Jeremiah 19:9 KJV
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
The literal interpretation of this passage speaks of Israel under the siege of Babylon. But it appears to me that we may make some application to our own day and especially to those who claim to be of the household of faith (as Israel did at the time of this writing). Gill says, "...The Targum interprets it, the goods or substance of his neighbour; which is sometimes the sense of eating the flesh of another;" So there is a literal meaning of eating the flesh of friends and family - as would be the extreme case of Israel under siege. But there is another interpretation of taking that which belongs to your friends and family.
I see a flesh-eating spirit among many believers who are ready and willing to eat the substance of neighboring churches for their own sake. Church members of another congregation are accepted into their flock without due care, thereby consuming the goods and substance of the former congregation for their benefit. When this happens;
The former church is harmed.
Members who should have stayed and contributed both to the financial and physical well being of the church have now left the church wanting for those goods
The moving members are harmed.Spiritual maturity is stunted when a Christian is allowed to move away from mountains in his life. I recently read a column claiming that we are killing ourselves by protecting ourselves from germs. We have weakened our immunity systems and aided in the progressions of allergies and other issues of the immune system by being overly clean. In like manner we only hurt ourselves when we are allowed to move to easier and easier spiritual settings, avoiding tough moments of spiritual growth.
The testimony of Christ is harmed.
The Scripture does not allow for such shallow Christian relationships as we see today. Church is supposed to be a body; a community. It is not supposed to be so easily changed as a person would change a favorite shopping market. The enduring capacity of the faith is poorly reflected by the type of Christianity that allows for members to move from one place to the next for convenience's sake.
The accepting church is harmed.
God did not approve of the behaviour of Israel and neither does He approve of this type of behaviour among churches. The church that accepts members from other congregations without rightful steps taking place, may see material benefit from eating a neighbor's flesh, but no good will come of this in eternal value. That church may experience growth in this earth but will suffer loss in eternity.
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
The literal interpretation of this passage speaks of Israel under the siege of Babylon. But it appears to me that we may make some application to our own day and especially to those who claim to be of the household of faith (as Israel did at the time of this writing). Gill says, "...The Targum interprets it, the goods or substance of his neighbour; which is sometimes the sense of eating the flesh of another;" So there is a literal meaning of eating the flesh of friends and family - as would be the extreme case of Israel under siege. But there is another interpretation of taking that which belongs to your friends and family.
I see a flesh-eating spirit among many believers who are ready and willing to eat the substance of neighboring churches for their own sake. Church members of another congregation are accepted into their flock without due care, thereby consuming the goods and substance of the former congregation for their benefit. When this happens;
The former church is harmed.
Members who should have stayed and contributed both to the financial and physical well being of the church have now left the church wanting for those goods
The moving members are harmed.Spiritual maturity is stunted when a Christian is allowed to move away from mountains in his life. I recently read a column claiming that we are killing ourselves by protecting ourselves from germs. We have weakened our immunity systems and aided in the progressions of allergies and other issues of the immune system by being overly clean. In like manner we only hurt ourselves when we are allowed to move to easier and easier spiritual settings, avoiding tough moments of spiritual growth.
The testimony of Christ is harmed.
The Scripture does not allow for such shallow Christian relationships as we see today. Church is supposed to be a body; a community. It is not supposed to be so easily changed as a person would change a favorite shopping market. The enduring capacity of the faith is poorly reflected by the type of Christianity that allows for members to move from one place to the next for convenience's sake.
The accepting church is harmed.
God did not approve of the behaviour of Israel and neither does He approve of this type of behaviour among churches. The church that accepts members from other congregations without rightful steps taking place, may see material benefit from eating a neighbor's flesh, but no good will come of this in eternal value. That church may experience growth in this earth but will suffer loss in eternity.
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