  
“Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword
shall be upon his arm,
and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up,
and his
right eye
shall be utterly darkened.”
Zech 11:17
I’m sure you
have heard of that debauched so-called reality show found on the
television called, American Idol. What a well-named show! This
particular show takes its’ traveling circus on the road with its judges
and their people to conduct auditions in towns and cities around the
country. People, young and old, throng to area convention centers and
arenas, sometimes lining up for miles to wait for hours to have a moment
to showcase their talent, all with the hopes to be picked as the one, “The
Idol” of the season. I would add, that is, only until the following season
when a new idol will be chosen and lifted above the last forgotten idol.
Sadly, so it
seems in the church, which is growing fonder and fonder of the world that
we are commanded not to love, is emulating this same type of entertainment
in their choices of Pastor, resulting in the same outcome. In this end
time, more and more, we are seeing the church deacons sitting,
allegorically, just like
those judges on an American Idol panel. They run post grads and BTh’s from various Bible schools past them to weed through and choose the
most suitable candidates and then place them in the pulpit to see if they
meet the correct criteria; the right look, a good voice, right diploma
with letters, and make sure, “…don’t preach the blood”, etc. Incidentally,
not only do they choose in a deceitful manner, they manipulate the
congregation by coercion and divisiveness and then unscripturally and
mercilessly fire their worn, Bible believing Pastors out the door without
nearly a moments’ notice at the behest of the wolves. In this time, very
rarely do we find the Holy Spirit doing the promoting of the overseer as
it was in Bible times. The outcome of such an unscriptural move is
predictable: instead of the congregation coming to meet with God, the
Pastor has become the idol of the church.
Idol Shepherds
Are Not True Shepherds
There is
supposed to be one who is to lead the flock, one called the Shepherd. John
10 talks about the Good Shepherd and that the Good Shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. However, the Bible has much to say about false shepherds as
well. They are also known as hirelings. In John 10, Jesus continues by
contrasting Himself with the hireling in v.12-13, saying,
“But he
that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf
catches them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is
an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.”
The
definition of “hireling” as found in Webster’s 1828 dictionary says, “a
mercenary; employed for money…”. If you read our scripture passage in
Zechariah too quickly you just might miss it! The word is, “idol”. This is
very interesting because if this was read orally; we may have
misunderstood it to say, “idle”, meaning, lazy or at rest. No, in this
context “idol” means, as Strong’s offers, the Hebrew word, “eliyl”
(pronounced, “el-eel” ); “good for nothing; vain; specifically an
idol - no value; thing of nought.”; in context, the 1828 Webster’s
dictionary definition says an idol is, “a person loved and honoured to
adoration.” So, what we have here is very close to what we see many of
these so-called Bible schools churning out today: many sharp looking and
fast talking mercenaries who have become idols, gaining the worship of the
congregation under the auspices of worshipping God.
The Flock That
Follows After The Man and Not After The Word!
Sadly, there
are many Bible schools that are graduating candidates having armed their
people with an Alexandrian education; Alexandria being the city in Egypt
where the corrupted manuscripts, such as the Textus Vaticanus and
the Textus Sinaiticus, were originally popularized and later,
resurrected and translated into alternative versions, which have deceived
the many church goers having itching ears today. Many candidates emerged
with the intellectualism of T.U.L.I.P. doctrine, or Augustinianism, more
commonly known as Calvinism. Many are coming out with no biblical
understanding of sound music and the adverse effect of fleshly music on
the body of Christ. Of course, there is much more, such as psychology in
the church, humanism, positivism, the list goes on and on. Yes, I am on
the wall shouting out to all of you Independent Baptist Churches! Beware!
Worldly philosophies such as these are a minefield of dangers that will at
very least spiritually maim you and is very capable of killing you stone
dead. (Cf. James 1:14-15). The problem I can see from my vantage point is
a lack of love for the scriptures, because many are reading the wrong
words when they are reading at all. What is that old adage? “This book
will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book!” Your
Heavenly Father wants a closer relationship with you individually through
His Word and prayer, not some facsimile of His Word, but the pure Word. (Psm 12:6-7; Psm
119:160) We must trust what God promised as Daniel did as he was reading
the scrolls, that his Word is preserved to all generations. A plethora of versions is not
acceptable as God’s Word. He said that even one jot or tittle shall not
pass away; not one little Hebrew punctuation mark shall be removed! (Matt
5:18) Consider the verse in Zechariah 13:6b – the King James Bible says,
“…What are these wounds in thine hands?” The ESV, for instance,
says, “What are these wounds on your back”. Yet another version
says, “What are these wounds on your chest “. Three versions. Three
distinctly different anatomical places. How is this not confusing? For,
what does God’s Word say in I Cor. 14:33? “For God is not the author of
confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” You see,
many of these well meaning students are graduating with an Alexandrian
education and carrying out much baggage because they are not founded in
God’s Word. Sadly, the congregation that voted these candidates in have
placed themselves in the same danger as the Israelites at the foot of
Mount Sinai all those years ago, having placed an idol with a dull sword
in the pulpit.
An Idol In The
Pulpit
So, what many
churches are left with is an idol as a shepherd. I submit to you that an
idol as a shepherd is no shepherd at all, but, a hireling. Sadly, the
church has voted in wolves instead of men; wolves voted in by the people
who have itching ears. I tell you: Maranatha, friends! The time is
at hand and Jesus is coming at any time now because a sign is given unto
you today, found in II Tim 4:3-4, saying,
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables.”
People no
longer want to hear the truth. People do not want to hear sound doctrine
and through their abandonment of God’s Word will be left no other recourse
but to follow after the man. Webster’s definition of an idol is correct in
this context, “a person loved and honoured to adoration.”
So, the sum of it begs some questions; what do you think our Lord and Saviour sitting at God’s right hand thinks about all of this? Our churches
are breaking command after command wanting to place an idol in place of
God. Go to the Old Testament account of the Israelites first king, Saul. A
good looking man that stood head and shoulders above anyone else and he
seemed to love the Lord! But, the Israelites already had a King and not
just a king; THE KING OF KINGS! But, they wanted a king to rule over them
just like all the nations round about. What we are witnessing is history
of idolatry being replayed to us right from the foot of Mount Sinai here in our own
time using our own golden calves. We are doomed to repeat it, my friends, if we will not heed God’s
Word. We must ask, did we test all the Spirits before asking this pastor
to stand before us? Does he use God’s words? Could he be there just there
to fill his belly? Will he preach a different gospel than the one we have
been taught and know to be truth as exhorted by Paul to the church in
Galatia? (Gal. 1:8) Sadly, I fear, just as it says in Zechariah 7:11,
“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped
their ears, that they should not hear.”
Let it not be
our testimony that we would walk after the lusts of man. Let us turn back
to God’s Bible and to Him in fervent prayer! He promised to preserve His
words and to hear from on high, but there has to be some men to stand up
and some tough decisions made. May God help us. ~R.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
Matthew 7:15
© 2012 Remi Fernhout
  
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