Daily Manna 19 November
KEY VERSE: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.” – (Jeremiah 23:16)
TEXT: Jeremiah 23:9-22
My heart within me is broken
Because of the prophets;
All my bones shake.
I am like a drunken man,
And like a man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord,
And because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
For because of a curse the land mourns.
The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course of life is evil,
And their might is not right.
11 “For both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12 “Therefore their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
13 “And I have seen [a]folly in the prophets of Samaria:
They prophesied by Baal
And caused My people Israel to err.
14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They also strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one turns back from his wickedness.
All of them are like Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
‘Behold, I will feed them with wormwood,
And make them drink the water of gall;
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
[b]Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”
16 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.
17 They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who walks according to the [c]dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”
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?
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.
In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 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.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
A distinguished Methodist minister preached on sin and one of his church officers afterwards came into his study to see him. He said to the minister, “Mr. Howard, we don’t want you to talk as plainly as you do about sin because if our boys and girls hear you talk so much about it, they will easily become sinners. Call it a mistake if you will, but do not speak so plainly about sin.” Then the minister took down a small bottle and showed it to the visitor.
It was a bottle of Strychnine and was marked “poison”. He said, “I see what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose, I take off this label of ‘poison’ and put on some mild label, such as ‘essence of peppermint’, don’t you see what happens? The milder you make your label, the more dangers you make your poison”.
The prophets and priests of Samaria and Jerusalem in our text today were unlike the Methodist pastor. They were profane and wicked. They prophesied in Baal, causing the people to err. They committed adultery and walked in lies. They strengthened the hands of evil doers such that the sinners could not repent. The false prophets and priests hindered the people from hearing God’s word, thereby hindering their return from evil (Jeremiah 23:22).
Hypocrisy and deception are the common marks of false prophets and priests in ancient times. There is always a prophet or personality waiting to contradict God’s word. These are the false prophets and preachers who are greater in number than true prophets. They will not warn the people of the doom to come but declare peace only. Be conscious of your feeling and thoughts when a prophet approaches you. Look beyond the external. To get to heaven, beware of false prophets and keep your distance.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Keep your distance from false prophets.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 29-31
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Beware of False Prophets – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 19 November 2021
