Jeremiah 23:16-40
Saturday, 28 September 2024
“…And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the LORD. “Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” -Jeremiah 23:28, 29
The focus of our text today is God’s discontentment against the prophets of His people who were corrupt and brought disgrace to His name. God calls them false prophets and categorically says He has not sent them. They were misleading His people and dragging them to sin. Hence the Lord comes heavily upon them with strong words of rebuke.
Prophets who profess to have a dream from God deceive people with made up lies and eventually lead people astray from God. Bu the true messengers from God speak on His behalf faithfully. God compared them to chaff and wheat. One is as the chaff and stubble, and the other as the wheat—that is, one is worthless and the other, sustaining life. Of the two, straw and grain- only the grain can be fed and bring nourishment.
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 and it grows up and bears good fruit 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 burning as seen in Psalm 1:5. Good men, and true prophets of the Lord, and all the righteous, are as "wheat" for the quality and excellency, purity and solidness.
The unhumbled 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).
So one must keep close to God’s 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. We need God’s discernment to differentiate between a true and false prophet. In this day and age, there are many prophets who take God’s Word and twist it for their benefit- it is no different from the days of Jeremiah. Stay away from such!
If the prophet has to deliver God’s Word, the remedy is given in V.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?” Waiting upon the Lord for His word and understanding what He has to speak to His people is the way God’s men and women can be representatives. Such men and women of God can bring forth God’s Word, which is able to rebuke as well as encourage, correct as well as build up! Isaiah 50:4 [NLT] says, “The Sovereign LORD has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.” Only that can bring correction or comfort to His people.
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)
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