Apocalyptic Appetite

“Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.” (Eze 16:28 AV)

Our appetite is our undoing.  We live in a generation that can never be content in limited pleasure of sin.  There always has to be more.  Addiction is at an all-time high.  It doesn’t matter if it is illegal or legal.  The fact that we cannot shut off the desire for more and more pleasure leads us down a path that will not end well.  Most addictions are not seen as a bad thing.  At least by most.  There is not a week that goes by in which I do not see people walking in front of my church looking at their mobile phones trying to find and imaginary object.  They do not have a clue as to what is happening around them at any one time.  Their faces are glued to a screen.  It was reported recently that a young man died from complications of playing video games, non-stop, without sleep, liquids, or nourishment.  The part of us which we inherited from Adam is a man of sin that must be conquered by the blood of Christ and discipline in the word of God.  Or, the outcome is complete and total destruction.

The animal kingdom behaves the same way.  Many species are geared toward a very limited diet.  Whether is the ash beetle or the termite, they are programmed to consume a single staple.  When that staple is gone, the colony ceases to exist.  The animal kingdom does not have enough sense to keep moving so it can survive.  It consumes until it is gone.  Mankind, in our carnal state, does the same.  We consume.  This causes us to cross imaginary lines of morality and propriety.  Look at what is happening in our world today.  Lines are blurred or disappearing altogether.  Prior to 1963, it was illegal to kill a child in the womb.  Now, it is legal to kill a child outside of the womb.  It used to be same-gender relationships were something hid in a closet.  Then homosexuality was tolerated.  It went from there to celebrated.  Not, immorality has gone far beyond tolerance to exploring every and all deviant behavior.  Look at the violence that is rocking the world.  It used to be peaceful protests.  Now, there is violence for towards opposing views.  This is all happening for the simple reason that mankind cannot tell themselves ‘no’.

But this truth has an application to God’s people as well.  This is to whom this passage was written.  It was written to Israel and Judah.  They were enticed by the temptations of their neighbors.  They could not say ‘no’ to idol worship and sodomy.  They could not say ‘no’ to profits on the Sabbath.  They could not say ‘no’ to intermarrying with the pagan nations.  They simply lost all ability to say ‘no’.  This is why the LORD had to deal with them so harshly.  I fear the same will happen to the church.  When things like sports, leisure, electronic entertainment, and social media become more important that spiritual things, we are in trouble.  When attendance to the house of God is steadily dropping off because we are not entertained by the preaching, we are in deep water.  The old man has to die.  Otherwise, we become captives to that which has enticed us all along.