A Call To The Remnant

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?(Jer 23:28-29) We live in a day when the chaff is in the wind. Everywhere we look there is chaff. Every other day we hear of some “Christian leader,” or other, publicly forsaking the Lord Jesus and refuting their “faith.” False prophets have dreams from their own vain imaginations while pursuing their worldly ambitions, growing fat by living of the fat of the land that calls itself Christendom. Ultimately chaff will blow away in the wind. God Himself says “what is chaff to the wheat?” Why should the wheat take notice of the chaff? It is the wheat that feeds the soul, it is the wheat that makes the bread that feeds the saints. In the beginning of this chapter of Jeremiah he says “thus says the God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people;you have scattered my flock, driven them away and not attended to them, behold I will attend to you for the evil of your doings.” Is it just me or should that terrify a man when God says I will attend to you for the evil of your doings? What was their great evil? They fed the sheep chaff and not wheat. The chaff is nothing, the wheat, the true word of God is a consuming fire, it is a hammer that breaks the rocks of opposition to pieces.

Jesus asks Peter three times in John 21 if Peter loved Him. This of course grieved the heart of Peter. Each time He asks the question and Peter answers Jesus says “feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.” The evidence that a shepherd loves the Lord His God above all else is that he feeds God’s sheep. The evidence of a shepherd or a minister who loves something more than God, is that he feeds himself. He promotes himself. His works, his ways, his words and the name of the Lord is forgotten as they elevate their own name, their own words, their own ways and grow fat from the offerings of the sheep. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal Jer (23:26) Anything that elevates itself above the person of Jesus is chaff which shall be blown away in the wind.

In the beginning of 1 Sam we are introduced to Hophni and Phinehas, the two wicked priests who were the sons of Eli. Huge enormous fat men who engorged themselves with the food the people brought as a sacrifice and who slept with the women who gathered at the door of the tabernacle. Total degradation. Now, Eli, who should have known better, allows all of that to take place. He does rebuke his sons in 1 Sam 2:22 but at best, it is a half-hearted rebuke and they keep right on sinning. Now we see in verse 26 of the same chapter that “a man of God,” comes and severely rebukes Eli. God says to Eli in verse 29- “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?” You see, although Eli lightly rebukes his sons, we see why it went no further than that, he himself was hugely fat by the overindulgence of the sacrifices given to God by His people. Now, at the very same time, God is raising up a His own man, Samuel.

So, what is the sin of those who lead the flocks today, those who call themselves shepherds and pastors? It is the same sin as the sin of Eli. Even although some may rebuke the sins of the Hophni and Phineahs’s of our day, they still participate is a system that promotes and allows this to continue. Why? Well, by that very system they get fat themselves. For Eli to fully rebuke his son’s in a proper manner, by removing them, he would have to repent of his own participation and step down himself. This is a bridge too far for Eli and also a bridge too far our present generation of shepherds and pastors. And so, Samuel continues to grow in the shadow of great wickedness and corruption. And we see that the very first thing God says to Samuel, his very first prophecy which will be as a fire and a hammer that shatters the rock is this in chapter 3 of 1 Sam ……………

And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.(1Sa 3:11-14)

Eli’s sin? He refused to restrain them, even although he knew. When a man who represents God refuses to speak, refuses to do the hard thing, refuses to take himself out of that which he knows to be corrupt,so that he might still gain the fat of the land, whether that be food or money or reputation or standing, he will find himself judged as harshly as the wicked sons of Eli and indeed Eli himself. When there is a refusal to restrain and a continued participation in what you know to be corrupt, then what happens next? In 1 Sam 4 we see that the Ark of the Covenant is captured. Israel has suffered defeat and in their panic and desire for God to move on their behalf, they bring out the Ark of the Covenant, as if the presence of God could be uses and manipulated like a genie in a bottle. The Israelites were defeated and the sons of Eli were killed. God had withdrawn His presence and allowed the symbol of His presence to fall into the enemies hands. Eli hears the news, falls over backwards and breaks his neck, being that he was so heavy. His indulgence over all the years that he did not retrain wickedness and was in fact a participator in it, finally catches up with him and kills him. Ichabod is born to Phinehas’s wife and she pronounces “The glory of God has departed from Israel.”

I would like to suggest, that for the most part today, the glory of God has departed from a system that is corrupt. Yes they try and use the symbols and traditions of God but He will not hear them. Yet just as David was being established in the time of Saul, and Samuel was being raised in the time of Eli and his sons and Jesus was being raised in the time of the Pharisees, God always has a witness and is raising up a remnant people who will be led by shepherds who love Jesus above everything and whose one desire is to serve Him and feed His sheep. God says in Jeremiah 23 that “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.(Jer 23:3-4)

That word countries can also be translated “wilderness.” And the word “fold,” can be translated “pleasant place,” or “home.” So the Lord promises to gather the remnant from the wilderness places and bring them back to a pleasant place or home. And He also promises to raise up shepherds which shall feed His lambs and feed His His sheep. All over the world the Lord is raising up such shepherds for such a time as this. A time of Ichabod all across Christendom, but His presence is secure in the hearts of His children. He assured us that He would never leave us nor forsake us and our God is a God who never lies. Lift up your eyes brothers and sisters, for while there is great darkness and corruption in the land and persecution is riding towards us as hard and as fast as it can, and fat and unholy hirelings increase their judgments, Christ is coming. And even although the judgements will be severe the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.