We need God’s discernment to differentiate between a true and false prophet. Now a days there are many prophets who take God’s Word and twist it for their benefit- it is no different from the days of Jeremiah. Of such, the Lord tells Jeremiah: “I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!” [Jer 23:32 NLT]

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In our text today, it is said, let the dreamer tell his dream as such, let the prophet speak the word of Jehovah truly, and then it will be seen that one is as the chaff and stubble, and the other as the wheat—one worthless, the other, sustaining life. Of the two, straw and grain- only grain can be fed and bring nourishment.

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In these verses the true Word of God is represented in three figurative ways -grain, fire and hammer. The grain is that which falls on a good soil it grows up and bear good fruit but whereas the chaff is blown away in the wind. Wicked men are as "chaff"; such were the false prophets, and all ungodly men, for their emptiness, lightness, unprofitability, and for their being fit fuel for everlasting burnings as seen in Psalm 1:5. Good men, and true prophets of the Lord, and all the righteous, are as "wheat" for choiceness and excellency, purity and solidness.

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The unhumble heart of man is like a rock; if not melted by the Word of God as a fire, it will be broken to pieces by it as a hammer. So is God’s Word, when properly applied, is able to break the hardest and most obstinate heart and break the confidence of the most hardened sinner. As Paul says, a preacher must "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction" (2Timothy 4:2). 

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So one must keep close to His instructions, and he/she will soon perceive a vast difference between the dreams which the false prophets tell, and the divine prophecies which the true prophets deliver, and will easily discern which is of God and which is not.

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If the prophet has to deliver God’s Word, the remedy is given in Jer 23:18: “For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?” Such men of God can bring forth God’s Word, which is able to rebuke as well as encourage, correct as well as build up! 

Thought for the Day:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,

a worker who does not need to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 2:15