FALSE WISDOM

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“‘How can you say, ‘We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,’ when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?”

“The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?”

“Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”

“Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished,” says the Lord. “‘I will take away their harvest,” declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.”

Jeremiah 8:8-13

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

The word of God could not be clearer, could it?

If we are going to fully know what we need to know in living this life we have been blessed with, we cannot trust our own wisdom or understanding because it will not lead us to walk in the kind of righteousness the Lord commands and demands, the path that leads straight to life as He expects it to be lived, now and forever.

The same applies to relying on the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of others as well. For it’s only when we submit ourselves to the Lord and place our full trust in Him that we can ensure we will always live in a way that is obedient to His will and pleasing in His sight.

So what can happen when we fail to do this? What is the outcome of placing our faith in the direction and guidance of others vice the Lord?

We see the answers to these questions in today’s scripture passage from Jeremiah 8. Look again at these verses here:

“‘How can you say, ‘We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,’ when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?”

“The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?”

“Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”

“Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished,” says the Lord. “‘I will take away their harvest,” declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.”  Jeremiah 8:8-13

We see right away that the people of God had accepted instruction and guidance that was far from the truth. Although they proclaimed themselves as wise, they were doing so based off false wisdom received from the scribes, those entrusted to be the ultimate authorities of the law given by the Lord to dictate the way His people should live. The Israelites invested their belief in the scribes without testing the validity of the instruction they were given, instruction that the Lord called falsehood. Even the priests, those appointed by God to be the spiritual leaders of the people, were in on the misleading twisting of the real meaning intended by God’s word. Consequently, those who were supposed to be wise were really fools, corrupted after having rejected the word of the Lord for deceptive direction and guidance. The Lord called their conduct detestable. Not good.

So what was the penalty for spreading and receiving false wisdom, essentially turning away from the words of God to buy into words that misrepresented the truth?

It wasn’t pretty.

We read where God would give the wives of those spreading falsehood to other men; their property would be taken from them and given to new owners. The deceivers would “fall among the fallen” and be “brought down to where they are punished”. Their harvest would be taken from them by the Lord as well as anything else He had given them.

In other words, the Lord is not going to bless anyone who turns away from Him and the perfect wisdom He offers to receive dishonesty and lies from any human being. Choosing wickedness and its evil outcomes will always place someone firmly in the crosshairs of God’s judgment. Rest assured of that.

Given all this, one question is applicable for us all:

Do we rely on our own understanding or others to give us understanding, or do we place our fullest trust in the Lord with all our heart, knowing that He and He alone will make our paths straight and guide us on the way of righteousness?

The former involves buying into false wisdom and invoking God’s punishment.

The latter involves investing our full hope in God’s wisdom over anything else and receiving His fullest measure of blessing as a result.

Do yourself a favor. Live out the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 and go for God’s wisdom every time. You’ll never go wrong doing so.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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