Time to start tipping over the sacred cows of the apostate church...

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And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. - Deuteronomy 28: 13-14 (ESV)

As the great apostasy intensifies there is a battle over the soul, if you will, of the church today. The great falling away foretold in the Bible is well underway as people within the church system itself continue to fall away further into a darkness they cannot perceive. Hearken to the warnings of Christ:

"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! - Matthew 6: 22-23 (ESV)

There are increasing numbers of self-professing Christians who bathe in their darkness. They love their darkness. They cannot tell however that it is in fact dark. They instead have believed the great lie. They have accepted the delusion sent to those who simply refuse to hear the true message of the Gospel:

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. - 2Thessalonians 2: 9-12 (ESV)

This delusion beloved does not come from the enemy. It comes from God. Look at the prerequisite. They have refused to love the truth and so be saved. They follow the false signs and lying wonders of this world and of Satan. They relish the wicked deception set before them. This is why the Bible says in these last days that men will not even tolerate sound doctrine. I am amazed when people bristle at accurate, biblical correction of false teaching. You can dress falseness up in the name of Jesus all day long but if there is no real relationship to Him it does not matter. That relationship is forged in His Word. Remember the Seven Sons of Sceva:

A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, "I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!" Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, "I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?" Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered. - Acts 19: 13-16 (NLT)

There are far too many today following the path of Sceva. Talking the tough guy spiritual talk but no walk to speak of. Throwing around the name of Jesus without any real relationship. There is a reason why an exasperated Jesus asks - who do you bother calling me "Lord" if you refuse to do as I say?

Yet we love the delusion. We live for it sometimes. We move from false spiritual experience to false spiritual experience and fancy ourselves as basking in the light when we are surrounded by the present darkness of this world. The darkness feeds our flesh. It scratches our itching ears. It has its own language and catch phrases. It uses the same Scriptures, usually ripped out of context, to assure us that the broad path beneath our feet is really narrow. Just a quick check of some of the mega church pastor Facebook posts today reveals the message:

"There is a winner in you. You were created to be successful, to accomplish your goals, to leave your mark on this generation. You have greatness in you. The key is to get it out." - Joel Osteen

Expecting nothing gets you nothing. I'd rather expect a lot and get half of it, than expect a little and get all of it. What are you expecting? - Joyce Meyer

Christ has paid the price for you to enjoy God's favor, peace, protection and provision in every area of life. - Joseph Prince

These are our considerations for today. Is there a winner in us or a sinner in us? Were we created to bring glory to God or to achieve worldly success? Is there greatness inside of us or no good thing? Should we be on our knees thanking God for His sacrifice or standing with our hands out expecting more? Do we look to Cavalry for our blessed assurance or for the favor and provision of God in every area of our lives? Is our Christianity biblical, or carnal? That is really the question. Carnal Christianity takes the things of God and cheapens them to be about us. The Bible becomes a story about us instead of Jesus. Worship goes from being about the glory of God to the glory of man. Sermons go from sound biblical exegesis to sugary topical studies designed to motivate and teach people who need a Savior desperately, that they can help themselves.

As indicated, carnal Christianity has its own buzzwords, catch phrases, and poorly exposited Bible verses. From time to time, I will deal with such verses/phrases and today we have a very common exhortation from seeker-friendly pulpits - you are the head and not the tail! Anyone who has sat through enough purpose driven messages has certainly heard this nugget preached. It is exactly what we want to hear. It scratches us right where we itch. We want to go to church on Sundays and hear how great we are instead of how great thou art. Where exactly does this notion come from however and is it being used correctly? The answer is found in examining the context of the key verses today from Deuteronomy.

Let us start with the most immediate context, the verses themselves. While it makes it clear that God does indeed promise to make Israel the head and not the tail we tend to overlook the caveat, even when it is in the same verse, as it is here. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I have commanded you today, to the right hand or to the left to go after other gods to serve them. That is a heck of a chunk of context that never seems to be reiterated when the preacher tells you that God wants to make you the head and not the tail. It is not quite as simple as merely stating it as fact for everyone listening. Let us now expand our context to examine the chapter we find these verses in and we will see things begin to crystallize more. Deuteronomy is the final book of the Torah; the law. Chapter 28 is towards the end as Moses is wrapping up and reviewing for the people. Here is how the chapter begins:

"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. - Deuteronomy 28: 1-2 (ESV)

There are two crucial things for us to understand here. What did God mean when He said, "all His commandments that I commanded you today" and what blessings is He referring to? The portion of all the commandments is easy enough. This is referring to the entire Torah. All 613 Mosaic Laws. That is what is being wrapped up here in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. So God is promising Israel that if they obey all of the law, he will provide a certain level of blessings. What blessings? Everything contained in verses 3-14, culminating in our key verses today. God was not just promising for His people to be the head and not the tail but also to be a lender and not a borrower. All of our enemies to be defeated. There are in fact twelve verses filled with the promises of specific blessings contained here if we would just follow the law. What is the problem with that beloved? No one can follow the law. The only one who was able to was Jesus! Not to mention that if you broke one law you broke them all! The Mosaic Law made us recognize our sin but it required a Savior to deliver us from them. So even within this localized context, it appears this blessing of being the head and not the tail is unreachable.

