Learn Not the Way of the Heathen: A Call to Discernment
In a world filled with diverse beliefs and practices, it's crucial to understand the importance of discernment and adherence to divine guidance. The biblical admonition, "Learn not the way of the heathen," found in Jeremiah 10:2, serves as a timeless warning against adopting customs and beliefs that contradict God's teachings. This article explores the meaning of this verse, its historical context, and its relevance to us.
The Proliferation of Religions and the Quest for Truth
The world is replete with a multitude of religions and denominations, each claiming to offer a path to salvation or enlightenment. In cities and villages alike, places of worship representing various belief systems stand side by side. While many believe that all religions lead to the same destination, it's essential to recognize that differing paths lead to different outcomes.
Consider the analogy of traveling to a specific destination. If someone provides incorrect directions, one may end up lost or far from the intended goal. Similarly, when seeking spiritual truth, it's crucial to follow accurate guidance, as found in the Word of God.
Understanding God's Word: A Precept Upon Precept Approach
To discern truth from error, it's necessary to approach the Bible with diligence and a willingness to learn. Isaiah 28:10 emphasizes the importance of studying God's Word "precept upon precept, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." This approach involves carefully examining individual verses and passages within the broader context of Scripture, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of God's message.
Defining "Heathen" in the Context of Jeremiah 10:2
The term "heathen" generally refers to individuals or groups who do not worship the God of the Bible and instead adhere to pagan or idolatrous practices. In Jeremiah 10:2, God warns His people against adopting the ways of these nations, which included idolatry, divination, and other occult practices.
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It's important to note that labeling someone as a "heathen" does not necessarily imply that they are inherently bad or evil. God looks upon the heart and judges each individual according to their understanding and knowledge of truth. He has good people in every church, and in every belief system. As they study His Word, God will reveal to them, as He will to us, more of His truths to prepare them-and us-to live with Him.
The Captivity in Babylon: A Lesson in Discernment
The book of Jeremiah provides a historical context for understanding the warning against learning the way of the heathen. In Jeremiah 29, we read that God's people were taken captive to Babylon, a city steeped in paganism and idolatry. God took responsibility for these people being in captivity. (Verse 4.) It was not His fault; it was the fault of the people.
While in captivity, the Israelites were surrounded by various forms of heathen practices, including astrology, sorcery, and the worship of celestial bodies. God cautioned them against being swayed by these practices and instead urged them to remain faithful to Him.
God instructed the captives to “seek the peace”: “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” God was telling these slaves to pray for the city and its leadership, because in so doing they would be able to have peace with Him.
God's Warnings Against False Prophets and Deceivers
In Jeremiah 29:8-9, God warned His people against false prophets and religious leaders who were spreading messages contrary to His word. These deceivers were lulling the people into a false sense of security, claiming that their captivity would be short-lived.
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Today there are many self-proclaimed preachers, pastors, and evangelists. Just saying, “I am a pastor” or “I am a priest” or “I am a preacher” does not make it so! Too many have called themselves into the office; they have not been called of God. The experience given in Jeremiah 29 is an example of self-proclamation.
It is crucial to discern between true and false prophets, ensuring that their teachings align with the Bible. Remember, when a person says, “I am a prophet of God,” then he or she must speak as God speaks. If the person does not speak as God speaks, he or she is not His prophet. It matters not what their title may be. It does not matter how much education they have. They may have the learning of the world, but they have not the heart experience that Jesus desires for each of us.
The Allure of Heathen Practices
God warned His people repeatedly about the contact they would have with these people. God counseled, “Do not worship the sun; do not worship the moon and the stars. Worship the One who created those things.” (Deuteronomy 4:19.) Jeremiah 10:2 tells us, “Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”
The heathen did not and do not understand that God is behind all these things. God warned His people that they were not to get too carried away with the practices of the heathen. These individuals in Babylon had studied the celestial phenomena in the heavens. They understood eclipses; they understood comets. They understood the orderly conjunction of the stars, the sun and the moon, and the different heavenly bodies. They understood them very well, and they used them to their advantage. The devil will use the same wonders again. The Bible tells us that he will work signs and miracles and wonders, but no matter what the devil does, he will always fall short of the power of God. He can never gain the victory if we do not let him have it. Through Christ, we are more than conquerors.
The Dangers of Syncretism
I Kings 16:30-34 tells of Ahab and how, through raising altars to Baal, he “did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” He participated in providing altars for human sacrifices. How frightening that must have been! Is it possible that the Babylonians had so mixed with God’s people that they were participating in these rites of sacrificing their children? How could God’s last-day people, as it were, who were supposed to know Him, get so deeply involved in these kinds of rites and ceremonies?
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If the people who were supposed to know God and keep His statutes and commandments could go so far as to participate in these rites and ceremonies of killing and shedding blood, is it possible that you and I may get off the path if we do not keep our eyes on Jesus? You had better believe it!
Take the time to read I Kings 16, 17, 18, and 19. There is told of this great deception that was among the Israelites. Ellen White brings out the very interesting point that God’s so-called people at that time did not really know the difference between Baal, the devil, and the true God of heaven. (See Prophets and Kings, 153.) Do you see why they had to stay in captivity for 70 years? They had to reach the point in their lives where they finally cried out, “Lord, we need You.
Distinguishing True Worship from False
Several things help to quickly identify the differences between Baal worshippers and followers of the true God. Baal worshippers always satisfy the flesh. The Lord always satisfies the desires of the soul. There is such a difference! Israel was committing the same atrocities as the Babylonians were, which was just inhumane. The majority of them were participating in the same kind of worship; they had evidently sunk far into paganism. Interestingly, some began to see that this was not right. Can this be related to Adventism today? Perhaps in your church teaching is being presented that is not truth. Sometimes we are afraid to expose error or a false teaching for fear that it might cause problems or that we may be disfellowshipped.
