Who are you listening to?

In Jeremiah 14 & 15 God stresses two major themes:

1) His judgment is coming and He will not relent.

God says this to Jeremiah in 14:10-12

Thus says the Lord to this people, "Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account." So the Lord said to me, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence."

God is determined to punish Israel for their sin. If you know the story of the Old Testament (primarily 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles) then you know that God has sent Israel countless warnings and prophets, but they have ignored Him.

Now, according to God, the time for warnings is over and His prophet has only one message--judgment is coming. The time has come for God to call their sins to account. It is time to pay.

God is so determined to punish Israel's sins that He tells Jeremiah not to pray for the welfare of this people and He informs the people that fasting is pointless because He won't listen to their cry.

God is only concerned with one thing and that is bringing the sword, famine, and pestilence.

This is the theme that God repeats throughout these two chapters. Here are the highlights--

Then the Lord said to me, "Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!" (15:1)

And it shall be that when they say to you, 'Where should we go?' then you are to tell them, 'Thus says the Lord: 'Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity." (15:2)

"You who have forsaken Me," declares the Lord, "You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!" (15:6)

I think the end of verse 16 sums up God's point when He says, "I am tired of relenting."

God hated Israel's sin and had grown weary of heeding the prayers of the few righteous on behalf of the many wicked. He was fed up. Judgment was coming.

The second major theme of these two chapters is where I want to focus my attention.

2) Israel was filled with false prophets preaching false messages.

God is telling Jeremiah of the certainty of the judgment that is coming, but Jeremiah responds that the people may not be turning from their sin because of the messages they are being told are coming from God.

Jeremiah says,

But, "Ah, Lord God!" I said, "Look, the prophets are telling them, 'You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.'" Then the Lord said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds."

Jeremiah's point is that the Israelites are only doing what they are told. God's response is that they are being told a false message by false prophets.

What is a "false" prophet? God gives us three indications--

1) A false prophet speaks a message different then the one God has spoken.

God had chosen to get his message out through Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the lone sanctioned speaker of God's truth.

And the false prophets of Jeremiah's day were saying a message that was the exact opposite of what God had told Jeremiah. Their message was, "You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place."

In our day, we have the Bible as the lone sanctioned speaker of God's truth. Any message that deviates from this single sanctioned message is false and the speaker of it is a false prophet.

2) A false prophet has not been called by God.

Jeremiah could speak with confidence before the people because God had called him to be His prophet.

The false prophets had no command or commission from God. God states clearly, "I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them."

3) A false prophet gets his/her message from somewhere other than God's truth.

So, where were the false prophets getting their message if not from God? God suggests some possible places, "they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds."

So what would come as a result of these false teachers sharing a false message?

God tells us in 14:15-16

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them--yet they keep saying, 'There will be no sword or famine in this land'--by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them--neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters--for I will four out ther own wickedness upon them."

It is no suprise that God says He is going to judge the false prophets, but what is suprising is that God is also going to judge the people who listen to them.

Let's fast forward to today. We live in a world where countless people in churches, on television, on the radio, and on the internet claim to speak for God.

But do they really? The reality is that some, if not many of them, are false prophets preaching a false message that will result in the judgment of them and those who listen to them.

Let's forget actual "preachers" for a minute and think of those in our lives who we seek counsel and advice from--what are they telling us? Is their advice false?

At this point you might be saying, "But, how can I know if their message is false?"

The answer to that question lies in seeking out and understanding the true message of God. If you know the truth then you can expose the lie because anything that deviates from the truth is in fact falsehood.

Paul puts it this way in Galatians 1:8

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!"

It is false if it deviates from scripture.

You and I must ask ourselves this question, "Who am I listening to?" and then we must ask, "Is their message false?"

God will judge false teachers and those who listen to them. Don't be in that group!