the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Jeremiah 29:15-32
The deadly activity of the false prophets was not restricted to Jerusalem and Judah. Even in Babylon, amongst the people in captivity, there were some who were spreading "lying words" (v. 23). In his letter, Jeremiah warns the "captives" to guard against such people and announces the horrible end of two of these evil men, Zedekiah and Ahab. A third man, Shemaiah, had written from Babylon to the people who were still in Jerusalem urging them to rebel against the LORD (v. 32). Moreover, in one of his letters, he had no hesitation in appointing a new priest on whom he was counting to get rid of Jeremiah. But, as the latter writes elsewhere: "Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?" (Lamentations 3:37). Shemaiah also has to listen to the LORD’s sentence against him.
How many times in the inspired epistles are other servants of God compelled to denounce false teachers and evil workers (e.g. Galatians 1:7; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:18; Judges 1:3-4 . . .) Children of God, our safety depends on knowing the voice of the good Shepherd well (John 10:4-5). We will then not run the risk of confusing it with another voice.