“God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24. Does this mean that we need the Holy Spirit to understand truth? Absolutely! “Those only who read the Scriptures as the voice of God speaking to them, are true learners. They tremble at the voice of God, for to them it is a living reality. They open their understanding to divine instruction and pray for grace. So there must be truth to answer questions such as, What happens when a person dies? What about heaven and hell? Will there be a rapture? Will it be a Second Coming? Upon what day does God want us to worship? Is it Friday, Saturday, Sunday?
God's Call to Repentance and Obedience
Throughout the Old Testament, God consistently warned His people against idolatry and called them to repentance and obedience. He made it clear that He would not tolerate the worship of other gods or the adoption of pagan practices.
Thousands of years ago, before God brought them into the Promised Land, He warned the Israelites not to follow the customs of the nations around them. “You shall not do according to all that we do here today, each doing whatever is right in his own eyes…. Take heed to yourself that you do not become ensnared by following them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not ask about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods [the customs of the heathen], that I may also do likewise?’ You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD, which He hates, they have done to their gods; even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods. Whatsoever thing that I command you, be careful to do it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it” (Deut. 12:8, 30-32).
God made no exceptions when He also commanded Moses to write, “If a prophet rises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder which he foretold to you comes to pass, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them,’ you shall not hearken to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken to turn you against the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slaves, to thrust you out of the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put the evil away from the midst of you.“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is like your own soul, lures you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’-which you have not known, you nor your fathers, that is, of the gods of the people who are around you, near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth-you shall not consent to him nor hearken to him” (Deut. 13:1-8).
In Leviticus, God specifically warned against becoming involved with the magic arts, and those known to be involved were to be put to death. “You shall not turn to those that have familiar spirits, nor seek after mediums to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God…. And the one [any person] who turns to mediums and to familiar spirits to go a whoring after them, I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people…. A man also or woman who has a familiar spirit or who is a medium shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones. Their blood is upon them” (Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27).
Both the Old and New Testament Scriptures uphold God’s ban on occult practices, which are named in the book of Deuteronomy. “When you come to the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or a fortuneteller, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or one who seeks oracles from the dead. For all that do these things are an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations, the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations whom you shall possess hearkened to observers of times and to diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so” (Deut. 18:9-14).
The Scriptures do not make a distinction between using witchcraft or sorcery to achieve a “good” purpose or an evil purpose. Despite the intention, all such practices are inherently evil because they make an appeal to a forbidden source of power-Satan and the demons. The Church has the obligation to disfellowship the person or persons committing such sins (Matt. 18:15-17; I Cor. 5:4-13). Individuals themselves are obligated to separate from a congregation where the majority have accepted false doctrines- or where the worship of other gods or images, or other occult practices, are involved. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “If anyone teaches any different doctrine, and does not adhere to sound words, even those of our Lord Jesus Christ…. From such withdraw yourself” (I Tim. 6:3-5).
The Idols of the Heathen
Jeremiah 10 is speaking about the idols of the heathen and tells the children of Israel not to be like them.
Jeremiah 10:5 THEY ARE UPRIGHT AS THE PALM TREE, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. The Hebrew word here for “PALM TREE” is # 8560 tohmer, and is only used twice in the O.T. The other instance is in Judges 4:5 where we are told about the prophetess Deborah “And she dwelt under the PALM TREE”. Even versions like the ESV, NIV, NASB etc. translate the word as “palm tree” in that place. However in this place the ESV, NIV, NASB, NET, Holman, and the modern Catholic versions like the St. Agreeing with the King James Bible’s “they are upright as THE PALM TREE” are Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549 - “It standeth as styfe as the PALMTREE”, the Bishop’s Bible 1568 - “It standeth as stiffe as the Palme tree”, the Geneva Bible 1599 - “The idols stand up as the PALM TREE”, Lamsa’s translation of the Syriac Peshitta - “They are set upright as PALM TREES”, Julia Smith Translation 1855, Noyes Translation 1869, the Revised Version 1881 - “They are like a PALM TREE,” Darby 1890, Young’s 1898 - “As A PALM they are stiff”, the ASV 1901 - “They are like a PALM-TREE”, Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible 1902, The Word of Yah 1993, God's First Truth 1999, The Judaica Press Tanach 2004, the Context Group Version 2007, the Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011 - “They [the idols] are upright as the tomer (palm tree]”, the KJV 21st Century 1994, the Third Millenium Bible 1998, Green's Literal 2005, Bond Slave Version 2008, the Concordant Literal Version, the 2012 Natural Israelite Bible - “They are upright, like A PALM TREE”, the Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, the Holy Scriptures VW Edition 2010, the New European Version 2010, the Online Interlinear 2010 (André de Mol), the Jubilee Bible 2010, the Biblos Interlinear Bible 2011 - "They are UPRIGHT AS THE PALM TREE", The Work of God's Children Illustrated Bible 2011, the World English Bible 2012. Where does this weird change from “a palm tree” to “a scarecrow in a cucumber patch” come from? The Pulpit Commentary tells us - “They are upright as the palm tree; rather, they are like a pillar (i.e. a scarecrow) in a field of cucumbers. This is the interpretation given to our passage in Ver. So, in other words, it has nothing to do with the Hebrew text, which reads “palm tree” but with some APOCRYPHAL book that is not even in the Bible, and it is “an interpretaion” they like it because “it is much more striking” than that dull old “palm tree”. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown comment: -“5. upright-or, "They are of turned work, resembling a palm tree" [Maurer].
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