Modern Religious Idols and False gods, Part 7
Posted by Michael Bunker

editor@lazarusunbound.com

The false god named “Imagination”

“The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor. Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more” (Nah 1:7-12).

Some decades before Nahum prophesied concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, Jonah had been sent by God with a dissimilar prophecy to the same city. In Jonah’s prophecy, God had left room for the Ninevehites to repent – and indeed granted them repentance for a time In order to show forth His gracious mercy; and because of their repentance, their city and nation were spared. By the time Nahum was sent forth to prophecy against Nineveh, all room for repentance was over. Nineveh, once known for its repentance, had repented of that repentance and had become “a bloody city”, and “full of lies and robbery” (Nah. 3:1).

God was now declaring an absolute and certain judgment against Nineveh, and proclaims that, despite the imaginations and fantasies held by Nineveh against God’s rule and against His elect people, Nineveh was to be utterly destroyed and removed as a city and as a nation. I find it interesting to note some of the important details of this prophecy and the judgment promised:

1. God is jealous and furious and has wrath towards His enemies (Nah. 1:2)

2. The Lord is slow to anger, which He had proven with His willingness to spare Nineveh after they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But He is “great in power” and will “not at all acquit the wicked”. He will use all things, including natural disasters, earthquake, fires, and other weather phenomena in the judgment of wicked nations (Nah. 1:3,5)

3. He will dry up the waters, and cause a nation to languish for lack of waters in His judgment (Nah. 1:4).

4. The Lord is good, and is a stronghold and defense for those who trust Him. Note that the principle identifying characteristic for those whom God protects, is TRUST (Nah. 1:7).

According to our text, the principle identifying characteristic of those whom God will not protect is that they imagine against the Lord. In addition to this, they are “folden” or gathered together, and they are “drunken” or stupefied by intoxicating things. The wicked people in the city of Nineveh have listened and are being advised by a “wicked counselor”, a false prophet. Though they be “quiet”, which here means “at peace and undisturbed”, and though they be many, they shall be cut down and destroyed.

As we have mentioned in almost every sermon in this series, the human mind is quick to make an idol of any thing which serves the flesh and which advances the carnal goals of the devil as the prince of this world. By its very nature, then, the ability for the mind to imagine is a very powerful and dangerous ability. If we have determined and do believe that the natural mind is at enmity with God and is not capable (in and of itself) of submitting to the God of Heaven, then we must determine the scope and the ability of that mind to imagine against the Lord. The unregenerate mind is a powerful weapon because it has magnificent power for creating inventions and arguments and is used to provoke the will to action. I often say that “the human mind is capable of rationalizing any behavior”, and this is a very true statement. The Bible has much to say about “evil imaginings”, but it would do well for us to take a look at what the imagination is, what it is capable of doing, and what dangers this idol has in store – even for the elect of God.

Ok, time for some definitions:

IDOL - an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed (note the word image).

So an Idol is an image which comes to represent some thing or deity to which worship is addressed. The idol is birthed in the imagination.

IMAGINE – to form a mental image of something not actually present

So to imagine is to build a mental image of something in the mind. An image is the representation of some other thing, place, animal, person, etc.

IMAGINATION – the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses; the action or process of forming such images or concepts.

The imagination, then, is a utility given to us by God to allow us to create and work toward His ultimate praise and glory. The imagination allows us to build and perfect in our mind, before we actually build in the 3D world. The imagination allows us to work out solutions without too much physical trial and error, and it allows us to work through problems and concerns in our minds so that inordinate disasters will not accompany every physical endeavor. However, the product of the mind is subject to the character and nature of that mind. The bad tree cannot put forth good fruit. The imagination of man, stripped and separated from the good and divine protection and guidance of almighty God, is capable of devising any and every evil. Very early in the history of mankind, God “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Even after God destroyed the world by flood and spared righteous Noah and his family, God said, “the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).

Here is the tough part. God says that the imaginings of man are wicked and evil, even from his youth, but the world says that the imagination of man is a good thing and ought to be fostered, inspired and encouraged. Which of these two ideas will you believe?

