Jeremiah 14:13-18 – Beware of false prophets

In Jeremiah 14:12, God told the prophet that He would bring an end to Judah with the sword, famine, and pestilence. To this Jeremiah, in verse 13, responded by pointing out to other prophets who were giving false hope to the people. They were proclaiming that they would not face war, famine, or pestilence. In verses 14-16, God then revealed that those were false prophets spouting out falsehood in His name. Those false prophets would give false visions, predict futility, and deception of their own minds.

The people that were hoodwinked by the false prophet would go on living as if there would be no war, famine, or pestilence. They were deluded into a false assurance that no calamity would happen to them. Thus they pursued their sinful lifestyle with increased intensity. God assured Jeremiah that those false prophets and all who took their bait and trusted in their false messages and lured into sinful living would all perish in shame. The devastation would be widespread. Verse 16 reveals the divine judgment that would come upon them. God said categorically that “…they will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out their own wickedness on them.”

To make His point more poignant, God directed Jeremiah into a lament.  The suffering that was coming upon them would be devastating. To show the intensity of the suffering Jeremiah was to cry day and night for the people, “the virgin daughters of Jerusalem,” people whom God Himself had once dearly guarded and protected. The terrible suffering that would fall on them would be widespread. The war, famine, and pestilence would leave them in wreckage and a state of devastation. And their prophets and priests would end up ministering in a foreign land.  

 

False prophets are not new things. They existed in the days of the Old as well as the New Testament. It should not surprise us to run into some in our day.  Just go into the internet you will find a proliferation of them. Their messages are usually from the imagination of their deluded mind spoken in the name of God. They will do it for personal gain, either for popularity or for financial prosperity. We are admonished by the Word of God to judge or discern every prophecy.  Take the words of 1 John 4:1 to heart so that we will not be deceived. Here we are told, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” So take heed!