Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 23-25.

In today’s passage Jeremiah prophesied against leadership which divided the people rather than uniting them.  Through Jeremiah, God promises that He will gather them back together and give them new, faithful leadership.  Because Jeremiah speaks primarily about priests and prophets in the rest of that prophecy, one might think that he was referring to only religious leaders.  But, because he mentions that God will appoint a King who will rule wisely in place of these divisive leaders, we know that political leaders were included in Jeremiah’s condemnation.  Now, I want to look closer at those religious leaders.  The prophets used their powers for unjust gain.  Both the priests and the prophets were godless.  Let’s look at that a little closer: they proclaimed themselves fonts of spiritual wisdom, but they did not guide people towards God.  In fact, some of them even prophesied on behalf of gods other than God.  They committed adultery and lived a lie.  Instead of calling out evildoers, they enabled them, so that none of them turned from their sin.  Is this starting to sound familiar?  Jeremiah goes on to say that these prophets and priests told those who despised God that they were in no danger, that there was no reason to change their behavior.

Which brings us to how we can recognize the prophets, and other religious leaders, whom God has sent, and those whom He has not sent.   Those whom God has sent tell us things we do not want to hear, they tell us to change our ways and turn away from evil deeds.  They need to call out all sins and evil practices.  If they call out sexual immorality, but give other forms of self-indulgence a pass, or vice versa, they are not passing on God’s words.  If they call out greed, but give violence a pass, they are not passing on God’s words.  If they are speaking to you, but calling out somebody else’s sins, they are not passing on God’s words.  When God sends a prophet to speak to you, that prophet will not be speaking about what someone else is doing wrong.  Of course, if that prophet has been sent by God, he will not be telling other people what you are doing wrong either.  When he speaks to them, he will tell them God’s words for them.

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