God’s Curse and False Prophets

God’s Curse and False Prophets (Part III in a series)

In our time of personal confusion, national disenchantment, political correctness and societal disgust and shame; it is said that good is evil and evil is good, the study of Jeremiah could be a good indicator of where our county is heading.

 Jeremiah 14:1-3, 7-9

¹The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ² Judah mourns, and the gates languish; they sit on the ground while mourning, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. ³ Their nobles have sent their servants for water; they came to the cisterns and found no water…⁷O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do it for Your name’s sake…. ⁹ Why should You be as a man dismayed, as a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst, and we are called by Your name. Do not forsake us!

Drought was a judgement with devastating consequences.  As usual, when their backs were against the wall, the people cried out to God.  But God rejected their plea because they did not repent.  They merely wanted His rescue.  Not even Jeremiah’s prayers would help.  Their only hope was to turn to God.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to me: Do not pray for the good of this people. ¹² When they fast, I will not hear their cry. And when they offer a burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. 

Can you imagine our nation under such a severe drought even the cattle would leave their calves because there was not enough water to drink or grass to graze?

Many parts of our nation are experiencing drought, higher than normal temperatures, etc.  Many falsely claim it is “climate change.”  This cause has been debunked many times over, yet they still claim it.  They say it’s man’s doing that is ruining our earth’s atmosphere. It’s man’s “carbon footprint” that is destroying it. Man cannot destroy what God has created, not without God’s help.

Yes, man is responsible for this “climate change” but not for the reasons the scientists say, but because we have abandoned God.

As I said in my last article; God never promised to bestow blessings on mankind while they persist in willful disobedience.  Pardon and acceptance are promised freely to all believers; but no man can be saved who does not obey the command of God to repent, to believe in Christ, to separate from sin and the world, to choose self-denial and newness of life.  In general, men will hearken to those who speak of doctrines, promises, and privileges; but when obedience is mentioned, they will not listen. They will follow the path of least resistance…sin.

For many the path of least resistance is listening to “feel good” preachers.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

³ For the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but they will gather to themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, having itching ears, 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn to myths.

The Greek word translated “itching” literally means “to itch, rub, scratch, or tickle.” To want one’s ears “tickled” is to desire massages rather than messages—sermons that charm rather than challenge, entertain rather than edify, and please rather than preach. The people Paul warns about will have, as one commentator put it, “ears which have to be continually titillated with novelties.” This is what we are confronted with today.  The airwaves a full of preachers who only preach the good parts of the Bible and ignore the bad parts.  People need the WHOLE truth of the Word of God.

Jeremiah 14:13-14

¹³ Yet I said, “Ah, Lord God! Here the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ” ¹⁴ Then the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them nor have I commanded them nor have I spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and divination, and emptiness, and the deceit of their heart.

What makes people listen to and encourage the false prophets?  They say what the people want to hear. False teachers earn fame and money by giving people what they want. In today’s world, especially our society, where everything seems to be centered on fame and fortune, and beauty and style, we are bombarded daily with bad, upsetting news. Everything is so dark and hopeless, so they don’t want to be bothered with all the “ugly” stuff we are faced with day to day.  “So why not just one day a week, listen to something that will make me feel good?”  But false teachers lead people away from God.  If we encourage them, we are a guilty as they are.

Some people think by going to any church, that preaches what they want to hear is doing what God wants.  Well I hate to tell you, but this is just what the Israelites thought when they prayed to God to end the drought.

We are in a drought in our nation, but not the type Judah was facing.  We have a drought of righteousness.  Too many people are turning away from God to pursue their own “happiness” only to be thwarted along the way. There is a lesson to be learned from Jeremiah.  Unless we go to God with a humble heart and truly repent of our sins God will not listen to us.

Our once great nation is on the brink of following the path and punishment of Judah.  Let Judah’s destiny not be our destiny. Turn back to God, turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Put God back into our society, back into our class rooms, back into our hearts.

Matthew 10:32-33

 “Whoever will confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever will deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”