JEREMIAH 23:1-292009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 23:1-29

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. Well, this evening, we're continuing on in our study of the book of Jeremiah, and we're here in chapter 23. Now, we've been seeing every week, week after week, through the book of Jeremiah,

that God has been calling out to the nation of Judah for them to come to repentance. He's been warning them about this judgment that is impending. There's this judgment, this catastrophe that's going to take place upon their nation. But as God warns them, as...

is always the case when God pronounces judgment, God is giving them an invitation and an opportunity to repent. And so He's been giving them warning and invitation, warning and invitation, warning and invitation over and over and over again through the prophet Jeremiah.

As we continue on now in chapter 23, he redirects his message specifically to the leaders of the nation of Judah. He's talking to the spiritual leaders of the nation of Judah here in chapter 23. Specifically, he calls them shepherds, he calls them priests, and he calls them prophets. There were some false prophets mentioned.

that were saying things that God did not call them to say. They were the priests who were not true to the word of God and so they were leading the people astray. And the shepherds is a general term for those who had authority there in the nation of Judah.

the spiritual authority of the nation of Judah was leading the nation astray. They had a big part in how the nation was going and were the main cause for the decline of the nation and their turning from God.

And so God is going to be speaking to these shepherds, to these spiritual leaders, and dealing with them. We pick it up in verse 1 of chapter 23. It says, "...woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, says the Lord."

Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people, you have scattered my flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings, says the Lord.

And so as he starts out now, speaking to their spiritual leaders, he says, woe to them. It's a pronouncement of judgment. It's a pronouncement, again, that there's destruction that's coming. Woe is you. How sorry it is to be you, because what you have done, he says, is you've destroyed and scattered the sheep of my pasture.

And when God says, you've scattered and destroyed the sheep of my pasture, He's not talking about

animals out there in the pasture. He's not talking about literal sheep there and shepherds that have allowed the sheep to wander, but he's talking to the spiritual leaders of the nation of Judah, and he's referring to the people of Judah as God's sheep. And that is how scripture refers to us time and time again. We are the sheep of God. We're

He is the shepherd and we are the sheep. We're the sheep of His hand. It's something that's used throughout the scriptures to refer to God's children, to the followers of God. We are the sheep of God. We're part of His flock for those who have believed in Jesus Christ.

And so here the nation of Judah is. They're God's people. God says, these are my sheep. This is my flock. And the shepherds, the leaders within the flock, have scattered and destroyed the sheep.

Now, if you owned a flock of sheep and had some shepherds that helped you manage and oversee the sheep and take care of them, wouldn't you be quite upset if they were beating the sheep and scattering the sheep and many were lost as a result and many died as a result? Of course, you would deal very harshly with those shepherds who were doing such things

In the same way, God is looking at these spiritual leaders. He says, look, you guys are shepherds. You have this place of authority amongst my sheep. And you've scattered them, you've destroyed them by not being faithful to my word. And so, woe is you. You are going to receive some severe punishment and great destruction.

They were feeding the sheep, but they were not feeding them with the word of God. And so there's a great danger that's awaiting these shepherds, these false prophets, these priests who were not faithful to the word of God. He says, you've not attended my people, you've not attended my flock, and so I'm going to attend to you for the evil of your doings. You've been doing wickedly, you've been disobeying me,

And I am going to make sure that you receive the just penalty and punishment for your wickedness. Now as we look at this, we can consider what was taking place back then in the nation of Judah as they were about to be destroyed as Jeremiah was writing these things. And yet also I believe that there is even more that God wants to speak to us

Because as he addresses the shepherds, the spiritual leaders of the day, there's the principles here that God is sharing with them that apply even to this very day. And in fact, I would suggest that they apply even to us as believers. As I often encourage you and share with you, all of us have been called with the Great Commission.

The Great Commission is in Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20, where Jesus calls the disciples to go and make disciples. That is the job, the role, the function of a disciple is to make other disciples.

It's a call to go into all the world and help people learn to walk with Jesus, learn to grow in Him, to repent and turn to Him and receive the forgiveness of sins. We are called, every believer is called, to make disciples. There's a very strong biblical case that demonstrates this that I won't get into tonight. You'll just have to take my word for it. Or...

research it, dig into the Word on your own, and discover that what I'm saying is true. You and I are called to make disciples. And as people who have received this call, we are by nature then shepherds. We've been given some spiritual authority. We've been given a realm of authority, a realm of influence. God has delivered to us people that we run into, people that we relate to regularly,

That we're called to influence, that we're called to minister to, that we're called to build up and help them grow in their relationship with God. And so you and I can apply these same things and understand that we indeed are shepherds. Now these shepherds were feeding the people, but the problem was they weren't feeding the people appropriately. They weren't feeding them according to the word of God.

