Reading:
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. They
say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace;
and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own
heart, No evil shall come upon you. For
who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his
word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth
in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of
the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall
not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of
his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran:
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had
caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their
evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD,
and not a God afar off? Can any hide
himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I
fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I
have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I
have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long
shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they
are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my
name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their
fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a
dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is
the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith
the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Commentary:
These
words, God's Words, are excellent for our day.
Our nation is filled with preachers who say the Lord called them and
spoke to them in dreams. Yet these false
prophets fail to condemn the wickedness of every man. To the despisers of God's Word, they preach
peace, and though the hearers walk in every wicked way, such prophets say
"No evil shall come upon you."
If they were preaching rightly, people would be turning (repenting) from
their evil way and living. Thus God's
anger is kindled as a fire against all such false preachers who fail to preach
God's wrath against sinners, and He himself will come like a whirlwind,
bringing vengeance upon those who do wickedly.
When He comes, no one will be able to hide from Him. Thus God's final warning is that we do not
listen to those who claim to have dreams and visions from God (for they cannot
be trusted). Rather we are to diligently
listen to His Word, and obey. "The
prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let
him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?"
No comments:
Post a Comment