Jeremiah 23

The warning about wolves in the flock is very serious and the call to look out for false prophets is just as serious. We must be aware and stand against the forces of the enemy with the knowledge of his wiles, his tricks knowing that it means the very lives of our neighbors and those who sit in the pew with us, not to mention it could mean our own souls. The very nature of false prophets seems to be an avid topic and there is no shortage of ignorance either. The primary passage used against many people is Jeremiah 23. Let's take a look at the context and what Jeremiah is saying verifying that what we believe is based uipon Scripture and not what someone else has told us. Remember, we must watch out for those FALSE teachers too!

Verse 1 ś Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Notice the tone that Jeremiah sets for this passage. He establishes the love of God for His flock, and pronounces woe upon the leaders and shepherds of those flocks. It is apparent that the pastors and shepherds are destroying God's people in the flock, and those that aren't destroyed, they are scattered into other lands, and other pastures. God is not happy with liars and false teachers who subvert with their hard hearts and vindictive attitudes the flock. It has been said over and over agin, "Christianity is the only group that shoots its own wounded." These leaders, shepherds are scarttering the flock.

06327 Uwp puwts poots

a primitive root; TWOT-1745,1746,1800; v

AV-scatter 48, scatter abroad 6, disperse 3, spread abroad 2, cast abroad 2, drive 1, break to pieces 1, shake to pieces 1, dash to pieces 1, retired 1; 67

1) to scatter, be dispersed, be scattered

2) (Qal) to flow, overflow
3) to break

The usage of this verb lends light to the passage as it is a participle in the Hiphil. This action is scattering, a very discriptive term in the Old Testament.

Verse 2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. The Lord pronounces judgment on the pastors and shepherds of His flock who have done evil, allowed false teaching to scatter His flock, the Lord will surely visit those evil teachers who have done such a thing. They are divisive and destructive, no heart for the truth or the Lord, they just want to divide the flock and we'll see they desire to keep what is left for their own profit.

Verses 3-8 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

It should be obvious that Jesus is the BRANCH, He came and was rejected by His own, but He is returning and every eye from all the tribes left on the earth will mourn and weep in repentance as they look on Him whom they pirced, and all Israel will be saved. yes, the evil shepherds and pastors led to the detruction of Israel, and the body of Christ was beaten and sacrificed with His blood paying the perfect sacrifice of The Father. He will be known and called Jehovah Tsidkenu! Clearly this speaks to His return and 1000 year reign, but to those who have a genuine relationship with Him, He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Verses 9-11 ś Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah is a prophet who is sick to death, a gnawing in the pit of his stomach (Where have I heard this one before?) because of the evil and sin of idolatry that abounds and is promoted by those who call themselves prophets! Jeremiah is physically sick because of the lying and back biting and intimidation that is in the house of Judah, and endorsed and encouraged by prophets or those that call themselves prophets. These prophets promote idolatry which is metaphorically called adultery, spiritual adultery! These prophets are what Jeremiah will call them, FALSE PROPHETS!! Judah isn't in the revival that we see taking place under Josiah, the heart remained evil, the heart remained double-souled, the heart was divided and had the world and God which by default meant they were evil and wicked destined for hell. Wow, these are false prophets!

Verses 12-14 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Look at the context, Samaria's prophets were following Baal and led people to the Baals and idolatry casting God aside, this is spiritual adultery. Then the prophets of Judah committed adultery, walked in lies, and endorsed the wicked people lifting them up rather than following the truth, and walking in justice, and confirming the Lord and His righteousness. These prophets made the environment lukewarm, compromise, compromise, compromise, meet in the middle, take the olive branch. They strengthened the hands of the wicked and lied about the righteous. Jeremiah is sick over all these lies and compromising attitudes, and leading people away from the holiness and righteousness of the Lord! Surely if the false shepherds didn't destroy Israel, the prophets who endorsed spiritual adultery and false teaching would be the icing on the cake so to speak.

Verse 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

The Word of God comes forth from the lips of Jeremiah and pronounces judgment on the evil prophets. Notice that at this point they are not false prophets because they say something that didn't happen! They are false prophets because the cause sin and sinful attitudes to be perpetuated and idolatry to be the rule of the land rather than loving God with all their heart, soul, and strength. I have said this before and used other passages of Scripture and it warrants being said here, "False prophets lead people to sin and idolatry away from God!"

Verses 16-17 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.

