Jeremiah 23:21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

Jeremiah 23:22 “But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.”

Jeremiah is such an amazing book in the Old Testament. It’s a big book, but well worth reading many times over.

Basically put, Jeremiah was a prophet of God who lived in the time of the last few kings of Judah before Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon.

God gave Jeremiah a message of rebuke of sin, coming judgment, call to repent and way of salvation for the people of Judah.

But it was an unwelcome and unpopular message (to say the least!), and the people thoroughly rejected Jeremiah’s preaching… and it was the priests and the prophets who lead the charge against him!

Which is kinda odd when you think about it… because if there was anyone who should have supported, endorsed and reiterated God’s word that Jeremiah was preaching… it should have been them!

… after all, the prophets of God were meant to tell people God’s word, that’s what they were supposed to do… and failure to do that was very serious, and was considered stealing God’s word from the people. It was not the prophet of God’s job to evaluate or edit or revise or augment the message of God’s word… it was their job to declare it.

Anyway, these priests and prophets were super against Jeremiah! Because Jeremiah’s message also included them (big no no!), but with good reason, because it was the priests and prophets who were speaking in God’s name and on God’s behalf, and saying “God” said when he did not say… and they were corrupting the nation and setting up people for a big fall with all their lies.

… But they were “nice”! They kept things light and fun! They had positive and uplifting messages. They never offended people with preaching that convicted the people of sin, righteousness and judgment. And so we read and know they’re false prophets… but back then, you and I probably would’ve thought they were pretty “swell”.

And because these guys were so loving and caring and well spoken, they were well spoken of and celebrated in their community. And they weren’t dummies, they “knew where their bread was buttered” and they knew what they had to do to ensure job security and keep hopes of job promotion alive too. So they told people what they wanted to hear, they did their market research well… and they abandon those old tough messages for more modern methods and modes of delivery of God’s word… and they delivered the messages they were expected and paid to deliver.

And so in the time of Jeremiah you really had a choice of which “version” of God’s word to listen to (things haven’t changed much have they!)… and so if you were an average Joe in Jerusalem at that time… would you have listened to Jeremiah… or would you listen to what the other prophets were saying?

Because you had a choice! Just like all these Bibles, you have a choice. Just like all the different pastors and teachers on tap today at the end of a google search or at the click of a button, you can lock and load and roll with all your fav’s.

Interestingly enough, in these verses quoted above, God gives one of the ways to pick a false prophet… because God’s prophets always caused people to turn from sin to God through exposing sin, naming sin, denouncing sin and preaching salvation from sin.

And then all of this is written for us today, because as the Bible says in 2 Peter 2… just like there were false prophets among the people back then, so false teachers will be among us today… and they are, and in the same ratio too!

So if you’re actually looking for truth, rather than having your ears tickled by lies, just apply this same standard to pastors and teachers today, because in all honesty, most are saying what God has not said, and not saying what God has said… and just who and how many are causing people to turn from their evil way?

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