Jeremiah 7: Truth: Where is it?

 

Chapter 14  

So many experts, so many opinions, so many facts that seem as fluid and fleeting as air.  How does one know what is true?  Jeremiah was not the only prophet of is time.  Proof of the truth of his message is evident now (it is Jeremiah whose words are remembered 2500 years later) but at the time, his word was one of many and he had a hard time convincing people that he had the truth.  Many people preferred to listen to those prophets whose message was not quite so drastic, not quite so demanding, not quite so damning of their way of life.  We all want to hear that we are doing OK, that our lives will not be disrupted, that we will have peace and prosperity.  We cling to that message even when we see all around us evidence that tells us that message is a sham.  The deep truth hasn’t changed much since Jeremiah’s time.  When we neglect God’s way of justice and mercy, of compassion and love, when we put our own wants above the needs of others and the limits of the earth, then we will suffer.  God can’t fix things for us until we are ready to turn around, to repent and learn again to follow God’s Way in our time and place. 

photo by Bruno Bucar (unsplash)

10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
Truly they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them,
    now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.

13 Then I said: “Ah, Lord God! Here are the prophets saying to them,

‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine,

but I will give you true peace in this place.’” 

14 And the Lord said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name;

I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them.

They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination,

and the deceit of their own minds. 

15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them, and who say,

 “Sword and famine shall not come on this land”:

By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 

16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets

victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them

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