And as we are sheep as well as shepherds, it's important that we as sheep...

that when we are being fed what is good, that we can listen to it, and when we are being fed what is not good, that we disregard it and do not pay attention to it. How do we know? So here you have Jeremiah the prophet. He was sent by God. He's writing the word of God. He's proclaiming the messages of God. There at the same time, you've got all these other false prophets and priests that are saying something contrary to what Jeremiah is saying. How are the people to know...

which one was speaking the truth, which one they should listen to and which one they should pay attention to.

Well, as we looked at a couple of weeks ago, they could tell very clearly because what Jeremiah was saying was directly from the Word of God. It was lining up with what God had already revealed there in the first five books of the Old Testament. It lined up with the scripture that God had already delivered to the nation. And

And so the people could rest assured, they could know that what Jeremiah was saying was indeed a word from the Lord because it was backed up with, it was supported with, it was rooted in the Scriptures. And the same way, you and I can know when we're being fed something that's good or when we're being fed something that is not of God by how it lines up with what God has revealed to us in His Word.

In Acts 17, verse 11, the Apostle Paul, as he's making his way through Asia Minor, he's preaching the Gospel. He goes to a group in Thessalonica and they...

They're listening to Paul. They're intrigued by what he's saying. They know the Scriptures, but they've not yet committed themselves to Jesus Christ. And so he shares with them the truth about Jesus. They become Christians. But as he's teaching them, Acts 17, verse 11 tells us that they search the Scriptures daily to find out if what Paul was saying was actually true.

You see, we are held responsible for what we receive from others. And we are to check what we receive from others against the word of God. And see, is this really from God? Because if it is, it will line up with what the Bible says. It will be according to what the Bible says. It will be exactly in line with the scriptures.

And so we are to verify ourselves that what we're being fed, whether it be from the pulpit or from a political candidate or whether it be from some TV show or some radio host, we are to verify and receive that which is good, that which is according to the Word of God. We're to check it out ourselves and make sure that we're not being fed something that will lead us astray.

Because the nation of Judah was led astray by these false spiritual leaders. They were led astray because they did not go back to the Word of God and rely upon what God had revealed to them in His Word. So we need to check out. We need to verify it ourselves because there are those who would lead us astray.

The opposite side of that coin is, again, you and I being shepherds, not just being sheep, but being called to make disciples, we need to make sure that when we feed the sheep, when we share with the people around us, when we talk with those that God has placed in our lives that we might help them grow in their relationship with God, we need to make sure that we do not feed them

Just whatever our opinions are, whatever our thoughts are, what our ideas are, but that we feed them the Word of God, that we share with them the truth that is found in the Scriptures.

God, as He addresses the shepherds here, He says, Woe to you, I'm going to deal with you according to your wickedness. They are going to receive the punishment that is due for their behavior towards the sheep, for not feeding the sheep, but instead for leading them away. Look at verse 3. He says, But I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them.

And bring them back to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking, says the Lord.

So there's these shepherds here that are bad. They're not good. They're not leading the people in the things of God. And as a result, the people are deceived. They're led astray. They're receiving the judgment that is about to come upon them. They're going to be scattered. But God says...

I'm going to bring them back and I'm going to bless them and I'm going to establish them. I'm going to establish them back here in this land and I'm going to give them new shepherds. I'm going to appoint new leaders that will lead them appropriately and they are not going to fear anymore. They're not going to be dismayed nor will they be lacking, says the Lord.

This is something very similar to what God told Jeremiah in chapter 3, verse 15 of the book of Jeremiah, where He says, I will give you shepherds according to My heart, God says, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And so you have this contrast of these two types of shepherds. And again, I would ask and I would challenge you, as a shepherd, which kind of shepherd are you? You are going to be feeding the people around you something.

It's either going to be junk, it's either going to be your own opinions, it's either going to be your own thoughts and what you believe or what you have in your own mind or according to your upbringing, or it's going to be the things that are according to the Word of God. You're going to be influencing in some direction, but which direction will you be influencing them? That's the question.

