Lesson 302: "Monkey Chatter"
There is an image in my mind of a monkey in a tree, jumping from limb to limb and screaming at the top of his lungs. Below the tree walks a lion! The lion pays no attention to the monkey chatter and seems to be in no hurry or going any place in particular. He simply walks by and disappears, out of the perimeter of my vision/dream/image. Not being sure what this mind-picture meant (perhaps a shadow of my up-coming safari? Now I AM kidding about the safari of course), or if this image meant nothing at all. However, being of a curious nature, I researched the scriptures for meaning. I did not find any monkeys, only apes and baboons which were included in the exotic items brought to King Solomon every three years (2 Chro. 9:21). Not finding these apes and baboons swinging from my mind-tree I continued to search and found the ever present, ever chattering Pharisees. They laid plans to trap Jesus with pious innuendoes (Matt. 22:15-19); notice Jesus called them hypocrites with evil intents (chattering monkeys).
After Jesus was baptized He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil; the accuser of saints (Rev. 12:10, Matt. 4:1). When Joshua, the high priest, was standing before the angel of the Lord, Satan was standing there also, accusing him because he was wearing filthy rags. One version of the bible says that Satan was “shouting him down” in front of the Lord (Zech. 3:1-10); a screaming monkey; and the Lord said; “rebuke you Satan”! 1 Peter 5:8 calls Satan a roaring lion; however, our hope of quieting the monkey-accuser lays in the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ (Rev. 5:5). This old monkey comes in the form of demons who at the top of their lungs shouted at Jesus; “what do you want with us, Son of God” (Matt. 8:28-29)? Screams of accusations come in all forms, but make no mistake they are the accusations of the devil; people in Jesus’ hometown took offense at him (Matt. 13:53-57); Herod’s wife asked for the head of John the Baptist (Matt. 14:8); false prophets who wag their tongues (Jer. 23:30-32) leading the people astray with reckless lies (monkey chatter?).
John warns that false prophets and teachers are now in this world and the world listens to them (1 John 4:1-6) and at the risk of repeating myself; make no mistake; these false teachers are in our pulpits. They are chattering monkeys thinking more highly of themselves than they ought (Rom. 12:3); thinking themselves above their teacher (Matt. 10:24). Our teacher is God/the Bible/the Holy Spirit and we are “not to go beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6). Ignorant and unstable people distort the Word of God as they do other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16) not knowing how to correctly handle the Word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). Congregations should always be like the Bereans and examine the scriptures every day to see if what their “leaders” say is true and lines up with the Bible (Acts 17:11).
“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1) and there is a strict warning for those who presume to be shepherds of God’s flock. “Woe to the shepherds who take care of themselves but do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost; so they have scattered” (Eze. 34:1-10); “therefore, I will hold them accountable for My flock”! If you have a chattering monkey in your pulpit then check with The Lion Of Judah and make sure this is the one called to protect and serve your flock; “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very Words of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). “My Spirit will not contend with man forever” (Gen. 6:3) and this lion walking past the tree where the chattering monkey jumps from one limb to another might possibly be the Lion of Judah, walking away from a dying church who refuses to serve Him with all their heart, all their mind, and their soul. If we forsake our first love, He will come and remove our lamp-stand (the Holy Spirit) from its place (Rev. 2:4-5).
Do not believe every spirit (1 John 4:1); be self-controlled and alert (1 Pet. 4:8); watch (Matt. 24:44); listen for the midnight cry (Matt. 25:6); “the end of all things is near” (1 Pet. 4:7)!