Two Messages ~ Jeremiah 23

“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.’” Jeremiah 23:16-17 ESV

It is a constant amazement to me the relevance the Word of God holds in our modern-day world.  Sure, the Word of God was written by over 40 authors, including kings, shepherds, and fishermen, over roughly 1,500 years in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek), but when you really study and meditate upon its core message, it seems as if it were written yesterday by someone carefully observing our modern societal flaws and faults.  Yes, the Word of God, just as God claims, will stand forever and never fade or become irrelevant to His human creations. (Isaiah 40:8)  And that means no matter what our modern, educated, technologically advanced human hearts today think of the Word of God, it still stands firm as the mirror that reflects the static truth of the human condition.

When you are truly dissecting the message of the Lord as He reveals it through the 66 books of His Word, you will see not just one message revealed, but two.  There is a message of God and there is a message of this world.  And folks, even stark black and white cannot attempt to achieve the contrast of these two messages.  Oil and water can exist in the same area, yet they will not and are not together, of the same manufacture, or seen as the same by the careful eye.  And so are these two contrasting messages that bombard humans even today.  God is selling one message, and the world is selling quite another.

The 23^rd chapter of the Old Testament book of Jeremiah finds the Lord clearly and aggressively addressing the message of the world.  And the message of the world, which is ultimately the message of sinning men and women without the Savior Jesus Christ to guide them into righteousness, aims at guiding people to themselves, and ultimately, away from God.  God calls out the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day, so called men of God, yet not sent by God.  These false messengers are quick to tell the world of their personal dreams and ensuing godly messages they have received directly from God.  Yet there is only one problem with this, and it is a big one.  God did not call them, send them, give them a dream, or grant them a message to share.  God condemns their dreams and ultimately the preaching of those dreams as simply leading the people of God astray.  Liken it to a shepherd that instead of leading his sheep to green pastures and still waters, is leading them directly to the slaughterhouse for his own gain.  And just what two concepts were at the core of these false prophet’s worldly message? 

1) You don’t need to know or do what God’s Word says. (verse 17a) The false prophets taught all that would listen to them of the irrelevance and unimportance of the Word of God.  They claimed it as an antiquated inapplicable story book that should not be respected but instead despised and rejected.  They preached that instead of doing what God says, do what you feel is right for you and for your life.  And just exactly where do you get the direction of what is “right” for your life?  Well, that leads us to concept number two of the world’s false message. 

2) Follow your own heart. (verse 17b)  The false prophets preached for everyone to simply do what felt right and good to themselves.  To simply do what was right in their own eyes.  And what were these false men of God preaching would be the result of despising the Word of God and doing whatever your heart told you to do?  Well, that everything will be ok and nothing bad will happen to you. (verse 17c) Friends, does this 2,600-year-old message of forget God and the Bible, follow your own heart, and do whatever you want sound familiar in our world today?

During Jeremiah’s day there were two clear messages.  One of God delivered by His messenger Jeremiah and one of the world delivered by the corrupt mouths of this world.  And how different were these messages at their core?  Jeremiah taught to repent of your sin…the world taught to relax in your sin.  Jeremiah taught to walk in God’s righteous ways…the world taught to walk in your own selfish ways.  Jeremiah taught to never trust your heart…the world taught to trust only in your heart.  And what was the core foundational difference in these two polarizing messages?  What the Word of God said.

Every single heart on this planet must be anchored to something.  No matter what you may hear or choose to argue as your own personal truth, the human heart will moor itself to something for its direction. Whether it be false religion, self, material wealth, pride and ego, social media, whichever slanted news outlet you prefer, self-advancement, relationships, the influence of friends, or yes, even family.  These are all vehicles that will drive your heart into making the decisions and life choices you make today.  And it was no different in the days when Jeremiah preached to repent of your sin while the world preached to relax in your sin.

Today these two messages exist completely unchanged after nearly three millennia.  And just why have they remained unchanged?  Well, because God never changes, His Word never changes, and the enemy that opposes God never changes.  Only the deceitful intellect and the sinful emotions of sinful human beings tell us that things have changed.  So what is the human heart that desires to find and live in pure and absolute unchanging truth to do in the face of these two messages?  Simple.  Do what the next verse in our study passage instructs us to do.

“For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord, to see and to hear His Word, or who has paid attention to His Word and listened?” Jeremiah 23:18

There must be a mighty counter balance to offset the evil intentions of a sin-stained human heart.  And that mighty counter balance is the Word of God.  Stand in the presence of the counsel of the Lord by engaging Him through His Words to you, the Holy Bible, the Scriptures.  See it, hear it, listen to it, pay attention to it, and most importantly, do it.  Anchor your heart in the truth of God’s Word and walk in obedience to what it says, denying the sin nature that dictates the heart’s advice and refusing to buy in to the lie that the world is so ready to sell you…that your heart knows better than God.

Get into the Word of God today.  Digest its message to repent of your selfish, self-serving sin.  Refuse to live the lie that your sin is ok just because it brings you momentary pleasure and is what your heart desires to do.  Instead of relaxing in your sin, repent of it and walk in a way that God knows will bring you true joy, peace, and freedom in this life.  Walk in the way that your Maker designed for you…the way that Jesus Christ modeled for all.  Follow Jesus and find freedom.

Blessings ~ Dan

“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” Judges 17:6 NLT

“Back in those days, Israel didn't yet have a king, so each person did whatever seemed right in his own opinion.” Judges 21:25 ISV

“Every man's lifestyle is proper in his own view, but the LORD weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2 ISV

"Pacific sunset", Zicatela, Oaxaca, Mexico