And I want to encourage you as shepherds, as those who have been called to make disciples, that you need to make sure that you are filling your life with the things of God, that you may then in turn share with others and encourage others in the ways of God, that you feed them the things of God and not the junk of this world or your own self or the things that will lead them astray.

So there's these bad shepherds, but God says, I'm going to bring the sheep back. Even though they've done this and the sheep have been scattered, I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to set up new shepherds and I'm going to establish them. Not only that, he goes on to say, but I'm going to establish the one true good shepherd. Look at verse 5.

He says, Verse 7,

Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that they shall no longer say, as the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but as the Lord lives, who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.

And so God is now looking forward. He's been talking with those shepherds and what they have done. He says, look, I'm going to bring them back. And then He looks a little bit further into the future and says, I'm going to set up new shepherds here, temporary, in the near future, but in the distant future, there is going to be this one good shepherd. And this one good shepherd, of course, we know to be Jesus Christ. He says, behold, the days are coming that I will raise to David...

Of the line of David this shepherd will come. Of course, the Messiah would come from the line of David and Jesus is a descendant of David. He said, "...a king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment." He's talking about one who will come that will be of the line of David that will be a king who will execute judgment and righteousness.

In his days, he says in verse 6, Judah will be saved. What is he talking about? He's looking forward to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. When Jesus comes to establish his kingdom upon the earth for a thousand years. Notice what his name is called. It says there in verse 6, his name, or he will be called, the Lord our Righteousness.

This is His name. This is what He is called. The Lord, our righteousness. Who is the Lord, our righteousness? Well, we know that it's Jesus Christ. This is a prophecy about Jesus and about His return. When He establishes His kingdom, Jesus, of course, said, I am the Good Shepherd in John chapter 10. And He will come again to establish His kingdom upon the earth.

And He will be called the Lord our righteousness. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, it says, For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. By believing in Jesus Christ, we have the righteousness of God in Him. In Jesus, we have the righteousness of God. He is the Lord our righteousness.

An interesting point also here in verse 6, where it says, the Lord our righteousness. The word that's translated the Lord is the word Yahweh, which is the name of God. And so it's also a testimony. Not only is it Jesus Christ, but it's a testimony of the fact that Jesus Christ is indeed God. He is God. He is the Lord Yahweh, our righteousness.

And so God says, therefore these days are coming. It's going to happen. It's going to come to pass. It's no longer going to be, they're not going to say, oh God who brought us up from Egypt. That's what they've been saying for a long time. But in those days, as He establishes His kingdom here on the earth for a thousand years, when He returns, they will...

They will look not at the deliverance out of Egypt, but they'll look at how God has gathered them and brought them back into the land and established them there in their own land. And so he's looking at the good shepherd who is to come, Jesus Christ.

Well, he goes on dealing with the false prophets in verse 9. He says, My heart within me is broken. Now, this is Jeremiah speaking. He's delivered the message of God and he will continue to share the things that God is saying. But he kind of introduces here his own response to what God is speaking through him. He says, My heart within me is broken because of the prophets.

Verse 2.

Here we see Jeremiah lamenting over the condition of the nation and the prophets within the nation. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. We've seen this time and time again. Because he's not delivering these messages of judgment with glee and joy. He's not skipping around saying, ha ha, you're going to get judged, ha ha ha. He's mourning. He loves the people.

In the same way that we can understand as we look at those that we love and see the destruction that they bring in their life by rebelling against God. In the same way Jeremiah is looking at the nation and the rebelling against God and he knows there's this judgment of Babylon that is coming down upon them.

He sees now these prophets, these false prophets, these priests, the spiritual leaders of Israel leading the people astray and he's broken by it. His heart is broken over it because of the prophets, he says. His heart is broken within him, he says, because the land is full of adulterers. They've turned against God. It's spiritual adultery he's referring to. They were also practicing physical adultery, but

But the root of it, the bottom line was that they had turned from God and they were not committed and devoted to the Lord any longer. And as a result, he says, the land mourns, the pleasant places are dried up. It's just devastated the landscaping. It's devastated the nation and the city in the same way that sin devastates any nation.

And sin devastates any life where the sin is practiced and where the heart has turned from God, where spiritual adultery has taken place. And so Jeremiah sees this scene. He sees this scenario and he's heartbroken over it. Let's go on in verse 11. He says, "...for both prophet and priest are profane. Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness, says the Lord."