Most of modern education and almost 100% of the popular culture is built on the foundational idea that imagination can fix any problem, and that imagination is the solution to the problems of man. Nineveh, though they lived at peace and though they were many, had imaginations against the God of Creation. The city of Nineveh was built by Nimrod and was a symbol of his pride and rebellion against God, who had commanded that people live rurally and simply, work with their hands, and glorify God with their lives.

Though the Ninevehites recent ancestors had repented at the preaching of God’s prophet, Nineveh quickly began to covet against God’s commands and His authority. Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian empire, was called “an exceeding great city” in the Book of Jonah, and it is likely that it was the greatest and most populous city in the world at the time of Nahum’s prophecy. Historians believe that when Nineveh was destroyed it had twice the population of Babylon. Throughout the scriptures cities are often used to represent the distilled or collected evil and rebellion of man, and there is no doubt that this was true of Nineveh. Further, Nineveh was also an “exceeding great” representation of a city, in that God had allowed it to prosper in its wickedness in an extraordinary way in order to build a fair representation of the scope and breadth of the man’s evil heart.

So let us get this straight…

The evil of man’s heart is made evident by the imaginings of the mind.

The imaginings of the mind are then represented by the works that mind produces.

The “city” was a place where the collected representations of the evil works of the carnal mind could flourish and multiply, and where they could be on display.

The greatest city would then be the ideal, or the fullest image of the follies of the mind of men.

God had allowed Nineveh to be built up and to prosper so that by destroying it he could create a “type” and all types are given to us in scripture for our edification and so that we might derive wisdom from them.

The Bible also teaches us that since all men operate by the “imagination of their evil heart”, therefore in the culmination of all things, when the new Jerusalem is given as the only and true city to which the elect of God will be gathered, the elect children of God will no longer walk according to the “imagination of their evil heart”:

“At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.” (Jer. 3:17).

So the modern city is a type of the wicked imaginations of man, and the New Jerusalem is given to us as a type of man walking no more by his own wicked imagination. Now, it has been a common thing throughout the history of man that carnal man has walked according to the imagination of his own heart. This means that he has imagined and devised his own way, and that he seeks not counsel from God or His Word as to how he ought to walk.

Pay very close attention to this because what I am saying applies to every single unregenerate man, and to almost all of those who wrongly believe themselves to be regenerate. If a man walks solely according to the counsel and wisdom of God, then He can be considered to be regenerate, but if he walks according to the rudiments of the world, and according to what he thinks is the right thing to do (regardless of what God has to say about it), then he can be considered to be unregenerate – no matter his profession. A religious professor who claims to be saved, but who walks according to the rudiments of the world, cannot be believed. He still walks according to the imagination of his own heart. Listen to these scriptures and make a mental note of the types and antitypes as you recognize the parallels in modern religious society:

“Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart” (Jer. 18:11-12).

The righteous Prophet directly claims that the imagination of the evil heart is reflected by the “way” or the “doings” of man. The modern antinomian or prophet of worldliness will claim that what a man is doing is not at all related to his eternal condition. They say, “Separation is of the Heart!” and refuse to believe that true Biblical separation is when the actions of the body are motivated by the actions of the heart. When the heart is separated and is operating according to the principles of God, the physical man will walk according to those principles. It is an undeniable maxim and it is proven throughout the entire Bible.

Now, let us mark very carefully what the Bible says the prophets of worldliness will be preaching. If the Bible tells us what a wicked prophet is saying, then we need only look out for who is repeating that wicked message and we will have identified our prophet of worldliness:

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you” (“Jer 23:16-17).

Ok, so no matter who tells you that “separation is of the heart”, or who tells people who are walking like the world that “Ye shall have peace”, or who tells them that “No evil shall come upon you”, we know that this spokesman is a prophet of the world and of the devil. God clearly delineates between those who walk according to the Word of God, and those who walk according to the imaginations of their own heart. We then must merely observe and see which operating system matches up with what the world preaches and teaches, and we can identify our false prophet.

