Jeremiah was the final prophetic voice Jerusalem would hear before the judgment of God fell! Most, if not all, of his cry for repentance fell on deaf ears. The people of Judah rejected Jeremiah’s message. Judgment would never come to Jerusalem! They were the people of God and Jerusalem is the city of God. Jeremiah faced this mentality, and it proved to be an impregnable fortress. Behind the people’s false confidence in their sin stood many false prophets! Who wants to listen to Jeremiah scream, “Judgment, judgment” when other prophets are singing, “Peace, peace”?
There are two ways a lying prophet lies. First, he lies by assuming an office he was never called to fill (14:14). Jeremiah was called of God for this role before he was even born (1:5). These lying prophets just decided on their own to speak for God! Once this office is held, the assumption among the people is that this person has God’s authority behind him. If he is not called of God to the task, this is a horrible deception. Some preachers in our day are guilty of the same deception.
Second, prophets lie when they spread a message in God’s name that does not have God’s Truth in it! Sadly, this happens often in our day as well. Many a sermon has been delivered to God’s people with a “Thus says the Lord” upon it, but the Lord never spoke it!
In Jeremiah’s day, being a lying prophet infuriated the Lord. He declared, “I will pour out their evil upon them” (14:16). A word of warning. He is not pleased with lying preachers in our day either! Follow God’s calling. Speak only God’s Word. Or find another vocation! Don’t be a lying preacher! We, like Jeremiah, already have enough of those.
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