Perverting God's Word?

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"For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God." - Jer. 23:36


One problem the people of Israel encountered was prophets who prophesied their own oracles as if they came from God. In Jeremiah chapter 6 we see the LORD condemning the voices of falsehood, "Saying 'Peace, peace, but there is no peace.'"(v.14) The people during Jeremiah's day had turned from God's oracles to the oracles of man, and they would suffer as a result. 

Although Jeremiah's words about people perverting God's words were directed at a straying Israelite leadership and people, the words speak to the world in which we now live as well. This will not be a popular notion, but it seems we are seeing more and more Christian proclaiming messages God has supposedly said or something God is supposedly going to do. I am a Pentecostal preacher and I believe in the gifts of the Spirit including prophecy. Paul even encouraged the believers in Corinth to pray that they prophecy so as to build up the church. (see 1 Cor. 14:39) However, prophecy must align itself with God's revealed Word: the Bible. As a matter of fact, all gifts of the Spirit, visions, dreams, and any other supernatural message must align itself with the Bible or it should be disregarded. Does that sound harsh? Possibly, but in the Old Testament, if a prophet prophesied falsely one time he was labeled a false prophet and was subject to execution! I'm not advocating we go there, but it does reflect just how God feels about people speaking on His behalf.

In over twenty-five years of church ministry I have seen a great number of individuals state that God has said such-and-such. While I certainly believe that God speaks to us through supernatural means, we should maintain a humble and contrite heart and recognize that we can easily confuse our personal convictions with "Thus saith the LORD". Friends, please don't say "God said so" unless He really did. 




**image courtesy of https://pixabay.com/illustrations/yada-yada-board-insignificance-1432921/

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