By Richard Wright
As I write this I must tell you that I really feel like screaming it at the top of my lungs wherever I find christians who might listen. I have known and still know great men and women of God who, when they reached an age that they no longer seemed to have their youthful zeal, have been “put out to pasture” by the Church. It seems like most of the “church” desire the more youthful ministries who can still dazzle them with their energy. Certainly not all, but many of the younger ministries who I am either hearing or reading are attempting to modernize God “in order to reach this generation”. Much of this modernization of God is leading the Church down the watered-down path toward destruction. This grieves me and when I mention it, my age is blamed and I have even been told that I need to step down and let the younger generation lead.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WISDOM OF SITTING AT THE ELDERS’ FEET?
Does God change with each generation? Should we appeal to the desires of our youth in order to build larger churches? Does the end justify the means? What are the fruits of compromise?
Lamentations 4:12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
4:13 Because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who have shed in her midst the blood of the righteous;
4:14 They wandered, blind, in the streets; they were defiled with blood so that no one could touch their garments.
4:15 “Depart! Unclean!” they cried of themselves. “Depart, depart, do not touch!” So they fled and wandered; men among the nations said, “They shall not continue to dwell with us.”
4:16 The presence of the Lord has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them; they did not honor the priests, they did not favor the elders.
5:1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our reproach!
5:2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to aliens.
5:3 We have become orphans without a father, our mothers are like widows.
5:4 We have to pay for our drinking water, our wood comes to us at a price.
5:5 Our pursuers are at our necks; we are worn out, there is no rest for us.
5:6 We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
5:7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; it is we who have borne their iniquities.
5:8 Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hand.
5:9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
5:10 Our skin has become as hot as an oven, because of the burning heat of famine.
5:11 They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah.
5:12 Princes were hung by their hands; elders were not respected.
5:13 Young men worked at the grinding mill, and youths stumbled under loads of wood.
5:14 Elders are gone from the gate, young men from their music.
5:15 The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned into mourning.
5:16 The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!
5:17 Because of this our heart is faint, because of these things our eyes are dim;
5:18 Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate, foxes prowl in it.
5:19 You, O Lord, rule forever; Your throne is from generation to generation.
Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. He wept over the condition of God’s people. Please note in verse 14 he says that the elders were no longer at the gate. The elders were no longer there because the people desired something newer, more modern, and stopped listening to them. Wisdom, justice, and happiness had departed from the city. The city gate where the elders used to gather was the place of justice and wisdom. Disputes between individuals were taken to the wise elders. But with the departure of the elders (cf. Lamentations 5:12) the wisdom and justice normally available to the Jews was gone.
Yes, these are new times, but God never changes, nor does His Word or His ways. Another scripture comes to mind to take into consideration for this apostolic letter to the Church. It also comes from the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah. 6:16 Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
The Hebrew word translated here as “ancient” is OLAM . Some of the meanings of this word are: Old, concealed, hidden, perpetual, eternal, timeless, from eternity. Everything on the earth is patterned after things in heaven. God’s ways are heavenly, eternal, timeless. Before God created man or the earth, His ways were established, and He walked in them. These were ways of thinking, ways of speaking, ways of behaving and relating to one another. Man has drifted so far from these ways that we no longer recognize what these ways are anymore.
Nevertheless, God instructs us through the prophet Jeremiah to see and ask for the “ancient paths” again. He tells us that they are the “good way.” The Hebrew word for “good” used in this passage is the word TOV. Some of the meanings of this word are: Pleasant, agreeable, happy, well off, prosperous, great, excellent, cheerful, merry, distinguished. We are also told that when we walk in these paths, we will find rest for our souls. This would end all the continual torment that seems to be on the inside of many. The farther away from the original ways of God man has departed, the shorter his life span has become and the more complicated he has made his own life and the Church.
I am constantly amazed at hearing the new age theology that is now mixed in with the Word of God coming from so many. I am also deeply concerned with the lack of discernment and disregard for the pure Word of God that is rapidly growing and being accepted by so many and this includes many ministries.
Join with me in returning to the ancient paths of God. It begins with acknowledging that we know nothing and are nothing apart from the Lord. We must enter into a season of repentance and going back to the basics we are taught in God’s holy Word. We must reexamine our born-again experience with Jesus and know clearly the day of our salvation and recognize who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us. Let’s finally stop chasing the miracles and chase the Miracle Giver (as we often say). LET’S WALK IN THE ANCIENT PATHS TOGETHER! LET’S RETURN TO SITTING AT OUR ELDERS’ FEET TO GLEAN THEIR WISDOM AND REVELATION OF THE WAYS OF GOD!
Written in His covenant love,
Apostle Richard Wright