#DailyDevotion Jesus, Is Not Far Away & Knows The False Teaching Being Taught

Jer. 23:23-29 ²³Am I a God who is only near and not far away?” asks the LORD. ²⁴“Can anyone hide in a secret place so that I can’t see him?” asks the LORD. “Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” asks the LORD. ²⁵“I’ve heard what the prophets say; those who tell lies in My name say, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ ²⁶ How long will the hearts of these prophets tell lies and invent dishonest prophecies? ²⁷By their dreams which they tell one another, do they plan to make My people forget My name, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal? ²⁸If a prophet has a dream, let him tell it, but he who has My Word, let him faithfully speak My Word. Why mix the grain with the straw?” says the LORD. ²⁹“Isn’t My Word like fire?” says the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

Depending on your relationship with the LORD depends on whether or not these words are comforting or terrifying. God is near and he is far away. He fills both heaven and earth and is outside of both. He is immanent and transcendent. He is outside our universe and he dwells in our hearts.

So here in Jeremiah the LORD hears what the prophets, the false prophets are saying who speak lies in His name. I don’t know—maybe they think the LORD is stuck in the temple and cannot hear what they say. Many people in those days thought their deities lived in certain place and had no influence outside of that. Some modern bible scholars think the LORD was like that. Well it’s more correct that some Jews may have thought that, but that is not what the LORD had revealed in his Word.

These prophets were using the name of the LORD to preach what the people wanted to hear. They invented false prophecies so the people would support them. They apparently were receiving dreams from someone or something other than the LORD YHWH. These dreams could have been coming from their own perverted hearts or maybe demonic influences. They actually plan to have people forget the name of YHWH and use Baal instead! We have similar false prophets in our day and age who claim to be Christians yet tell people everyone has to find their own path. They teach all forms of worship and gods are one. They even baptize with names other than the name Jesus the LORD gave us, the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In particular they lead silly women astray teaching them to find the goddess within them. Their false teachings have no end. Today’s false prophets teach people as long as your nice that is all that matters. Faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation is no longer exclusive. Yet Jesus has taught us broad is the way to destruction.

Well the LORD’s response to this is the same today as it was in Jeremiah’s time. “If a prophet has a dream, let him tell it, but he who has My Word, let him faithfully speak My Word.” Ultimately, we who teach the people will be judged for what we taught if it was from Jesus, the LORD, or from somewhere else. We who belong to Christ should faithfully preach the LORD’s Word whether we are popular or not. We should do it whether we are well paid or not. Our hope is not in earthly gain but in the rewards Christ has promised us. To those who preach and teach falsely the LORD Jesus promises them this, “Isn’t My Word like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” So these who speak falsely in the LORD’s name will be destroyed.

Heavenly Father, grant to all our pastors and teachers of your Word to be faithful so we who listen will join them in your joy and not be destroyed along with all false teachers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.