Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the LORD, for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.’”
In the days of Jeremiah’s ministry, not everyone agreed with him. His prophecy was sent to him by God but it did not favor God’s people. They had disobeyed God and it was Jeremiah who was sent to tell them they were to be disciplined by God. That discipline was to submit to the foreign nation (Babylon) and go into captivity. No other prophet agreed with this counsel of Jeremiah. He was sent by God but the other prophets thought they have a voice and a vote, as well. In the above passage we read about one of the many other prophets who opposed Jeremiah’s ministry. The difficulty is that it was hard to hear Jeremiah tell everyone to submit to the king of Babylon. This time was like having a number of different consultants telling you what to do. The challenge is, “Which one is right?” WE know from the context of the book that Jeremiah was the only voice from God. But they did not know that. God had to demonstrate that Jeremiah was His chosen prophet. God has to do that today by making sure that the people we hear from in crisis are following God’s Word. We have many “prophets” today. Not all speak for God. God has given us His Word and Scripture is to the sole structure for us to discern who is speaking for God and who is not. In the above story, Shemaiah, was not sent by God. Yet, he had much to say. God would give Jeremiah words to correct this problem. Today God wants us to test the “prophets” we hear by the Word of God that He has established.
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