The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 10 October 2019 – Hearken Not Unto Them
Click HERE to Read Previous MESSAGES
TOPIC: Hearken Not Unto Them
READ: Jeremiah 27:12-22 King James Version (KJV)
12 I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live!
13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14 Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you;
15 for I have not sent them,” says the Lord , “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
16 Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord : ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, the vessels of the Lord ’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you.
17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste?
18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord , in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.’
19 “For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city,
20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem
21 yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord , and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem:
22 ‘They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,’ says the Lord . ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”
THE MESSAGE:
One of the problems of Christianity today is the increasing rate of prophecies and positive confessions that have become a habit. This however is not a new phenomenon. It was the same in the time of Jeremiah. Prophets were prophesying contrary to what God told him (Jeremiah) but he warned the people not to hearken to them in verses 14, 16 and 17 because I have not sent them, saith the Lord yet they prophesy a lie in my name (verse 15).
Even though a wicked man rises up and blesses himself seven times daily, the Scripture says It shall not be well with him (Isaiah 3:11; cf. Ecclesiastes 8:13). Making positive confessions or claiming promises and prophecies does not remove the wrath of God from the life of an unrepentant evil doer. What can make God to change His documented judgment is total repentance and obedience to His word.
PRAYER: Dear Father, give unto Your Church a heart that turns at Your rebuke and help her not to be deceived by false promises of peace.
