Being True to God’s Word
October 10, 2019
Commentary
Corruption was one of the chief things which was wrong in Judah at this time in history. (vv. 9-14). Jeremiah’s heart was broken and his body became weak when he thought of God’s holy words (v. 9). God had shown His displeasure on the physical and spiritual adulteries being done in Judah by bringing His curse of drought so that the land was parched and withered (v. 10). Yet, instead of calling Judah back to her covenant with God, the prophets continued to lead the people on an evil course, implying that God was not using the drought to judge people for their sin (v. 11). When the prophets, who are there to correct the king from going wrong, there is no hope for the land. As a result, a fatal cancer developed in the heart of the nation which could not be cured. That is why judgment had to come (v. 12). Jeremiah compared the prophets of Samaria (v. 13) to the prophets of Jerusalem (v. 14). The prophets of Judah followed in the same paths of sin (v. 15).
There are four warning signs of false prophets – characteristics we need to watch for even today:
They may appear to speak God’s message, but they do not live by His principles (v. 16).They water down God’s message to make it more acceptable (v. 17).They encourage their listeners, often subtly, to disobey God (v. 17).They appeal to the desires of their audience instead of being true to God’s Word (v. 18).God set Himself against those prophets because they were leading the people astray with … reckless lies, falsely claiming God’s authority (vv. 19-24).
Application
I want to always stay true to your Word and be faithful to proclaim it, even when it is not popular. I want to challenge people to get into the Word of God personally and have a “Family Time.”
Jeremiah 23:9– 24 (NET)
9 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated.
10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. They live wicked lives and they misuse their power. So the land is dried up because it is under his curse. The pastures in the wilderness are withered.
11 Moreover, the Lord says, “Both the prophets and priests are godless. I have even found them doing evil in my temple.
12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery. They will stumble and fall headlong. For I will bring disaster on them. A day of reckoning is coming for them.” The Lord affirms it!
13 The Lord says, “I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something that was disgusting. They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray.
14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.
15 So then I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’”
16 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the people of Jerusalem: “Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the Lord has given them to say.
17 They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said, ‘Things will go well for you!’ They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’
18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?
19 But just watch! The wrath of the Lord will come like a storm! Like a raging storm it will rage down on the heads of those who are wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. In future days you people will come to understand this clearly.
21 I did not send those prophets, yet they were in a hurry to give their message. I did not tell them anything, yet they prophesied anyway.
22 But if they had stood in my inner circle, they would have proclaimed my message to my people. They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways and stop doing the evil things they are doing.
23 Do you people think that I am some local deity and not the transcendent God?” the Lord asks.
24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. “Do you not know that I am everywhere?” the Lord asks.
Illustration: Sentenced to The Prison He Had Built
Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of his own making, the contractor said, “I never dreamed when I built this prison that I would be an inmate one day.” (Today in the Word, July 12, 1993).