Articles
Houses You Did Not Build
God gave Israel victory over the Canaanites. In doing so, He gave Israel the Promised Land and kept His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Israel obtained the land because the nations who lived there were wicked (Deut. 9:4; Gen. 15:16). God knew hubris would set in among the Israelites, and they would believe they deserved the land. Thus, Moses warned them, “Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (Deut. 9:5 ESV)
God knew Israel would forget He gave them the land. He warned, “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deut. 6:10-12 ESV) Through excessive pride, Israel forgot these warnings. They forgot God gave them the houses, land, and crops to fulfill His promises to Abraham. In their delusion they became more wicked than the people God displaced (Jer. 16:10-13).
In the young adult class, we are studying differences between the Lord's people. We noted that during the 1960s-1970s, many churches built new church buildings. We use a building built during that period. Many congregations do. We worship in houses we did not build. We are certain we are better than the generation who built them. We sound like the religious leaders of Jesus' day who said, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. " (Matt. 23:30 ESV). We believe we would not have been racists, minimized grace, or been so sectarian. Previous generations had faults, and so do we.
Jesus said, "For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Matt. 7:2 ESV). Our children are already judging us. More importantly, Christ is judging us in the same way we judge. Are we really superior to the previous generation? Is it possible we have overvalued our understanding? Do we really understand the Scriptures better than them? Is it just possible that we sin differently? Both will need the mercy and grace of God. None of us will enter heaven without it. We need to get over ourselves. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:8-10 ESV)
