Growing with God: A daily devotional with Tonia Slimm.
Jeremiah 29:8-9 (NIV)
“Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 29:8-9 (MSG)
“Yes. Believe it or not, this is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God: “Don’t let all those so-called preachers and know-it-alls who are all over the place there take you in with their lies. Don’t pay any attention to the fantasies they keep coming up with to please you. They’re a bunch of liars preaching lies—and claiming I sent them! I never sent them, believe me.” God’s Decree!”
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“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your [false] prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you; pay no attention and attach no significance to the dreams which they dream or to yours, for they prophesy falsely to you in My Name. I have not sent them,’ says the Lord.” -AMPLIFIED
“The Lord instructed the exiles not to let the “prophets” among them deceive them into thinking that the captivity would be short. Such predictions were not from Him.” ~Thomas Constable
Within the letter that Jeremiah had sent to the captives were instructions from the Lord which encouraged them to accept the discipline of the Lord. Here are the directions given to them by the Lord:
“Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.” -Jeremiah 29:5-7 (CSB)
They were to settle in, increase in number, and be a blessing to their Babylonian neighbors.
The letter also mentioned something they should NOT be doing, that would be listening to the false prophets who had been taken captive too. God’s Message to the captives, beware of the false prophets.
“This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says to you: “Do not be fooled by the false prophets and fortune-tellers among you. Do not listen to dreamers or their interpretations of dreams, for I did not send them to you. They are prophesying lies in My name!” So says the Eternal.” -(VOICE)
Of course, among the exiles who were carried away to Babylon there would have doubtless been some of those imposters, the false prophets, that had been feeding the people lies, passing them off as Messages from God. Guess what? Even though they too had been carried away by their captors and were now on the receiving end of God’s discipline, they continued to spread their lies.
“Even though the false prophets have been exposed to be liars in that their prophecy of peace failed to come to pass while Jeremiah’s prophecy of the captivity came to pass, they are so rebellious against God that they will still try to convince the people that they are the true prophets. God warns sternly against listening to such foolish people.” ~Melissa Beaty
So God sends yet again another warning to the people about NOT listening to the lies of the pseudo-prophets, the counterfeit prophets, the imposters. The Message:
“Don’t let your prophets and the people who do magic fool you. Don’t listen to their dreams. They are prophesying lies. And they are saying that their message is from me. But I did not send them,” says the Lord.” -(ICB)
We will learn about one of these pseudo-prophets at the end of the chapter, his name was Shemaiah the Nehelamite. God singled him out and had a stern Message for him, just as He had for Hananiah in Jeremiah chapter 28.
If we look over to the book of Lamentations, we find this admonition from the Lord:
“Your prophets have seen (imagined) for you false and foolish visions; and they have not exposed your wickedness to restore you from captivity [by teaching you to repent], but they have seen (imagined) and declared to you false and misleading oracles.” -Lamentations 2:14 (AMP)
God’s warning: beware of the false prophets, for what they are telling you is lies, and I (God) did not send them.
“The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Don’t let the false prophets and mediums who are there among you fool you. Don’t listen to the dreams that they invent, for they prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them, says the Lord.” -(TLB)
“Avoid false hopes. It is human to indulge in false hopes and grasp at every straw, but this approach leads to despair. Avoid the subtle voices of the false teachers with their false hopes. The Word of God will tell you what to do.” ~Warren W. Wiersbe
In fact, throughout Scripture we are warned to be careful, be on our guard, to beware of these pseudo-prophets. Take note:
John warns us NOT to believe everything that we hear, but to test the spirits.
“My dear friends, don’t believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world. Here’s how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ—the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person—comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!” -1 John 4:1-3 (MSG)
In the book of Acts, we find Paul warning the believers to be on their guard against those who twist the Truth:
“Here are my instructions: diligently guard yourselves, and diligently guard the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has given you oversight. Shepherd the church of God, this precious church which He made His own through the blood of His own Son. I know that after I’ve gone, dangerous wolves will sneak in among you, savaging the flock. Some of you here today will begin twisting the truth, enticing disciples to go your way, to follow you.” -Acts 20:28-30 (VOICE)
Jesus warned His followers, telling them that these false prophets were wolves in sheep’s clothing, but they would be able to identify them by their fruit.
“Beware of the false prophets, [teachers] who come to you dressed as sheep [appearing gentle and innocent], but inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the unhealthy tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruit you will recognize them [as false prophets].” -Matthew 7:15-20 (AMP)
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.
“God’s word is living and full of power. It is more sharp than any sword that cuts on both sides. What God says cuts through and divides the mind and spirit. It cuts through and divides the place where the bones are joined, and the part inside the bone. What God says is able to judge the things people think and plan in their hearts.” -Hebrews 4:12 (WE)
“A biblical false prophet was a servant of the devil attempting to lead people away from the truth.” ~Walter Martin
My friend, beware, be on your guard against the false prophets, those counterfeits that try to pass themselves off as Messengers from the Lord. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, and our Savior warned us to not fall for their lies, because they twist His Word. Test their words against the Word of God. Remember, by their fruit you will know them.
“Scratching people where they itch and addressing their ‘felt needs’ is a stratagem of the poor steward of the oracles of God. This was the recipe for success for the false prophets of the Old Testament.” ~R.C. Sproul
My Prayer:
Adonai Elohim, my Great Lord, I do not want to be fooled by those false-prophets, and their lies. I am reminded of the importance of knowing your Word, hence why I am trying to immerse myself in it. Your Word is Truth. It is the guidebook to life. I know that your Word will never steer me wrong. Lord, give me ears that are in tune to your Holy Spirit. Give me eyes that see the Truth. Give me your wisdom to differentiate the Truth from the lies. Help me to remember to always be on my guard so I will not fall for the lies of the pseudo-prophets. Lord, I am counting on you to lead me. Thank you.
Growing with God 