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Announcer (Male): Stay tuned as we talk about Jehovah: God of the Valleys today, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick will be talking about how we can trust the Lord, not only when we're enjoying those mountain experiences, but also when we're trying to find our way through the valleys of life. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Welcome, listening friend, to another edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies on Jehovah: God of the Valleys. What we've been doing in this series of studies is looking at the seven valleys that are mentioned in scripture and what each of them represents.

Today we come to the final two valleys that are mentioned in the Old Testament. Valley number six is the Valley of Hinnom, found in Jeremiah chapter 19 verses one through six, and it's a place of punishment. This chapter is where God prophesies about the coming of his judgment upon the southern kingdom, Judah. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because of the way he wept and mourned over the coming destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, the City of Peace, and the destruction of the temple with it.

Why was Judah about to be judged? After all, this was all of the Jewish nation that was left. You remember that after Solomon's death, the Jewish nation had been divided into two kingdoms, one in the north and the other in the south. The northern kingdom of the house of Israel had already fallen to the Assyrians more than a century before Jeremiah was ever born. So the southern kingdom was literally all that was left of the nation. Why would God destroy it? The answer can be summed up in one word: apostasy.

Look at what the Lord told them in Jeremiah chapter 19 verse two: "Go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee." Verse three: "And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle." Verse four: "Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they, nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah."

They were apostasizing. Apostasy is worse than just unbelief because an apostate is someone who has seen the truth, understood the truth, and in some cases even professed to believe the truth, but then he knowingly, deliberately turns away from that truth. Israel was going into apostasy because she had not only seen the truth and understood the truth, but more than that, she had been chosen by God to be the repository of his truth for all the world.

The seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were to be the ones through whom God would give the Bible to the world. They were to be the ones through whom he would give the Messiah to the world. And here they were apostasizing, turning away from that divine calling. There are three reasons why apostasy is more dangerous than just simple unbelief.

First, apostasy brings a much greater judgment. There's a principle in scripture that says our responsibility before God is directly proportional to the amount of light we have received. In the parable of the servants in Luke chapter 12, Jesus Christ said this. Verse 47: "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." This servant knew, but he did not do.

Look what he says about the other servant in verse 48: "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom much has been committed, of him they shall ask the more." Apostasy is dangerous because it brings a much greater judgment.

Second, apostasy is dangerous because once you turn from the truth, there's nowhere else to go but down. Second Timothy 4:4: "And they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." Once you deliberately, knowingly reject God's truth, reject God's love, reject God's son, you have nowhere else to go but to the land of make-believe, fables. As Israel has gone into apostasy, look what she's doing.

Jeremiah 19:13: "And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah have been defiled, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods." Astrology. Worshiping the stars, worshiping the creation rather than the creator. They've turned from the truth unto fables.

A third reason apostasy is dangerous is that it leads to a decadent and destructive lifestyle. What you believe will always determine how you live. The ultimate result of apostasy is degeneracy, decadence, and destruction. Sometimes there can be depravity and unbridled wickedness even to an extent that a normal person can't even fathom it. In fact, that's exactly what the Lord said about Judah here in Jeremiah chapter 19.

Look at what he said in the last part of verse 4: "They have filled this place with the blood of the innocents." Verse five: "They have also built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command nor speak, nor did it come into my mind." He said, you're doing stuff that even I, God, never even imagined.

God placed a curse on the Valley of Hinnom because of all the wickedness and debauchery that had been done there. Finally, it was abandoned and became Jerusalem's municipal garbage dump. Refuse was burned there as well as unclaimed corpses. The fires of Hinnom smoldered continually for centuries and larvae fed on the decaying flesh there.

Ancient writers said the wind would sometimes carry the sickening stench for miles around. No wonder in the New Testament Jesus Christ used the imagery of the Valley of Hinnom to describe the eternal destiny of the wicked. The Greek word is Gehenna, translated hell in the English Bible, and he said it was a place where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, just like the smoldering Valley of Hinnom where larvae fed on the corpses there and the fire never went out.

In a very literal sense, he's describing hell as the garbage dump of the universe. Some people react emotionally and object to the doctrine of hell. From an emotional standpoint, anyone with a heart wrestles with the reality of hell because it's such a horrible thing to think about.

From a practical standpoint, hell is very necessary because the problems of sin and wickedness in this world are very real, and they must be dealt with decisively, eternally, once and for all. Think of all the death and cruelty and misery that have plagued the human race since the beginning of time. Think of all the suffering and heartache and pain.

Thank God the universe will not always be the way it is now. The Valley of Hinnom represents the hope that a day of reckoning is coming. Someday when Messiah comes, everything will be made right and the universe will be purged of every form of wickedness. Revelation chapter 21 verse 4 says: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then he who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Isn't that a wonderful promise?

Speaking of the second coming, that leads us to the last of the seven valleys in scripture, and that's the Valley of Jehoshaphat, a place of providence. It's in Joel chapter three verse two where God says, "I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat and will judge them there." As a matter of fact, the Hebrew word Jehoshaphat means Jehovah is judge.

The Valley of Jehoshaphat, more commonly known as the Kidron Valley, is located between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. This little valley will be the focal point of the great Battle of Armageddon described in detail in the book of Revelation. We've seen some monumental battles in this series of studies, but this one will be the biggest and bloodiest of all time.

The Battle of Armageddon gets its name from the plains of Megiddo where it will be fought. The area of the conflict will stretch from the city of Megiddo on the north to Edom in the south, and from the Mediterranean Sea on the west to the hills of Moab on the east. This represents a geographical area of approximately 20,000 square miles.

That's why we call the Valley of Jehoshaphat a place of providence, because it represents the sovereignty and the authority and the power of Almighty God as he brings all the nations of the world together and judges them in the Valley of Jehoshaphat at the end of the tribulation period. These events will usher in the long-awaited Messianic Age, or what Christians call the millennial kingdom.

David looked forward to Messiah's coming when he said in Psalm 24, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." Well, that's the last of our seven valleys. Glad you could join us today, friend. We'll see you next time. Take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. You've been listening to Messianic Perspectives, the Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Gary Hedrick and CJF Ministries. If you enjoyed today's study, you'll be glad to know that our special offer this week is the CD of this current series of studies on Jehovah: God of the Valleys by our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick. It's available for a suggested contribution of just $6 or more.

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