Today’s Reading – Jeremiah 23 – 25
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16)
Jeremiah delivers a scathing rebuke to the leadership of Judah in chapter 23; speaking out against the pastors, the prophets, and the priests. Apparently the religious leaders of that day had completely corrupt. Not only were they living contrary to the will of God, but they were also telling the people things that were completely untrue. The people were certainly in a predicament. How could they know what to do? They trusted that what these leaders were telling them was the truth. Remember, in this time period God used prophets to speak for Him. They would deliver messages to the people that God had given them. The only way that the people could know them to be true prophets is to see that what they predicted came to pass. Here in this passage the false prophets are preaching “peace and safety”, but Jeremiah was preaching impending judgment. The people did not know who they could trust.
Today it is much different. We live in a period of time where God has given us His complete Word of God. We have the Bible, and the Bible is complete, containing everything that God wants us to know for today. We do not have to trust men to deliver the Word to us: we have it. Now, don’t misunderstand: there are still plenty of false prophets out there; and there are still plenty of pastors who are corrupt and immoral. But God has not left us without a way to judge whether these men are truly His. He gave us His Word; and His Word is written in such a way that even the simplest of men and women can understand it (with the help of the Holy Spirit).
I guess the answer to my title question, “Who can you trust?” is this: Trust God. Put your trust in His Word. Men will always let you down. Even good men are human: they make mistakes; they are in the flesh at times; they have weaknesses. Don’t be guilty of putting the pastors and teachers of God on a pedestal: even the best of men are men at best. We can know that the men that are preaching and the men and women that teach the Word today are true only if their words (and their lives) are in agreement with the principles found in the Word of God.
Now a word to those of us who teach and preach the Word of God. God will hold us accountable for what we teach. We had better be sure that we understand that the position that God has given us is an awesome responsibility and privilege; and we had better be very careful that what we are teaching and the lives that we live are consistent with the Word of God.
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We are very fortunate to have God's Word available to us. As you said those who teach and preach the Word of God do have a tremendous responsibility and do need to be careful about what they say and do. I can't help but feel that because we have the Bible available to us even those of us who are not preaching the Word will also be held accountable to recognize if what we are hearing or reading is the truth if we are to lazy to read what the Lord has given us. Our ignorance is no excuse. We can't blame anyone but ourselves if we are mislead.
I also had another thought as I was reading 24:6-7. There have been times in my Christian life that I have wondered far away from God, sometimes farther than others. During those times I could feel God calling me back to him it made me sad but often I was "stiffnecked" and didn't want to listen. I really love verse 7 which says And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. I am so glad that I returned. Pride, shame, and stubborness kept me away for a while but I'm so glad He kept calling me to return. I have loved ones that I am praying for now that made professions of faith and are now very far from the Lord. I was telling my sister that I have been praying but I'm not even sure what specifically I should be asking God to do. I don't want it to be a case of having not because I ask not. This verse gave me a bit of an answer. I know that the Lord will work it out in his way and in his time. I trust but the waiting is difficult.
Thanks for the prayers. She has a black eye and a pretty bad cut on her nose. She tripped over our cat Eddie who was lounging on the bathroom rug. she fell into the tub hitting her eye on the faucet. Amazingly her eye glasses did not break and thankfully there was no damage to her eye or her vision. She'll be fine.