Caution

Jeremiah 23:9-40

9 Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble. I am like a drunken man, like a 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 desert 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 no one turns from his 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 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" 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 fathers forgot my name through Baal worship. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell his 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 Oracles and False Prophets 33 "When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, 'What is the oracle F46 of the LORD ?' say to them, 'What oracle? F47 I will forsake you, declares the LORD .' 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, 'This is the oracle of the LORD ,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 This is what each of you keeps on saying to his friend or relative: 'What is the LORD's answer?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But you must not mention 'the oracle of the LORD ' again, because every man's own word becomes his oracle and 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 the oracle of the LORD ,' this is what the LORD says: You used the words, 'This is the oracle of the LORD ,' even though I told you that you must not claim, 'This is the oracle of 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 fathers. 40 I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace-everlasting shame that will not be forgotten."

False prophets tell lies because they haven’t heard the word of God though they claim to and speak anyways. God didn’t send the prophets yet they still prophesied about him, they ran with a false message. God states “His anger will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart” (vs 20). Yet, if these same prophets had stood in the council of God, they would’ve been able to do something good and turned the people away from evil. God fills Heaven and earth so we have no excuse not to turn to Him and hear. “Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully” (vs 28). Visions, prophesy, all things of the similar nature, are nothing unless rooted in the word of God. We have full freedom to speak the Word, but only the word, for the word is like fire. When we talk and proclaim the things of God that are not rooted in the word we are leading people with reckless lies and it becomes more dangerous to the people rather than help to them. God casts those who profess lies out of His presence and puts everlasting shame upon them. So it is CRITICAL that we must stay in the word of God, and stay in prayer. We must not speak unless it is God, the Holy Spirit, and founded in the word. It is better to say nothing than to say something false, for false words are more dangerous than silence.

We have so much power in the Holy Spirit and like any power, it can be used for good or evil, though I know that the Holy Spirit won’t move us to do evil. Basically because we know this power it is easy to think that we’re doing fine all the time and continue to talk and talk as if the power is moving through us, but it’s possible to think that it is when it really isn’t, and so we profess as if the Holy Spirit was moving within us and we instead say false things. We can do so much damage and we must be extremely careful as to what we say. For example, I shouldn’t make something spiritual just to make it spiritual; I need to be honest with myself and others for out of God's grace and truth the most will be done for His kingdom. And also, the prophesy and visions aren’t bad; You spoke to some of the greatest leaders in the Bible through such things, BUT it MUST be rooted in the word, if it’s not of the word, it’s crafted of us and is not of You, thus if we proclaim those visions and prophesy without any solid ground in the word confirming those things, we can bring so much harm.

It’s kind of like God is the premium bottle of wine…His taste and abundance lives up to the label, and that’s why no other wines can truly be of the same wine as Him. Yet there will be some who try to claim they do and produce a similar wine, saying that it is as fruitful and as abundant as this premium wine, and they will probably jack up the price similar but slightly less expensive than the premium because if it’s expensive, it must be good, right? So people buy the slightly less expensive one because it’s supposed to be as good as the expensive one, yet it’s cheaper, it won’t cost as much. And when they try it, they think it is wonderful because it was expensive and is supposed to be as good as the other one, but how do they know, because they haven’t tried the premium wine? So they fool themselves into thinking they had this premium wine for it cost so much yet they really had a knockoff and completely missed out on the experience of the premium. And they won’t know this until they try the premium, but after having the “supposedly premium,” why would they have any reason to try the more expensive stuff if it’s exactly the same? Following Christ costs so much because He has called us to lay our lives down for Him. But as we pay that price, we experience the fruit of Him and His abundance and know that it was worth it to pay that price. Nothing else is close to the same level as Him. Yet often times we try the cheaper brand that claims to be of the same quality and if we don’t experience the high quality, we never know what we’re missing out on. And so as messengers of the Word, with the power we have in the Holy Spirit, it is very possible for us to present the “comparable quality” God instead of the real thing. This is what we do when we speak and act without it being rooted in the word of God. We have authority as Christians, authority God given, and people look to that and see it. They will take what we say to be the real thing because how do they know otherwise? And so when we speak and act without it being rooted in the word of God, we are in a sense presenting them with the cheaper brand of God that is supposedly comparable and because they don’t know any better, they take it to be the premium and don’t see reason to seek more or don’t even know that there is so much better. We don’t want them to experience the knockoff, we want them to experience Him to the fullest.

So we must make sure that we are rooted in the word in everything we say and do. We don’t want to lead people astray because we lack the Word when it’s right there in front of us. We need to present the gospel to the fullest, and not water it down and say that it’s all going to be easy and life will be perfect and everything, because that’s presenting them with a lesser God. We need to be true to the word, and one of the most critical things about the Gospel I believe is in Matthew 16:24-25: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” We must die to our lives in order to come after Christ and that’s not going to be easy. It’s a road that few fully go on, but one that reaps rewards beyond anything we can comprehend. So in presenting the Gospel out of truth and in the word, we are showing them how though it will be difficult, it will be more than worth it. This is just one example of how we talk to people and can use it for either harm or good. We must be extremely careful as to what we say and profess and make sure it is of Him. It is better to be silent than to say false words that will lead people astray.