Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"A vision of their own heart"
Text: Jeremiah 23:16
THE WORDS OF THE FALSE PROPHETS
A strong word of warning had to be given concerning the false prophets. The advice of these wicked people should never be heeded!
“Thus says the LORD of hosts:
‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the LORD.
They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The LORD has said, ‘You shall have peace”;
And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you.””
Jeremiah 23:16-17
1. “Thus says the LORD of hosts”
a) This word of warning came from God.
b) The LORD of hosts was the One who stood against these false prophets.
c) Many were afraid of these people:
i) Their so-called powers.
ii) Their veiled threats to coerce people to listen to them.
d) The LORD certainly was not afraid of them for He exposed and denounced them.
2. “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you”
a) False prophets existed because people listened to them.
b) If they did not have an audience, their influence would wither away.
c) The wisest thing to do was to cease listening to these false prophets.
3. “They make you worthless”
a) Their words are of no worth whatsoever.
b) To heed them would yield no results.
c) Followers would become worthless.
d) The consequences of following them would be personally disastrous.
4. “They speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the LORD”
a) An evaluation of their so-called “visions”.
i) They have no word from the Lord at all.
ii) Their words were nothing more than deception.
b) They spoke out of their own devices.
i) Whatever their heart led them to say.
ii) They spoke to gullible people and deceived them.
5. “They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, ‘You shall have peace””
a) There were people who despised the LORD.
b) To these people they promised “Peace”.
c) They even cited the LORD as their authority.
6. “And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you'”
a) There were many who followed the dictates of their wicked heart.
b) To these, the false prophets assured them, that no harm (evil) would come to them.
It was important that these false prophets be withstood strongly!