Jeremiah 23:9-40
Lying Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and his holy words.
10 The land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land lies parched
and the pastures in the wilderness are withered.
The prophets follow an evil course
and use their power unjustly.
11 “Both prophet and priest are godless;
even in my temple I find their wickedness,”
declares the LORD.
12 “Therefore their path will become slippery;
they will be banished to darkness
and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
in the year they are punished,”
declares the LORD.
13 “Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen something horrible:
They commit adultery and live a lie.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.
They are all like Sodom to me;
the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets:
“I will make them eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”
16 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They keep saying to those who despise me,
‘The LORD says: You will have peace.’
And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts
they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’
18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD
to see or to hear his word?
Who has listened and heard his word?
19 See, the storm of the LORD
will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand it clearly.
21 I did not send these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my people
and would have turned them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.
23 “Am I only a God nearby,”
declares the LORD,
“and not a God far away?
24 Who can hide in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the LORD.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
declares the LORD.
25 “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? 27 They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the LORD. 29 “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
30 “Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31 Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’ 32 Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the LORD. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the LORD.
False Prophecy
33 “When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message from the LORD?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’ 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message from the LORD,’ I will punish them and their household. 35 This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the LORD’s answer?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But you must not mention ‘a message from the LORD’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God. 37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the LORD’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the LORD,’ this is what the LORD says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the LORD,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the LORD.’ 39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. 40 I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”
Jeremiah 1:5
God Knows Jeremiah Before He Was Born
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Matthew 19:13-15
The Little Children and Jesus
13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
John 3:16-17
God's Love for the World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
God knows we sin...He knows, we sometimes lose faith in Him...He knows and sees us struggle with suffering, troubles, and our own evil...He sees everything, because He tells us that He is more than a God nearby, and more than a God who is faraway...He is everywhere...God fills the heaven and the earth...Our God is Almighty...God even tells Jeremiah that He knew him before He put him in his mother's womb...
But it takes faith and love to believe in Him...What good is a God who is near, or faraway, and is Almighty, if one cannot feel Him...By being faraway, we know that He transcends the universe...But by knowing He is near, He is here on earth with the lowly in spirit, with the suffering, with us in our troubles...But I think when we are young, especially very young, we do not think about these things...But God does know these things, because He knows all things...
The best way I can describe it (at least for me) and best way I see it, is when I was first born and only a day old (very early in life)-I did not know much...I did not understand who I was trusting, or anything about this world or my parents...But I had to trust my parents, even though I did not know at the time, I was trusting them...I do not think as a baby, I knew much of God...But God knew and knows me...And He is infinite...He sees the past, the present, and the future...He knew the exact time I was born...So He has the capacity, not only to be near me, but also far from me...It is possible since He is eternal, that He is early in His plans...Know one knows the exact age when He created our earth and the heavens...No one knows how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden...Maybe Adam and Eve never aged in paradise...We are given very few details of the Garden of Eden...So maybe, Christianity is a young religion, since Jesus came a short two thousand years ago, which is only a short time in eternity...This is all confusing, but that is my point...My parents shared in my birth...And somehow as I grew from baby to a young child, I knew, got to know, and love my parents...I had to trust them early on to survive and get by...I am not sure as a baby what I was trusting...Without their help I would or could not have gotten by...They took care of me, before I knew what to do, or what I should do...They raised me, and taught me so I knew the earthly things to get around and survive...
I think our LORD is like that...I think He takes care of us...The Father and Son know when I sin, when I am unfaithful, when I am evil, and my personal struggles with sin...They know I need help with my soul, because I am a sinner...Jesus is taking care of my soul...He takes care of it because I believe in Him...Jesus and His Father (who not only shared in my birth), will share and be there in my death...I must trust them, even though I do not understand, how my soul and I will make it to heaven...C. S. Lewis said that the Son of God, became a man to become Sons of God...To believe this requires a faith and a trust, like that of a baby or a little child...