Verse 2.

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.

So here God continues on speaking about these prophets. He says both prophet and priest are profane. You see, He's dealing with these shepherds, these spiritual leaders, and He says, look, in my house I found wickedness. Those who are supposed to represent me, He said, I found wickedness in their house. They've turned against me. They're not following me.

And so he says in verse 12, so their ways, they insisted on walking in those ways. And so God says those ways, as they've been walking away from me, are going to be slippery. They're going to cause them to stumble. They're going to be their downfall. The sin that we practice, the sin that we pursue, is the sin which ends up destroying us.

He says in verse 13, he's seen the folly of the prophets in Samaria. Now, Samaria was a city that was a little bit north of Jerusalem, and it was the capital of the nation of Israel. Now, the nation of Israel at one time was one kingdom, but...

after Solomon, the son of David, after Solomon, when he died, his son took over and the nation was divided. The southern kingdom is called the nation of Judah. That's who we've been dealing with primarily here in the book of Jeremiah. The northern kingdom, the northern half, was known as Israel. And Samaria was the capital of that northern kingdom of the kingdom of Israel. And he says the prophets,

The prophets there of Samaria, the prophets of that northern kingdom, they caused my people to err because as soon as the kingdom divided, the king said, hey, if the people want to worship God, they're going to have to go down to Jerusalem, which is in the southern kingdom. And they said, we don't want people going down to the southern kingdom. We just divided from them. We split from them. So here's what we'll do, they said. We'll set up our own idols and

And will tell the people, these are the idols that brought you out of Egypt. These are the gods who delivered you. So now worship these gods. Don't go down to Jerusalem to worship the true and living God. And so they established essentially their own religion. They set up their own idols and began and caused the people to err and to worship those gods.

So he says that's what happened there in Samaria. But also he says in verse 14, he says, I've seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem. So not only did the northern kingdom and the prophets there lead the people astray, but here in the city of Jerusalem, in the nation of Judah, where they had God's temple, where they had the opportunity to stay true to the living God and follow Him with all of their heart.

He says, the prophets there, well, they committed adultery and walked in lies. They didn't follow me. They didn't stay faithful to me. They turned away from me and followed the iniquity of their own hearts. Notice here in verse 14 something very profound that he says, they also strengthened the hands of evildoers so that no one turns back from his wickedness. Here's one of the main issues that God had with the prophets of Jerusalem.

They strengthened the hands of evildoers. They were not being faithful to the Word of God and calling people to repentance. They didn't encourage people and call people to turn from their sin. But instead, they strengthened the hands. They encouraged them in that wickedness. And as a result, no one turned from their wickedness. No one was repenting from their wickedness.

And so God says, this is a horrible thing that these prophets have done. You and I as shepherds, as those who have been called to make disciples, we need to understand the importance of repentance. That we do not strengthen people in their wickedness. That we don't just kind of gloss over wickedness or encourage them in it or disregard it. But that we call people back

to turn from their sin, to repent and get right with God. You know, when John the Baptist came on the scene, his message was very simple. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. As Jesus stepped into ministry, as he began the ministry, his message was, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Peter, when he really began his ministry on the day of Pentecost,

The people were cut to the heart by the word and the message that Peter shared. They said, what should we do? And he says, repent. Later on again, people respond, what should we do? He says, repent. There is an important message that we need to bring and it's the message of repentance. That we don't encourage people in their wicked ways, but that we call them back. That we, with boldness, pronounce wickedness and sin as wickedness and sin.

We don't strengthen their hands and we don't just overlook it and help them. We want to call them back so that they turn from their wickedness. But here, the prophets of Jerusalem were not doing that. And the end result is God compares them with Sodom and Gomorrah. And that should give us a good picture and understanding of the state and the condition of the nation of Judah at that time. How sad and how sorrowful.

The people of God, the people whom God had revealed Himself to and brought out of Egypt and established the temple and led with the cloud and cloud by day and pillar of fire by night and all the prophets and the King David. I mean, all of this godly heritage, this incredible work of God, now because of their refusal to follow God, they're in a similar condition to Sodom and Gomorrah.

upon which God rained down fire from heaven. And that's why the nation of Judah is about to be judged because their condition is that of Sodom and Gomorrah. They've rebelled against God to that point. Going on in verse 15, he says, Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets. Again, he's dealing not just really with the inhabitants but with those leaders who are responsible for the condition of the nation. He says,

And so God says, look, here's the root. Here's the heart of the issue. It's the state of the prophets.

