Judging the Messenger
Scripture Reading: Psalm 126; Ezekiel 13-15; James 1
Those who prophesy from their own hearts…
Ezekiel uses that phrase like a chiper in chapter thirteen. It gives us a framework to understand the spiritual forces Ezekiel was up against. Trusted leaders were speaking “words from the Lord,” when in truth it was a word from their own hearts.
I don’t think we can know for sure if these people believed they were speaking from the Lord or not. They may have been self-deceived and thought they were delivering a message from God. It is also self-evident that a majority of the people believed them. There are many reasons for that.
Some believed them because it is the kind of thing they hoped would be true. They wanted to believe that everything was going to be alright. They wanted to think that the storm of trials would turn back and the sun would shine on them again. Some listened because they found the false prophets personalities appealing. To them, these men seemed sincere, loving, kind, and good. How could they be lying to them?
We have the same issues today with discerning who is speaking truth and who is lying to us. We want to believe the messenger who brings us a good message and we tend to want to reject the one who says harsh things. We want to believe the nice guy and the one who is a little rough around the edges gets a down vote.
Of course we shouldn’t judge truth and error this way. But how can we avoid making these kinds of mistakes?
Be like the Berean who searched the word of God after they heard the Apostles teaching. The Bereans wanted to test the Apostles’ teaching. The way they judged that was by comparing what they said to what was already written. That’s wise. That is the way forward for us as well.
Don’t accept what someone says by their winsome personality and a great smile. Because they made you feel heard and noticed doesn’t mean they are right. Those might all be great traits in a person. They also might be a pretty veneer over an evil heart. But, don’t dismiss someone’s message because it comes wrapped in brown paper without ribbons and bows. Truth often shows up in camel’s hair coats while eating locusts and wild honey.
Judge what is true and what is not by the already revealed word of the Lord.
