Exiled in Heart

Yesterday’s sermon was on Romans 2:17–24. That text addressed hypocrisy among God’s people. There is an oblique reference in verse 22 to the fact that while Israel had problems with idols in the past, the current generation “abhorred/abominated” idols. Yet, they “robbed temples/committed sacrilege.”

Translation is messy. Regarding “robbed temples/committed sacrilege,” either works. But while “rob temples” is technically correct, the old King James Version got the meaning across better IMHO. An idol is a thing man uses to get what he wants: feelings of spirituality, blessings, even political order (Amos 7:13, the sin of Jeroboam), etc. We can still come to the real God with a self-centered, idolatrous heart, and attempt to use Him.

There are many places in the OT where God promises blessings for obedience and exile as punishment for disobedience. In Deuteronomy 30, we see Moses threaten/predict the punishment of exile. Despite promises about God giving the returning exiles new hearts (Deut. 30:6; Jer. 9:25–26, 31:33; Ezek. 11:19–20, 36:26–27), when they get back to Israel, they start to repeat the same mistakes (Ezra 9–10), and it appears their hearts aren’t so new. Not only that, the temple and the city are shadows of their former glory and future expectations.

But things actually did get better after the exile, and our text from Romans 2 is evidence. Instead of indicting the Jews for engaging in crass idolatry and other pagan worship practices such as ritual prostitution or child sacrifice, Paul indicts them for partial obedience and idolatrous hearts: hypocrisy.

I’ll belabor two points. First, a point I made in Sunday School: the fulfillment of prophecy (often “the day of the Lord”) is not usually a one-day or instantaneous thing. The return of the exiles inaugurated a time of preparation for redemption, culminating in the coming of the Messiah—another “day of the Lord”—after which redemption is accomplished over time and space. Don’t look for fulfillments of visions of the future to be like still-frame photographs, but movies, which play out over a span of time. So…

Second, while the return of the exiles did not quickly result in a return to the golden age of the united kingdom of David and Solomon, it did result in a people substantially cleansed from the sinful practices of their ancestors. The divine heart replacement initiative had begun in individuals and had its effect on society. They had risen to the level of hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy is not good. But it only happens alongside good. The virtues that God reveals to us should first drive us to seek grace from Jesus, and thus reconciliation with God. Without that, we will at best be unforgiven hypocrites, exiled in heart.

SDG

Keith