Jer 23:18 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD now issues a clear warning not to listen to those prophets ( ). He says with great emphasis “do not listen” because the people are so very eager to listen to those prophets. Their talk is beautiful and pious, but they are air. They tell an optimistic story about the future. The people love to hear that, but at the same time it makes them blind to the impending doom. Therefore, the hope they are given is “futility”. It is a hope that comes from the imagination of the false prophets, from the imaginations of their own heart and not from the mouth of the LORD. Such hope is quicksand; there is no firmness in it. Their imaginations lack any real authority. They cannot stand the test of God’s Word. It is preaching ‘according to man’ and not a preaching that urges self-examination, confession and repentance. Everything we hear should be tested against God’s Word. We should not accept things because they sound credible, or are brought with great conviction. Many misleading prophets have gone forth ( ). The devil has many in his power. The devil also knows that repetition is the best advertising. The false prophets “keep saying”, repeating it over and over again: “The LORD has said” ( ). And what the LORD has said is, of course, pleasant to hear. They find a listening ear with those who despise the LORD. Of course, there is no exhortation to repent. No, they can really count on peace. They can just continue on the way of sin, for “calamity will not come upon you”. This is what the hardened heart loves to hear. These prophets are far from the counsel of the LORD ( ). They do not know His counsel, they have never been in it. They have not seen and heard His word, which is necessary to be a true prophet. A true prophet is involved in that word, he heeds and listens to it, that is, shows it in his life. But these prophets themselves live in the lie. How then can they pass on what the LORD has spoken! Repeatedly calling for wickedness causes a “storm of the LORD” ( ). Wrath emanates from Him like a whirling tempest that “will swirl down on the head of the wicked”. This judgment will come furiously upon them and the storm will not be blown out until the LORD has performed and carried out all that He has thought in His heart ( ). We see these judgments in the book of Revelation. They come on His people Israel and also on professing Christianity and also on the world. Jeremiah and God’s people cannot yet understand this in their time (cf. ). “In the last days”, that is in the end time, they will “clearly understand it”. We may well understand everything now, for we have the Spirit Whom God has given us. He makes it known to us ( ). The false prophets were not sent by the LORD, yet they went out with a message on His behalf ( ). Full of zeal they go around with their predictions of good fortune. The LORD has not told them anything they should say, yet they have gone around prophesying in His Name. This is a great posturing that we also see frequently in professing Christianity today, where liberal preachers dare to speak in the Name of the Lord. The proof that these false prophets are not in the counsel of the LORD is that they have not caused anyone to turn back from their evil ways and from their evil deeds ( ). They have not made God’s people hear God’s words or urge repentance and conversion. The fruit of their ‘prophetic service’ is only hardening. The false prophets are in great contrast to what prophets do who are sent by God and speak what He says. Such prophets stand in God’s counsel. They know His thoughts and communicate them to His people. These words turn erring people from their evil ways and cause them to stop their evil deeds. These are the characteristics of the true prophets. It is not a question of whether their preaching is successful or not, but whether they speak what the LORD wants. Jeremiah is a true prophet of the LORD, even though his preaching was humanly speaking unsuccessful.

‏ Jeremiah 23:18

The Words of the Lying Prophets

The LORD now issues a clear warning not to listen to those prophets (Jer 23:16). He says with great emphasis “do not listen” because the people are so very eager to listen to those prophets. Their talk is beautiful and pious, but they are air. They tell an optimistic story about the future. The people love to hear that, but at the same time it makes them blind to the impending doom.

Therefore, the hope they are given is “futility”. It is a hope that comes from the imagination of the false prophets, from the imaginations of their own heart and not from the mouth of the LORD. Such hope is quicksand; there is no firmness in it. Their imaginations lack any real authority. They cannot stand the test of God’s Word. It is preaching ‘according to man’ and not a preaching that urges self-examination, confession and repentance.

Everything we hear should be tested against God’s Word. We should not accept things because they sound credible, or are brought with great conviction. Many misleading prophets have gone forth (1Jn 4:1). The devil has many in his power.

The devil also knows that repetition is the best advertising. The false prophets “keep saying”, repeating it over and over again: “The LORD has said” (Jer 23:17). And what the LORD has said is, of course, pleasant to hear. They find a listening ear with those who despise the LORD. Of course, there is no exhortation to repent. No, they can really count on peace. They can just continue on the way of sin, for “calamity will not come upon you”. This is what the hardened heart loves to hear.

These prophets are far from the counsel of the LORD (Jer 23:18). They do not know His counsel, they have never been in it. They have not seen and heard His word, which is necessary to be a true prophet. A true prophet is involved in that word, he heeds and listens to it, that is, shows it in his life. But these prophets themselves live in the lie. How then can they pass on what the LORD has spoken!

Repeatedly calling for wickedness causes a “storm of the LORD” (Jer 23:19). Wrath emanates from Him like a whirling tempest that “will swirl down on the head of the wicked”. This judgment will come furiously upon them and the storm will not be blown out until the LORD has performed and carried out all that He has thought in His heart (Jer 23:20). We see these judgments in the book of Revelation. They come on His people Israel and also on professing Christianity and also on the world.

Jeremiah and God’s people cannot yet understand this in their time (cf. 1Pet 1:10). “In the last days”, that is in the end time, they will “clearly understand it”. We may well understand everything now, for we have the Spirit Whom God has given us. He makes it known to us (Jn 16:12-14).

The false prophets were not sent by the LORD, yet they went out with a message on His behalf (Jer 23:21). Full of zeal they go around with their predictions of good fortune. The LORD has not told them anything they should say, yet they have gone around prophesying in His Name. This is a great posturing that we also see frequently in professing Christianity today, where liberal preachers dare to speak in the Name of the Lord.

The proof that these false prophets are not in the counsel of the LORD is that they have not caused anyone to turn back from their evil ways and from their evil deeds (Jer 23:22). They have not made God’s people hear God’s words or urge repentance and conversion. The fruit of their ‘prophetic service’ is only hardening.

The false prophets are in great contrast to what prophets do who are sent by God and speak what He says. Such prophets stand in God’s counsel. They know His thoughts and communicate them to His people. These words turn erring people from their evil ways and cause them to stop their evil deeds. These are the characteristics of the true prophets. It is not a question of whether their preaching is successful or not, but whether they speak what the LORD wants. Jeremiah is a true prophet of the LORD, even though his preaching was humanly speaking unsuccessful.