Further compounding the problem is that the chapter does not end there. For seeker-friendly preachers it does but we are always required to take all of Scripture into consideration. Still within this localized context there are 53 more verses to chapter 28! I wonder why so many preach the head and not the tail verse and then ignore the remainder of the chapter? Possibly because the last 53 verses deals with the curses for disobedience. Rarely will the feel good preacher show you both sides of the coin. They will happily show you the grace side but never flip it over to deal with the law. Always about blessings but never about judgment. God becomes a genie in a bottle and our first wish is that we become the head and not the tail. That is 53 verses of context ignored. Expanding the view of our context we take this Book in light of the entire Bible. There is no question that the key verses, including the promise to be the head and not the tail, are part of the law. It is one of the specific blessings if we were able to keep the law. Yet what is our relationship now to the law under the grace of God?

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.- Colossians 2: 13-15 (ESV)

We were dead in trespasses because no one could keep the law. God forgave us this debt, canceling its record against us and the legal demands. What legal demands? For starters the 53 "curse" verses of ignored context in Deuteronomy 28. Christ took Deuteronomy 28 and the rest of the law and nailed it to the cross so that we are no longer bound to it. According to the Bible Jesus became the curse for us. Considering all of this context, why do preachers continue to tell people that God wants to make them the head and not the tail?

Because it sounds so good and we want to hear it. I can already hear the argument. Jesus did lead a sinless life, keeping the commandments of the law so through Him, we ought to be able to lay claim to the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. This logic is manmade however and not biblical. You cannot lay claim to the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 and ignore the rest of the context. Those considerations were for the people of Israel and even if you want to make the argument that we are grafted in, you cannot escape the fact that Jesus nailed the requirements to the cross for us. If there is any doubt, we simply need to apply what we are saying to Christianity today. These are the promised blessings from Deuteronomy 28:

Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out."The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. - Deuteronomy 28: 3-14 (ESV)

One of the tell tale signs that you are sitting under false teaching in this country is the preaching cannot apply beyond our shores. The prosperity gospel, word faith gospel, greasy grace, and nearly every other abhorrent mangling of God's Word cannot exist outside of this country. In order for this transference of the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 to believers today to be accurate, it would have to be automatic and totally dependent upon the life of Jesus. Take a good look at this list of blessings. Do these all apply to your life? Do you know anyone they all apply to? Can you imagine trying to explain to the persecuted Christians in Iraq that God intends for them to be the head and not the tail? Can we preach to the underground church in China that God intends for them to be blessed in the city and in the field? Can we sermonize to the Christians in Lebanon that the Lord will cause their enemies to flee seven ways before them? Of course not; because these verses are not promises of blessings to Christians. They were promises of blessings to Israel if they could keep the Mosaic Law, which they could not. Head and not the tail? What does Jesus say about this?

But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." - Mark 9: 34-35 (ESV)

If anyone wants to be the head, they must be the tail. Beloved, I am not saying that God does not wish to bless us. I am saying He already has through Christ Jesus on the cross. Can there be more? Sure. Can we be the head and not the tail? Sometimes. But to preach it to thousands of people as if it is the will of God for all of them to be the head and not the tail is simply not supported Scripturally. Was Peter the head and not the tail when he was crucified upside down? When Paul said he was the least of the Apostles was he not realizing that he was the head and not the tail? Are the Christians in the Middle East today the head and not the tail? We need to realize that when we hear this preached it very well may be for our itching ears only. If you want to lay hold of a promise today, try this one:

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, - 2Timothy 3: 12 (ESV)

The real persecution is coming to the shores of this country soon. I do not mean the trivial matters we think are persecution today. I mean real persecution. Christians will have to decide if they are serving God or man. They will have to come out from among them. That is, if they are desiring to live a godly life. Those still shackled to carnal Christianity will not even realize it. They will still walk around in their darkness telling everyone how bright their light is. Chasing the dreams of being the head but in reality, only chasing their own tails.

Reverend Anthony Wade - September 5, 2014

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.