July 22, 2024
Beware of False Prophets -- Part 1
Jeremiah 23:16-17
07/22/2024
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: ``Do not listen to
the words of the prophets who prophesy to you,
filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of
their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They say continually to those who despise the word
of the LORD, `It shall be well with you'; and to
everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart,
they say, `No disaster shall come upon you.'''
(ESV)
For the past few weeks our readings in Church have focused
on what it means to be a faithful follower of the Triune God. We
have confessed that God is of one Essence, yet Three Persons, who
reveals Himself in the words of the Bible. We also confess that
the Holy Spirit creates and sustains our faith through the
sacraments of baptism, the Lord's Supper, and absolution. As
Martin Luther frequently says in the Small Catechism, ``This is
most certainly true.''
But not all churches, not all pastors, agree about the Word
of God. Jeremiah the prophet warned his listeners:
Thus says the LORD of hosts: ``Do not listen to the
words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you
with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds,
not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually
to those who despise the word of the LORD, `It shall be
well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows
his own heart, they say, `No disaster shall come upon
you.'''
Six hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the people were
complacent even as false teachers promised peace and prosperity.
Within Jeremiah's lifetime the children of Israel were led into a
seventy year captivity in Babylon. Jeremiah's warning was
unheeded.
May our Lord grant us the wisdom to hear His Word, to listen
to His warnings about sin, and to hear of His love and mercy
shown through Jesus Christ. Amen.