Conspiracy Theories

A conspiracy has been discovered . . .Maybe our interest is piqued because conspiracies are often at the heart of adventure movies, and we hear about them repeatedly in the news, on talk radio, and on the Internet.Whatever the reason, stories of conspiracy are compelling to us. When we hear about some tragic event, we begin to speculate about who or what is really behind it. Our curiosity wants more.What you may not know, however, is that the Bible reports conspiracies! These are more than idle speculation, though, for they are founded in the Word of God.The Hebrew word for conspiracy is qesher. It has to do with a confederacy, conspiracy, treason, and unlawful alliance. For example:

• Absalom had a conspiracy to promote himself as king (2 Samuel 15).
• Zimri conspired to kill the king (1 Kings 16).
• The servants of Joash formed a conspiracy to kill the king, and they struck him down (2 Kings 12).

There are other recorded conspiracies in the Old and New Testaments, but there is only one more that I want to mention. The Lord accused His people of forming a conspiracy to disobey Him.Again, this is no mere theory or possibility. The King of heaven saw it and informed His prophet Jeremiah about it:

The LORD said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster” (Jeremiah 11:9-14 NASB).

The OneCry movement is about crying out to the Lord for revival and awakening in the church and the nation. How sad it would be to hear the words Jeremiah heard, “Do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them”!We must make sure that we and our families and our churches are not conspiring against the Lord by embracing as many idols as we have cities, lest the Lord say to us, “They will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.”This is the very reason the OneCry movement is not just about crying out to the Lord, but is also about turning away from sin and turning back to God. We must first be repentant of our idols—the idols of self, money, pleasure, sex, lust, greed, just to name a few.Judah had turned the wrong direction. Let’s make sure we are turning the right way.May the Lord NOT say of the American church, “A conspiracy has been found among them. They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words.”