In this daily Bible reading Jeremiah speaks of the false prophets who were telling the people that Babylon would not destroy Jerusalem. At that time, the fourth year of the reign of king Zedekiah, Babylon had taken many from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon. False prophets were telling those in exile that they would soon be returned to Jerusalem because God would destroy Babylon. However, God said to Jeremiah that the exiles would remain in Babylon for 70 years. Babylon would destroy those who remained in Jerusalem.
It seems that there were more false prophets than true prophets. In fact, it seems that Jeremiah stood alone in the Truth. It is interesting to me that very few are receptive to God’s Truths. I think that the reason is quite simple. People don’t want to give up the sins of their lives. They seek justification to continue to sin. It was true in Jeremiah’s day. It is true today.
Sin is a powerful force and it is virtually impossible to break free from it. The only remedy today is to be set free through our belief in Jesus Christ. Our initial motivation to avoid sinning is fear of God and His consequences for Sin. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This healthy fear will lead us to believe in Jesus which must be granted to us by God. Once we believe in Jesus we will be free of the bondage to sin. We will be able to avoid sin, but we must still struggle against temptation.