Verse 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. They continually say to those who despise me, the Lord has said you shall have peace. And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, no evil shall come upon you. So he says to the shepherds, look, you guys are going to get judged. From you guys, profaneness has gone out into all the land.

So there's a great severity of judgment upon those whom God has given spiritual authority who do not follow Him and who cause others to be led astray. And that's something to take note of and be concerned about in our own lives as we've been called to make disciples. But He also goes on to talk to the people. And He says, listen people, don't listen to the words of the prophets. Why? He says, because they make you worthless.

These prophets there in Jerusalem, he says, don't pay attention to them because they are making you worthless. They're not helping you. They're not edifying you. They're not building you up. Instead, they're making you worthless. Why? Well, because they speak a vision of their own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord. The reason why they make you worthless is because they're saying something that's coming from their own heart. Now, how are we to know the difference?

How do we know who we're to listen to and who we're not to listen to? Again, Acts chapter 17, verse 11. I said it wrong when I started this evening. I apologize. I'm just thinking through. Correction.

Search the scriptures for your own self to see whether or not what you're saying is true. The Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians. I said it was in Thessalonica that they were doing this, but actually it was in the city of Berea where Paul was preaching the word, he was sharing the truth, and they would go and double check the scriptures. It says they would search the scriptures daily to find out whether or not what Paul was saying was true.

And so there the Bereans, they were more noble than the Thessalonians, Acts chapter 17 verse 11 says. So the point is we can tell the difference. We can know the difference. We can decide who we pay attention to and who we listen to by what the scripture says.

by checking what we are being told and what we are being fed with the word of God. These prophets were speaking a vision of their own heart and as a result, it was making the people worthless. Understand that if you...

Devote yourself. If you receive, if you base your life and your decisions upon those who are just speaking from their own hearts and not from the mouth of the Lord, it doesn't help you. It's not beneficial to you. In fact, it makes you worthless. We need to make sure that we are being fed from the Word of God, from those who are faithful to the Word of God, that we learn from, that we grow from those who will bring us what the Bible says.

It's what we need. We need the Word of God. And there's all kinds of opportunity to listen to and to be fed with those who will speak vision of their own heart. What they've discovered in their experiences and their own ideas.

But if we fill our hearts and fill our lives and follow those things, we make ourselves worthless. We need to be careful. God says, don't listen to the words of the prophets. They have the opportunity to choose. They get to make a choice whether or not they will listen to the words of the prophets. In the same way, you and I have a choice.

Whether or not we will listen to the words of this world, the words of our friends, the words of our parents, the words of the people of this world, we get to make a decision. And we must make that decision based on the criteria to what they say. And is what they are speaking to me and sharing with me, does it line up with what the Bible says?

Here God says in verse 17, They continually say to those who despise me, The Lord has said, You shall have peace. So there's these people who despise God. It means to think little of God. They don't hold God in high regard. He doesn't have the rightful place in their life as Lord and Master. And these prophets are saying to them, Hey, you're going to have peace. And you know what the scripture says, There is no peace for the wicked, God says.

These people despise God, but the prophets are telling them, "Oh no, you're going to have peace." And so they're going to say, "Oh great, we're going to have peace. How wonderful. No matter that I'm practicing wickedness and, you know, I've turned from God and I'm going to have peace." This guy said, "I'm going to have peace. That's great." God says, "Look, he's speaking a vision from his own heart. He's not from the mouth of the Lord. Look what the scripture says."

There is no peace for the wicked. He says, and to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, no evil shall come upon you. So here's this other guy, he's just kind of walking according to however he feels, whatever he thinks is best, the dictates of his own heart. Instead of following God and obeying God, he's just

What feels good to me is right. Or what I decide, what I want to do, that's what I'm going to do. And the Prophet is saying to that person, "Hey, no evil is going to come upon you." "Oh, great!" "So I can just do whatever I want to do and live my own life and no evil is going to come upon me." No, that's not what the Bible teaches. That's just what those Prophets say. In the same way, you can listen to all kinds of people around in this world who claim to have some spiritual knowledge or some great insights or revelation.