By now this passage should be a no brainer, but because it has been so abused over the years, it isn't as easy to see as ignorance filters our Scripture. We no longer read the Words of God, but we read what we want the Word to say. These false prophets walked in spiritual adultery and led the people into adultery of every imagination. they used demonic things to get answer and they were no different than Balaam who used divination and sacrificial rituals of the occult to seek God. They false prophets led people away from God, didn't endorse a holy and righteous attitude, they let evil leaven the whole lump, Judah! These false prophets were concerned about their kingdoms, their money they robbed from the people, they prophesied peace so the people would stay and continue giving them money. They fought the prophecies from Jeremiah with lies and intimidation and domination, charismatic witchcraft; fearing ttheir losses, they used eloquence and persuasion and called their words from God so that they could keep on raping the people of Judah! This is what is meant when Jeremiah says, "They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD." They prophesied not because they were from the Lord, but because they wanted to hold the people at their beck and call to build their little kingdoms! Moses must have his following, must he not??

Verses 18-21 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.

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, and those who sit in the Lord's throneroom will have the fear of the Lord, not a compromising and condoning attitude! God is holy and there is nothing in Him that allows and permits or approves of sin, nothing! For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? The context could not be any clearer! If you sit in the Lord's counsel, you will have the heart of God, and that means that you will hate evil! Can you actually call yourself a Christian when you condone and allow evil to prosper? Gee, that should be a no brainer, but far too many don't ever look at the context of Scripture. The Lord is angry at all those who say they belong to Him and walk a compromising walk, they lie and they manipulate, and there is NOTHING of God in them, they don't know His Word at all. From the demonic realm of evil desires such as covetousness, and cover up, prophets will call themselves prophets and lead you into sin, lead you away from the Lord yet blaspheme God by saying their demonology is of God! It isn't and the Lord will expose them through His genuine prophets!

Verses 22-23 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?

Notice how clear the Word of God is!! Look at the strength and structure of this passage as it centers on holiness! Then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. If they were of God, they wouldn't have built their kingdoms, they wouldn't have lied or manipulated to rape the people, they would merely take a holy stand, and their stand would be uncompromising, their stand would reflect the Lord, and the Holy Spirit would convict people and turn them from their evil ways, and their evil doings! Please don't tell me that you are a Christian and you enjoy your satanic movies, your demonic rock and roll, and the evil from your heart spouts forth in rivers of tirades. The same thing is true of those who call themselves prophets and lead people to the devil, draw people away from the holiness of the Lord and to the evil and compromising of the god of this world. Remember, He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!

24-29 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?

Notice the foicus of this passage is the false prophet who has dreams, and these dreams are not from God! Notice what the dreams do!! They are lies to turn people to Baal, idolatry, away from the Lord and to the devil! These filthy dreamers cause the Lord to be forgotten. Remember there is a verse in Scripture that tells you what prophecy is all about! The spirit of prophecy is J E S U S!! Yes, the central themes of prophecy is Jesus, the other issue about prophecy is in these passages, it is the holiness of God! He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! Now here is one of my favorite passages from Scripture. I was led here by the Lord many years ago because I wanted to understand what was happening with me and why I felt such fire at times and, and why some of the hardest of hearts would seemingly become fertile while i was preaching or teaching the Word. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Verses 30-36 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. ś And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

Again the Lord is irate, hopping mad because the prophet lies and causes the Lord's people to err, the Lord's people who should be challenged by the prophet to repent are encouraged to do evil. The prophets are leading people into sin rather than away from sin. Compromise, condoning, acceptance of those who do such evils because they will pat them on the back, all such is an abomination to the Lord and He is against these false prophets! BUT wait, there are more here!! Look! ś And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. The people are doing evil, the priests are doing evil, the prophets are doing evil, so when they say they have an oracle fromt the Lord or they have a burden from the Lord, and their lives are filled with sinful attitudes and deeds that are contrary to the Lord, they are evil and not from God! This is clear, the secret emails to do evil are sinful and must be exposed. The lies and the bitterness that produce such venom to slander and gossip can not be compromised or condoned, it must be exposed. Then the Lord will pour out judgment on that home that does these things and doesn't repent!

37-40 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Israel and Judah rejected the true prophets, they stoned them to death or cut them in half, but the lying ones that led them away from the Lord they condoned and accepted. they walked in their prophecies because they wanted to hear those words of death to confirm their evil hearts. Jeremiah seems to be consistent with what he says which is almost word for word with what Ezekiel saw and wrote in Ezekiel 13! The slanderous witch hunts because a person misapplied a dream that does nothing more than show humanity is NOT the mark of a false prophet. A false prophet builds their little kingdoms, a false prophet lies for the sake of raping the public, the false prophet dreams dreams from their evil heart to foster wickedness and strengthen the hands of evil ones while eliminating the souls of the righteous!