THE CHRISTIAN WALK: VALIDATE EVERYTHING

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In Christ, Mark

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

“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies to you. ‘I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord. ‘They are prophesying lies in My name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.’”

Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the Lord says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the Lord’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this city become a ruin? If they are prophets and have the word of the Lord, let them plead with the Lord Almighty that the articles remaining in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. For this is what the Lord Almighty says about the pillars, the bronze Sea, the movable stands and the other articles that are left in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: ‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”

In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.”

Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, and he said before all the people, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.’” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.

After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.’”

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies.”

Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for My people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against Me.’”

Jeremiah 27:14-22, 28:1-15, 29:24-32

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

Do you think for yourself or do you allow others to think for you?

The reason I ask is that in this day of increasing digital media, there is a ton of information and misinformation that is being propagated and I don’t think we can be a people who just take everything they hear at face value.

In fact, I would go as far to say that the Lord doesn’t want us to take anything said outside of Him at face value either. Rather, He would want us to validate everything.

Why do I say this?

Because as we look at the scriptures for today drawn from three chapters in the Book of Jeremiah, we see that the Lord is calling out those who have circulated deceptive messages as if they were representing Him when they really weren’t.

The Bible has a name for these kinds of people: false prophets.

Look at the instances highlighted in the passages for today’s devotion:

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies.”

In yesterday’s devotion, we looked at the words of the Lord Himself who said through His prophet Jeremiah that the Israelites were to go under the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians where they would be taken away for seventy years of exile. If they refused to obey this command, then the Lord promised they would perish by the sword.

That was the word straight from the Lord however as we see in the closing verses of Chapter 27, there were other prophets who were spreading a different message, one that contradicted the message from God. These prophets were leading people to believe that they would not be taken captive by the king of Babylon and thus fall under his rule. They were also telling people that what the Babylonians plundered from the house of the Lord would be returned soon when in actuality the Lord would have those items in the custody of the Babylonians during the entire exile period and the time He deemed it appropriate for them to return to Judah and Jerusalem.

It’s obvious that the false prophets had not even consulted the Lord before speaking out. We know this because the Lord challenges them to consult Him about the information they were announcing but they wouldn’t because it would only invalidate them as being liars and deceivers.

In other words, a messenger is only seen as true as long as their message is viewed as true. Once they are exposed as having been less than honest, then their integrity is brought into question and authority disempowered.

This was the intent of the Lord in His speaking out. He wanted to shine a light on the fraudulent actions of the false prophets and discredit them in the eyes of His people.

One such prophet who found himself highlighted in God’s word was Hananiah who boldly declared that the Lord had said He would break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar and bring back not only all the articles taken from the Lord’s temple but also the deposed King Jehoiachin and all the other exiles from Judah within two years. So convincing was Hananiah in his delivery that the prophet Jeremiah believed him and proclaimed, ““Amen! May the Lord do so!” as he spoke to the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. With that, Hananiah took the yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck that the Lord had commanded him to wear and broke it, once again declaring that the Lord would “break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.” And with that, the scriptures tell us that Jeremiah went on his way.

So a prophet spoke words that were untrue and no one chose to validate them, not even a fellow prophet Jeremiah who had been working so closely with God to send a message of pending judgment.

Would the lie remain without the Lord’s intervention?

Hardly. In fact, it doesn’t take long before we see the Lord opening the eyes of Jeremiah as to what Hananiah was up to and sent the following message straight to the false prophet:

“This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.”

Hananiah had prophesied falsely to the people of God but that did not change the resolve of God. Judgment was coming and no man would be able to break the yoke He was placing the Israelites under. He reinforced that point by changing the material the illustrative yoke was made from, from the breakable wood to unbreakable iron. God punishment was coming and no one was going to break the coming bondage His people would be under.

Well, as we finish our scripture passages, looking at the excerpt from Jeremiah 29, we see that Hananiah wasn’t the only false messenger called out by the Lord. For a man by the name of Shemaiah had attempted to deceive the priest Zephaniah, all the other priests, and all the people in Jerusalem, sending letters which called for the arrest and punishment of “any maniac who acts like a prophet”, specifically calling out Jeremiah and making him appear as if he was in company with the other false prophets.

Of course, we know the truth and Jeremiah was the only one telling it for he was the only spokesperson God was using at the time. All others were imposters.

The scriptures tell us that Zephaniah the priest read Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah and that reading prompted the Lord to speak through His true messenger who He used to give the following message to His exiled people:

“This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for My people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against Me.”

With these words, the Lord exposed Shemaiah for the farce that He was and declared a special penalty for the false prophet who had persuaded the Israelites to trust in lies. Not only Shemaiah but his descendants would be punished and he would end up with no one left among the people. Further, he would not get to see the good works God would do for His people in the future which essentially meant that Shemaiah would perish before he would have a chance to return to Judah and Jerusalem at the end of the seventy year exile.

The message is clear. It does not pay to say you are speaking for the Lord when you aren’t.

And yet, today we find that there are a lot of voices out there who say they are speaking on behalf of the Lord when they really aren’t. There are still illegitimate spokespeople and prophets who the enemy is using to try and deceive the people of God.

It wasn’t as if we weren’t warned because when Jesus did His initial teaching during the Sermon on the Mount, He included this caution for His followers:

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:15-20

Jesus tells us that by their fruit, you will recognize them, them being the false prophets. But how will you know whether the fruit being produced by a messenger who claims to come in the name of the Lord is good or bad?

The answer is to validate everything. None of us should take anything any human being says simply at face value but should see if it is reinforced by the word of God as illuminated and confirmed by the Holy Spirit.

For rest assured of this:

When we turn to the Lord and check on what’s being said in His name, He will expose falsehood and anyone who is manifesting it. He did in Old Testament times and He has been doing it ever since.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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THE CHRISTIAN WALK

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

VALIDATE EVERYTHING

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