And they'll tell you all kinds of things about whatever sinful condition that you want to continue to practice in. And you can surround yourself with people that will tell you it's okay to continue in that and it's not a big deal and you will have peace and no evil will come upon you. But you better check. Don't be led astray like the nation of Judah. Make sure it's what the Bible says. Hey, if it's what the Bible says, then you're set. You're solid. You can walk with God. You can trust. Hey, I can't have peace.

I'm in line with what the Bible says. I'm following God. Those who are feeding me, those who are encouraging me, those who are helping me, they're encouraging me with things that are from God, out of His Word. There's great peace in that. There's great peace in knowing that I'm where God has called me to be. And I'm walking in the way that He's called me to walk. But there is no peace for the wicked. And so don't be deceived and think...

You can just do whatever you want, follow the dictates of your own heart, and no evil will come upon you. Listen, until you give God His rightful place, you will not have peace. If God does not have His rightful place in your life, you will never have peace. And if you follow your own heart, understand evil will come upon you, because the wages of sin is death, destruction. If you sow to the flesh, you'll reap destruction, Paul said.

And so we need to be very clear on this. Now God is going to deal with the false prophets, but the people have a responsibility to make sure that they do not listen to those who are not speaking the word of God. Let's go on in verse 18. It says, 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?

Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury, a violent whirlwind. It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. 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. He starts out with the question, who has stood in the counsel of the Lord and perceived and heard his word?

He's dealing with these prophets who are speaking forth their own vision, their own hearts, their own dreams, and not speaking forth the Word of God. He says, who has heard? Who stood in my counsel and heard my word? Not the prophets. And so they have no clue about what God is going to do. They have not stood in His counsel. They don't know His plans.

God has been saying over and over again to the nation that they need to repent, that this judgment is coming upon them, and the prophets and the priests are saying, no, it's not going to happen. Why were they saying that? Because they had not stood in the counsel of God. They had not spent time with God. They did not know what His plans were. Who has stood in the counsel of the Lord? Have you stood in the counsel of the Lord? Have you spent time with God? Do you know what He is speaking to you?

Do you know what He's speaking to this generation? Do you know what He's speaking to our nation? Do you know what He is speaking? Have you stood in the counsel of the Lord? These prophets spoke claiming to have known what God has said, claiming to speak on behalf of God, and yet they hadn't even taken time to be in His presence. Verse 21, He says, I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied things

Notice verse 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. God says, look, I didn't send these prophets, but they ran. I didn't choose them. I didn't call them. I didn't send them out. I didn't say, hey, you be my prophet, go run and speak my word. He says, I've not spoken to them, but they prophesied. So these false prophets...

These false teachers, and this happens still to this day, those who go, they claim to be from God, but God didn't send them. They ran, but God didn't send them. And they spoke, but God didn't speak to them. God says, look, I didn't choose them, I didn't pick them, I didn't call them, but they went. This is what always causes me, it causes me to lose my breath for a couple of seconds when I read verse 22.

Because he says, if they had stood in my counsel. God says, look, I didn't call them. I didn't raise them up. I didn't send them. But set that aside. They ran. They went. But if they would have stood in my counsel, if they would have spent time in my presence, God is saying, if they would have spent time with me, and if they would have caused my people to hear my words. So if they would have ran, but if they, instead of proclaiming their own message, if they would have brought forth my word, he says, then the people would have turned.

from their evil way. The whole story would be different if these prophets, even though God didn't send them, God says, look, if they would have spent time in my presence, if they would have caused my people to hear my word, my people would have turned from their evil way. What a difference this story would be. This account, this history would be completely different if those who had gone, if those who had spoken would have spoken the word of God.

the people would have turned from their evil way, from the evil of their doings. They would have repented, God says, if they would have spoken my word. God says, I didn't send them, but if they would have spoken my word, my people would have turned. God's word, it's not just a book. It's not just good literature. It's not just historical accounts. It's able to bring people to repentance. It's able to

to break through. God says in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 11 that His Word will not return void, but will accomplish what He set it forth to do. God says, look, even if I didn't send them, if they would have stood in My counsel, and if they would have spoken My Word, My Word would have accomplished that which I set it forth to do. And My people would have turned. But those who ran, those who spoke, they didn't take time to stand in the counsel of God. They didn't hear from the Lord.

