I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 28-30.

    While Jeremiah was wearing an ox yoke to illustrate his prophecy about Judah and the surrounding countries submitting to King Nebuchadnezzar another prophet contradicted Jeremiah’s prophecy. This brings up the question of how someone was determined to be a prophet. At several points in the Old Testament it refers to people as prophets who did not speak a message from God. I do not think that we can answer this question, but it suggests that there was some characteristic of the people who were considered prophets that has nothing to do with from where they got their messages. That being said, Jeremiah tells us that prophets speaking on behalf of God usually warn of war, disaster, and/or disease. So, a prophet who predicts peace and/or prosperity must be held to a higher standard before being believed. We should be skeptical of those who prophesy peace and prosperity until their prophecies come true. For that matter we should always be a little skeptical of those who prophesy the future. My favorite statement about someone who was asking why no one acted on his predictions of a devastating earthquake was, “He has predicted 10 of the last two major earthquakes.” In many ways we can judge a prophet based on the actions they call us to undertake. If the actions are a good idea even if there is not a disaster coming (such as when a prophet tells us to stop sinning and start following God’s commands) then we should follow their advice whether we believe a disaster is coming or not.

    When I first read Jeremiah’s letter to the Exiles I had one set of thoughts, but by the time I got to this portion of writing I had forgotten what that point was. However, one thing which struck me was the contrast between Jeremiah’s advice to the Exiled Jews and the advice given to the Arab refugees from Palestine. Jeremiah’s advice to the Exiled Jews was to settle in, get married, have children, plant gardens, and seek to prosper where they found themselves (and seek the prosperity of the land they found themselves in). He told them they were going to be there for awhile, 70 years to be exact. Other prophets told them that they should not settle in, that they should keep their bags packed because they would be going home soon. It is worth noting that the Exiled Jews were living among people who had a different religion and culture from themselves. On the other hand, the Arab refugees from Palestine were told to not settle in to the lands they were in and to expect to return to their homes presently. Now 70 years later, they are still in exile among people who share their religion, culture, and ethnic background. I do not bring this up to take a position on the Arab-Israeli conflict, merely to highlight the differences between good advice given by prophets and bad advice given by other prophets. Jeremiah’s advice the the Jewish Exiles was worth following because even if he was wrong about the future they would not be harmed by following it. On the other hand, we can see the harm which has been suffered by the Arab refugees, and their children and grandchildren.