Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Do I not fill heaven and earth?"
Text: Jeremiah 23:24
A DEFECTIVE THEOLOGY OF GOD
The false shepherds had a very defective theology of God. The following aspects were highlighted for mention!
“‘I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.
Am I a God near at hand,’ says the LORD,
‘And not a God afar off?
Can anyone hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?’ says the LORD;
‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 23:21-24
1. The False Prophets
a) They had not been sent by God. But they acted as if they had been sent.
b) They had not received a word from God. Yet, they spoke as if they were true prophets.
c) If they had been true prophets:
i) They would have stood in God’s counsel.
ii) They would have caused people to hear God’s word.
iii) They would have turned people away from their wicked ways.
2. “‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the LORD, ‘And not a God afar off?'”
a) Where may God be found?
b) Some speak of God as One who is “near at hand”.
i) Not closeness.
ii) But limited to a geographical region.
iii) Some idols were deities of mountains.
iv) Other idols were deities of seas.
c) Some others speak of God.
i) As still God, though He may be far away.
ii) God was sometimes portrayed as “remote”.
iii) All these ideas were quite false!
3. “‘Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the LORD”
a) Some imagined that they could hide from the Presence of God.
b) They do not believe that God can see everything and everyone.
c) This was a false theology of God robbing Him of the attribute of omniscience.
4. “‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the LORD”
a) God must not be robbed of the following:
i) His omnipresence.
ii) His omnipotence.
iii) His omniscience.
b) The greatness and majesty of God.
i) It fills heaven.
ii) It also fills earth.
A correct theology of God must be maintained! But the false prophets proclaimed a defective theology of God that adversely affected the faith of many!