Therefore, they didn't speak His word. They weren't sent. But you know what? You and I have been sent. Again, the Great Commission, Matthew 28, 19 and 20. We're to go and we're to make disciples. God has sent us. We better make sure we stand in the counsel of God, that we hear from God, and that what we share with people is according to His word.

If we share what is according to His Word, it will accomplish what He set it forth to do. But if we just share our own opinions and thoughts and what our own ideas are, what we've learned about from someone else, or what Uncle So-and-So said, or what this TV person said, or this other guy said, or what this guru said, and we share all those kinds of things, we're leading people astray. We're like these shepherds of Judah who spoke, they ran, and they didn't take time.

to hear from God. They didn't speak forth His word. But if they had, God's people would have turned. Verse 23, God says, Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and not a God far off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places? So I shall not see him, says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth, says the Lord?

So God says, look, He asks a series of questions.

He says, am I not a God near at hand as well as a God afar off? God says, look, is my presence just only in the temple and so you can go and say other things and if you can't hear at the temple, then I can't hear what you're saying? God says, I'm a God that's near, but I'm also a God that's afar off. He says, look, can anyone hide himself from me so I won't see him? No, you can't hide yourself from God. God says, do I not fill heaven and earth?

God fills heaven and earth. We talk about sometimes secret sins, but in reality there is no such thing. It might be secret from other people, but there's no secret sins from God because God fills heaven and earth. He knows exactly. He says, look, I've heard what the prophets have said. They prophesy lies in my name. They claim it's from me, but it's lies. I've heard what they've said. I've heard what they've told my people. They said, hey, I've dreamed, but it's not from me.

God says, how long will this be? How long will they continue to try to cause my people to forget my name? How long are they going to try to deceive the people just as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Their fathers turned away from God to worship and serve Baal. And now, this generation, these prophets are, again, causing people to forget the name of God by speaking forth

In God's name, things that God has not said. You cannot run from God. You cannot hide from God. This is comforting to the righteous, but it should be frightening to the wicked. Verse 28. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat, says the Lord?

God says, okay, you have a dream? Go ahead, share your dream. You have my word? Then speak my word faithfully. God says, what is the chaff to the wheat? Now, the chaff was that fluffy part. The wheat was the kernel. The chaff would blow away in the wind when they tossed it.

The wheat would stay, the chaff would be long gone. And that's what God's saying. Like, you have a dream? Whatever. Go ahead and share it. It's chaff. Whoever has my word, speak my word faithfully. Because that's like the wheat. It'll last. It's going to endure. God's word will never fail. He says, isn't my word like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. God's word is powerful. It's living and active. It's sharper than any double-edged sword.

God's Word, again, it's not just a history book. It's not just good literature. God's Word is powerful. He says it's like a fire. It's like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. God's Word has a way of burning away the chaff in our lives, the chaff in our hearts, the chaff in this world. God's Word cuts right through all of the baloney, cuts through all of the deception, cuts through all of the lies. It's like a...

Hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. Even the hardest of hearts broken by the word of God. So God says, look, you have a dream, you guys false prophets, whatever. But if you have my word, you better speak my word faithfully. Because God's word is powerful. And it will accomplish that which he has set it forth to do. Speak my word faithfully, God says. You see, we are those who have God's word.

We have the Word. We have been sent, and we've been sent not empty-handed, but we've been sent with the Gospel message and with the Word of God. So God says to us, you have my Word. Speak my Word faithfully. Speak my Word faithfully. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in a couple songs. As they do, I want to encourage you, I want to challenge you to check your own heart. Take some time to check your own life.

Consider, what are the sources of influence in your life? And those influences, those that are speaking into your life, consider, are they speaking to you the Word of God? The things that they teach, the ways that they encourage you, the ways that they lead you, do they line up with what the Bible says? Let's take some time this evening, again, to consider verse 22, if they had stood in my counsel. Let's take some time to stand in the counsel of God.

to spend time in the presence of God. After they lead us in this first song, we'll have an opportunity then to cause others to hear His counsel and to share with others what God has been speaking to us. But before that can happen, we need to take some time and stand in the presence of God, to sit at His feet, to hear from Him. So let's take this time to examine our hearts, examine our lives. Who are those that are influencing us?

ministering into our lives and encouraging us and directing our lives. Are they speaking the Word of God? Are we standing in the presence of God? Let's take some time to stand in His presence, to hear from Him, to allow Him to speak to us. Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.