Bro Jack, You've addressed a very important matter for every Christian who lives in materially prosperous societies, where one's priorities are entertainment, recreation and getting more and bigger stuff. The challenge -- do Christians spend as much time in study , prayer and evangelistic endeavors as they do watching football, et al, time wasters eg gaming et al? Or do they give as much financially to the Lord's work as they spend on recreation and entertainment? These are America's gods and unfortunately many Christians have not forsaken all for the Lord to become the salt and light, He commands us to become (Luke 14:25-35).
Your statement "They didn’t stop making sacrifices...." must be qualified. At the time Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed there were still faithful Israelites in the formerly destroyed Northern Kingdom (Jeremiah 41:5).
On the other hand, it is clear that sacrifices to Yaweh on the altar at the temple had ceased when Ahaz closed the temple (2 Chronicles 28:24). Hezekiah, his son opened the temple to restore worship to Yaweh (2 Chronicles 29:3, 12-19, 23-24). It seems possible that when Manasseh brought idols and altars into the temple complex (2 Chronicles 33:5-7) until his repentance, removed them and "repaired" the Lord's altar ( 2 Chronicles 33:12-16) that sacrifices to Yaweh had ceased at the temple. Keep the faith, Jim
Everyone will agree that if you put 1 milliliter of sewage into a liter of pure water, you’ve polluted it.
But many willingly pollute the Lord’s fellowship with such ‘harmless things’ as Easter bunnies, lent, and Santa Claus.
and politics, and medicine, and news . . .
Bro Jack, You've addressed a very important matter for every Christian who lives in materially prosperous societies, where one's priorities are entertainment, recreation and getting more and bigger stuff. The challenge -- do Christians spend as much time in study , prayer and evangelistic endeavors as they do watching football, et al, time wasters eg gaming et al? Or do they give as much financially to the Lord's work as they spend on recreation and entertainment? These are America's gods and unfortunately many Christians have not forsaken all for the Lord to become the salt and light, He commands us to become (Luke 14:25-35).
Your statement "They didn’t stop making sacrifices...." must be qualified. At the time Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed there were still faithful Israelites in the formerly destroyed Northern Kingdom (Jeremiah 41:5).
On the other hand, it is clear that sacrifices to Yaweh on the altar at the temple had ceased when Ahaz closed the temple (2 Chronicles 28:24). Hezekiah, his son opened the temple to restore worship to Yaweh (2 Chronicles 29:3, 12-19, 23-24). It seems possible that when Manasseh brought idols and altars into the temple complex (2 Chronicles 33:5-7) until his repentance, removed them and "repaired" the Lord's altar ( 2 Chronicles 33:12-16) that sacrifices to Yaweh had ceased at the temple. Keep the faith, Jim