Read Jeremiah Chapter 28
Now That Didn’t Go The Way We Thought It Would.
The prophet Hananiah went to the house of the Lord and said to Jeremiah in the presence of the priests and all the people, “The Lord is going to break the yoke Babylon has on Judah and God will return to Judah all the articles that Babylon stole and those he holds in exile will also be returned.” In essence, Hananiah humiliated Jeremiah before the people by saying just the opposite of what Jeremiah has been saying. Jeremiah knew that what Hananiah said was not from God. So God said to Jeremiah speak to him saying, “because you have lied, you will die before the end of the year.” And in the 7th month, Hananiah died. Well, that didn’t go the way that Hananiah expected.
Preaching or sharing the Truth of the Gospel comes with opposition. Jeremiah has been prophesying to the people forever on how God will deliver Judah and all the other nations into the hands of Babylon because of their sin. So the people hated Jeremiah for what he said and they refused to see it as truth. But then this other prophet comes along and shares a message that opposes Jeremiah, and claims he’s speaking God’s words. Now the people just loved Hananiah, but sadly, his words were not from God.
That seems to be how our culture works. It feeds on anything that coincides with their beliefs. God’s word is not so easily accepted because it’s convicting of sin (or as the world would say, “it’s offensive”). So God’s Truth is rejected. Sadly, on Judgment Day, people will find out things didn’t go as they expected because their faith was not grounded in the truth of Christ.
Lord, I pray that I don’t bow to the truths of this world, but that I, and others, will rise up in the name of Jesus and live and speak Your Truth in love. And I pray that as a result we will see one person at a time giving their hearts to the Lord Jesus. Please use me.
