Articles
Dangerous Detours [2]
Last week, we considered examples of some who those who had “turned aside” from the way God had directed them, and the consequences of those choices. This week, we will consider some warnings found within Scripture to not “turn aside,” or warnings about those who would turn aside, and why. Let us not be of those who would think, “That won’t happen to me,” should we choose to ignore those warnings.
A Warning to the Israelites. When Moses stood before the Israelites an reiterated their travels and actions up to that point, he warned them, after having reminded them of the Law that had been given, “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess” (Deut. 5:32, 33). Adherence to the ways of the Lord would bring blessings, so the logical conclusion would be that they would not enjoy those blessings should they “turn aside.”
This warning would be repeated later (Deut. 28:14), and what followed was a clear delineation of what would happen if they did (Deut. 28:15-68). Some of the consequences of “turning aside” would be “that…curses will come upon you and overtake you,” including curses wherever they went, curses on their food, on the fruit of their bodies and of their land, and essentially everything they did (Deut. 28:16-20). They would face sickness and disease; they would be defeated by their enemies; they would be taken captive and ruled by foreign kings; and they would be taken back to Egypt in ships and sold as slaves, but no one would want them.
Sadly, the Israelites would not pass on these warnings to their descendants — either that, or the warnings were simply ignored — because they and their descendants would “turn aside” from the ways of the Lord. Not surprisingly, God kept His word and all the consequences of their choices to “turn aside” came upon them. Many years later, when one of those descendants was in captivity, it was acknowledged then, “we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land” (Dan. 9:5, 6).
Let us not think that if we “turn aside” from the ways of the Lord today, there will be no consequences. The writer of Hebrews, who admonished the Jewish Christians to not turn away from Christ, warned, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: ‘For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him’” (Heb. 10:35-38). They most certainly could “turn aside,” and God made it clear through these inspired words that He would have “no pleasure” in those who did so. Don’t deceive yourself into falling for the false doctrine of “once saved, always saved”; these brethren would not be saved if they “turned aside,” and it was clearly possible for them to do so.
If any believer “turns aside” from the ways of God and back into the world, Peter notes, “the latter end is worse for them than the beginning,” and “it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Pet. 2:20, 21). That certainly doesn’t sound like “once saved, always saved” to me!
A Warning About Those Who Would “Turn Aside” From the Truth. Paul’s admonition to Timothy was stern, but it was given because some would soon “turn aside” from the Lord’s ways. He admonished Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). Why such a stern admonition? Because, as Paul would continue, “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3, 4).
In simple terms, some would reject the truth because they didn’t want to hear it! They would reject those who spoke truth, too, and instead seek those who would speak only what they wanted to hear, which was “fables” — by definition, “a story not founded on fact.” They would refuse truth and desire words that were false, fiction, and lies! I would guess that most of us would deny ever wanting this, but let us keep in mind these are ones who once loved the truth and defended truth, but who would, at some point, turn away from the truth and follow after lies. Did they think they would ever do that when they first became believers? Likely not.
The sad fact is, there are many ‘religious’ people today who have fulfilled Paul’s warning, rejecting the pure and simple message of the gospel and, instead, seek after speakers who are merely good ‘storytellers,’ and messages that are designed to make the listener comfortable in their sins. To illustrate this fact, I refer you to an old Rocky Mountain News Religion editor who once contacted 50 religious leaders in the Denver metro area, and asked them one question, with a potential follow-up, depending on how they answered. The question? — “Do you still preach on sin?”
Before I read through the article, I had my own guess as to the percentage of churches that still taught about sin, but I way over-estimated. Out of the 50 churches contacted, not one — ZERO — still taught on sin! The follow-up question then had to be asked: “Why not?” He cited one “pastor,” who replied, “If we did, we would lose half of our membership.”
How sad! It is sad not just because these leaders have compromised the truth and have become those “teachers” Paul warned about, who ‘scratch” the “itching ears” of those who would “not endure sound doctrine.” Even sadder, these religious leaders compromised for the sake of what is often called “the bottom line”- — money. They don’t want to lose numbers, but it is more than that; they don’t want to lose membership because those attending contribute to the financial coffers of the churches they lead. Is it any wonder churches in this country keep upping the ante to draw more and more people into their buildings? They have ceased being about saving souls and have become nothing but merchandisers of the gospel, which seems to be curiously absent from the message anyone would ever hear inside those impressive structures.
Let us resolve to be more like the psalmist, who would write, “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths” (Psa. 25:45), and, “Cause me to know the way in which I should walk” (Psa. 143:8). Can we honestly make such a request of the Lord? Do we honestly want to follow His ways, and not our own?
Let us be constantly checking our path against the path that leads us to eternal life; let us make sure it is we who have not “turned aside.” Let us follow in the steps of Jesus — to the very end. — Steven Harper
