Mon.’s Devo - Be Not Deceived

Read: Jeremiah 23:21-25:38; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17; Psalm 84:1-12; Proverbs 25:15 God brings up the false prophets again. They were going around claiming to have dreams from Him. They are not true prophets but prophets of deceit and the dreams they claimed to have were not from the Lord. God called the true prophets to give his words. They were like grain that would bring life, but the false prophet’s words were like straw that caused the people to sin. *** God told Jeremiah if they asked him ‘What prophecy has the Lord burdened you with now?’ He is to respond, ‘You are the burden.’ God was tired of them saying they got their words from the Lord when it was a lie. He warned them, He would expel them from his presence along with Jerusalem. He would make them an object of ridicule and their name would be infamous throughout the ages. *** King Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his officers and all the craftsmen and artisans to Babylon. Jeremiah was left and God gave him a vision of two baskets of figs placed in front of the Lord’s Temple. One was filled with fresh, ripe figs and the other with bad figs, too rotten to eat. God told him that the good figs reprinted the exiles he sent to Babylon. He would watch over them and bring them back again. They would recognize him as the Lord and return to him wholeheartedly. But the bad figs represent King Zedekiah who was left in Jerusalem and those who lived in Egypt. He would make them an object of horror and a symbol of evil to every nation on the earth. He would eventually kill them all off. *** Chapter 25 was written before they went into exile. Jeremiah had prophecied for 23 years that the land was going to be taken by a foreign nation and sent into exile. He begged them to turn from their idols and worship the Lord, but they refused to turn so they would go into exile for 70 years. When the time was over, God would punish Babylon and make it a wasteland. They will become enslaved just as they had enslaved Judah. *** God had a cup of his anger and Jeremiah was sent in the spirit to give it to the Pharaoh in Egypt and all his attendants, officials and people. He was also taken to the land of Uz and the Philistine kings to make them drink from the cup. From there he was taken to the nations of Edom. Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, Dedan, Tema, Buz, Zimri, Elam and Media…all the kingdoms of the world. Finally, the king of Babylon had to drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger. This would signal the fall of their nations. The Lord of Heavens Armies would accomplish this. *** In Thessalonians, Paul wants to clarify some misconceptions about Jesus’ second coming. Some were saying that the day of the Lord had already began, but Paul told them not to be deceived by this. This day would not come until a great rebellion against God had happened and the man of lawlessness was revealed. This man would bring destruction and exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He would even sit in the temple of God and claim that he is God. *** He can only be revealed when the one who is holding him back steps out of the way. But Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming. *** This man of lawlessness will have counterfeit power to do signs and miracles. He will use deceit to fool those on their way to destruction because they refuse to be saved. They will be condemned for choosing evil over truth. *** Thank you, Jesus, for salvation and truth. Help us to stand firm on your Word and in your spirit. Thank you for the comfort you strengthen us with to keep going with confidence. You are our rock.