Draw Near With Their Lips

How to stay thirsty for a looong time.

produced by static force llc sometimes things don't change.

Transcript

Near With Their Lips

by Eric Engelmann

All content © 2024 Static Force, LLC

When are we?

After Abraham, Moses, David and the Prophets. After Jesus started His ministry and started speaking in parables, like the parable of the sower.

And before Jesus will say to Peter “on this rock I will build my church”.

Where are we?

Within traveling distance of Jerusalem, somewhere in Israel.

Why are we here now?

We're here to look at how some people choose eternal thirst instead of the Father’s living water.

Earlier in Mark, Jesus has described four kinds of people. The ones that have the word snatched from their hearts are the ones who tend to be the ones that love to plot Jesus’ death. 

By Way Of Background

Before Jerusalem fell to Babylon, Isaiah had prophesied to Jerusalem in parts of Is 29:

This people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me

the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”

You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay, that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?”

–Parts of Is 29:13-16

Almost a hundred years later, Jeremiah warned about the people's spiritual insanity with these words:

Jeremiah 2:13

For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water.

Note the cutting out of cisterns was a natural process that involved cutting rock. A faulty cistern leaks when it tries to hold water.

Springs usually come out of some form of rock.

Instead of trusting in the spiritual rock out of whom life-giving water flows, they were cutting for themselves reservoirs that leaked.

They were spinning against themselves.

Scripture Passage

Pay attention to how water is mentioned in this passage.

Mark 7

Verse 1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem.

Note: These men gathered from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the same place that had things entirely backwards hundreds of years before.

Verse 2 Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault. 3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) 5The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”

Verse 6 He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

NOTE Jesus says Isaiah prophesied about “you hypocrites”? It sounded to me like the people of Isaiah's time were hypocrites. Jesus is telling the people of His time that they are carrying forward hypocritical traditions from centuries before!

Verse 7 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8“For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”

9He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 

– Parts of Mark 7:1-9

The hypocrites of Jesus' time are forsaking one thing and doing another. Just like forsaking a spring of living water, they are forsaking the command of God.

These people are running the risk of eternal thirst. 

In the Future

The apostle John will see the river of life and write about it in the book of Revelation.

1He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb…

Despite hypocrisy Jesus will continue to bring the Spirit of life out of His godly oneness with His Heavenly Father for the benefit of anyone who will come to Him.

All content © 2024 Static Force, LLC