Speak Truth

Read Jeremiah 23:9-40
 
Jeremiah 23:36 “But stop using this phrase, ‘prophecy from the LORD.’ For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.”
 
HAVE you ever had someone approach you and say, “I have a word from the LORD for you.” If someone says that, you should be immediately alert. Ask yourself, “What does this person want?” When you hear the message, then wait to see what will happen. Did the message become reality? The only way you can know if such a “word from the LORD” is true is to look for God to show you through life’s circumstances, the Holy Bible and words from others. If such events and the Bible point to the revealed message, you can believe it is true. If there is no such confirmation, the person was not truly speaking a message from God but with a personal purpose. Using, “I have a word from God.” was a false authority for the person’s own goals. My experience has been to witness both true and false words spoken to me. Time reveals the truth.
   There was much false prophesying in Judah. You notice the false prophet Hananiah in Jeremiah 28. Everything he said to Judah seemed to be correct. He even introduced his words with, “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:” (28:2) But then he spoke a false message of the Jews’ early return from Babylon.
   All of Hananiah’s words sounded just as correct as Jeremiah’s. How then, did Judah know who was true? They first saw Hananiah’s punishment that Jeremiah prophesied: “You must die. Your life will end this very year because you have rebelled against the LORD.” Two months later the prophet Hananiah died. (Jeremiah 28:16-17) Second, the Jews would watch Zedekiah’s punishment. Third they would see the exile continue as Jeremiah prophesied. God’s true promises become his story to reveal his good plans for you.  
   This is essential to our faith in the Bible. God’s Word teaches 1) Who God is. 2) What God has done. As we come to know God, we know he has spoken and kept his Word. Then 3) We know what God will do to end sin and establish you in his kingdom.
   All God has prophesied regarding the Old Covenant has come true. We await the fulfillment of the New Covenant because the Word of the LORD is true.