in Jeremiah`s day were trusting in a promise that was made to a completely different group of people, under different circumstances. They were taking a truth from a previous time and applying it to their own season without making sure the context was the same. This prophecy from Isaiah became a lie to them because it was taken out of it`s context. Actually, Jeremiah warned the people that they were trusting in lying words. (Jer. 7:3, 4) Their false sense of security was based on a verse of prophecy, but mistakenly applied to a wrong season. There are seasons of peace and seasons of discipline. The people of Jeremiah`s generation were entering into a time of discipline, while clinging to truth that was meant for times of peace.

We do this all the time with the Bible. We hold on to all our favorite verses that promise the good things we desire, while ignoring other verses that aren`t as pleasant. What we fail to understand is that all these verses are frozen in time. They have a context and you can`t ignore the context or even the Bible can become a source of deception for you. The key is to find out what season you are in and then read the truth from scripture that belongs to the appropriate season. It’s not too difficult. You need to know what is going on in the story of scripture and ask God to show you if your story matches that particular season.

I`m convinced that we here in the West have entered into a season similar to the days of Jeremiah. This is what I write on page 245 of my book:
Most churchgoers do believe they have a certain degree of immunity to judgment simply because they go to church. We have a misguided faith in our connection to the church as an institution. We feel safe behind its four walls. Perhaps this security is in our denominational affiliation, or in adherence to certain theological positions, or just due to the fact that in some way we are associated with Christianity. Who would dare to imagine that God would ever dismantle the church as we know it? It`s been here for so long. Nothing could sink this ship. Biblical history tells a different story. It seems as though God has no trouble forsaking an old form to move onto something new, even if it was He who established it in the first place.

Jeremiah`s message to his people was that God was leaving the building, the Temple will be destroyed and it was a time to turn back to God. Jeremiah prophesied the exile and God`s people entered into a very interesting season. This is the season that I and many others have come into; more about that soon.