ESOCS Devotional 7 February 2025 -Deceived By Leaders and False Prophets
MEMORY VERSE: “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace; when there is no peace.” Jeremiah 8: 11 KJV
TEXT: JEREMIAH 8:1-15
“At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. 2 They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshipped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. 3 Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.
4 “Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“Will they fall and not rise?
Will one turn away and not return?
5 Why has this people slidden back,
Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit,
They refuse to return.
6 I listened and heard,
But they do not speak aright.
No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his own course,
As the horse rushes into the battle.
7 “Even the stork in the heavens
Knows her appointed times;
And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow
Observe the time of their coming.
But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord.
8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the Lord is with us’?
Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
9 The wise men are ashamed,
They are dismayed and taken.
Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord;
So what wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others,
And their fields to those who will inherit them;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is given to covetousness;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed,
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
In the time of their punishment
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
13 “I will surely consume them,” says the Lord.
“No grapes shall be on the vine,
Nor figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf shall fade;
And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.” ’ ”
14 “Why do we sit still?
Assemble yourselves,
And let us enter the fortified cities,
And let us be silent there.
For the Lord our God has put us to silence
And given us water of gall to drink,
Because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 “We looked for peace, but no good came;
And for a time of health, and there was trouble!
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
As at this time in Israel and Judah, the people were the victims of their religious leaders – the scribes, the false prophets and the priests. The Scribes had twisted the law, while the false prophets and priests dealt falsely with the people. They preached peace when the nation was headed for destruction. They gave false assurances rather than correction. How then could the people correct a fault or turn from sin since the leaders told them all was well? Each time they committed abomination, they were not ashamed and not sorry.
On the other hand, although the leaders twisted the Scriptures, the people were at fault too for not checking their teachings with the word of God. God’s punishment of the supposedly wise religious leaders would thus be harsh. He would give their wives to others.
The situation is the same today. We have fake or false Leaders of churches, fake or false prophets, “fake or false men of God”, fake or false ministers of God” (they come with many names and titles) etc. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, belly-call ministers (Philippians 3:19; Romans 16: 18) and men pleasers (Galatians 1:10). Through their teaching, they mislead the flock of God. Unfortunately, many of their members swallow such teaching ‘hook, line and sinker’ without using the word of God as the measuring rod to checkmate them. Many of them love it because that is what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). The same way God judged the leaders and priests and prophets of Jeremiah’s time. He will judge these people too – the leaders and followers.
CHALLENGES
- Many church members are carried away by the flamboyant lifestyle of their Pastors. This is not right.
PRAYER POINT
- Dear Lord, open my eyes and understanding to sound doctrine that I may serve you better.
FURTHER READING: Proverbs 12:5; Jeremiah 14:14-15; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; Colossians 2:8
ESOCS Devotional 7 February 2025