“For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts” (Luke 1:49-51)

God’s mercy is on them that fear Him, which means that they believe Him and thus they obey Him. He hath showed Himself strong on their behalf, and He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

Our world majors in imagination. Modern inventions have magnified fantasy and virtual reality. “Pretend” is glorified, and dreams are magnified. Every man’s daughters and every man’s sons are pushed to seek to fulfill the imaginations of the heart. But we should know that these imaginations are “against the Lord”. They are the whisperings of an evil counselor. Life today is a fantasy. It is a perfect fulfillment of the imaginations of man’s heart.

Man is encouraged to reject the simple life of Agrarianism in order to pursue a life of imagination. His entertainments consist of fantasy and fiction. Fiction in and of itself is not wicked, but fiction that separates man from His purpose, that teaches man to seek things that are harmful to him, or that occupies man in unprofitable pursuits is not only fiction, it is fantasy. Fantasy is the imagination, especially when that imagination is extravagant and unrestrained. Imagination unrestrained by the guidance and goodness of God is wickedness. Fantasy is the product and reality of modern society. Our modern society is an exceeding great city, and God has allowed it to prosper and grow so that He could show His might, power, and wrath on it.

Our text says that people given over to imagination are “folden” together as thorns, and this imagery is interesting to study. When land was being cleared for agrictulture, or when thorns had grown up in an orchard or vineyard, the workers would cut and gather these thorns together for burning. This word “folden” means gathered or woven together, and in this case it was so that they could be burned and destroyed. In our text this gathering together is done by drawing the Assyrians together into an exceeding great city for their destruction. Our text further claims that they were “drunken as drunkards” which is the type. Drunkenness occurs when a physical intoxicant takes over the mind and corrupts it or disorders it. The anti-type of drunkenness is for the mind to be given over by vain imaginations to corruption and to disorder. Worldly people today behave as if drunken, meaning that they are given over to their lusts and to their covetousness to seek after their own needs and wants first with no regard as to the command of God. When someone is given over totally to the corruption of power, it is said that he is “drunk with power”. If someone is given over to the gathering of riches, we say that he is “drunk with greed”. Drunkenness, then, is the giving over of the mind to the desires and demands of the flesh, it is illogical and unreasonable. It rejects all calls for moderation. Drunkenness declares itself to be leader and judge and cannot see that it is untrustworthy in those positions. The people, therefore, are drunken as drunkards, meaning that they are so bent on following their own will and way that they cannot see that they have are following untrustworthy guides.

Next, our text says that these people are condemned to be “devoured as stubble fully dry”, which is to say that they will burn hot and fast. Their end is nigh, and it will not be slow in coming.

We should note that the mind of modern religious men can only conceive of judgment coming against open and blatant sin. They do not see any evil in imagination or in simple worldliness.

It is necessary for us to examine ourselves to see how much we have been given over to carnal imagination. We ought to examine our dreams and plans to see how well they line up with God’s Word. We ought to examine our lives and our philosophies to see how much they are directed by God’s Word. We ought to re-examine our mental pursuits to see if we are giving over our minds to evil imaginations and fantasies. If you are living like the world lives, then it is pretty evident that you have been living by the evil of your own imagination. If you spend a good part of each day locked up in ungodly imagination and fantasy, then you need to repent as Nineveh was first commanded to repent. If you have “repented of your repentance”, meaning that you have at some point started down the road to separation from the ways of the world, but have, at some point, turned back and now are operating according to the rudiments of the world, then you are in danger of the fires of destruction.

God is eternally gracious towards His elect, and He will be their stronghold when destruction comes upon the City of Destruction. Those who obey Him and who have their trust in Him will find Him a loving and protective God. Those who do not trust in God but instead live like the world will be cut down and destroyed.

Our prayer is that God will give us further repentance that we may stay on the narrow path and that He will cause us to return to obedience and trust in Him that we might have life.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

 
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