The false pastor and the true pastor
“Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. ‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the LORD, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’” (Jeremiah 23:28-29)
Am I a false pastor or a true pastor?’ How do you differentiate between the false pastor and the true pastor?
As I meditate on the false prophets and the true prophet based on the words of Jeremiah 23:28-29, I, as a pastor, personally want to become a true pastor by receiving lessons from the true pastor while thinking about the false pastor and the true pastor.
First of all, who are the false prophets?
The false prophets speak of a dream. Here, “dream” is “a vision” of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord (v. 16). Then, what was the dream that the false prophets spoke of in their own imagination during the time of Jeremiah? In other words, what was the vain thing they taught the Israelites? (v. 16) It was, “You will have peace” and “Calamity will not come upon you” (“everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart”) (v. 17). It must have been a good sound to hear from the Israelites who were sinning against God. The vain thing wasn’t true. It was a lie. The false prophets prophesied falsely in the name of God (v. 25). They stole the word of God (v. 30). Therefore, the false prophets deceived God's people by using their tongues and declared and prophesized “false dreams” and led God’s people astray (vv. 31-32). They prophesied falsehood and “the deception of their own heart” (v. 26). They led the Israelites astray (v. 13) “by their falsehoods and reckless boasting” (v. 32). The prophets of the northern nation of Israel [“the prophets of Samaria” (v. 13)] were foolish and entrusted Baal to prophesy to the Israelites (v. 13). In other words, they fell into syncretism and seemed to draw near to God with their lips, but in their hearts they were committing idolatry. In the midst of this, they led the Israelites astray by giving them “dreams”, “visions” and “false prophecies” (v. 13). Then what of the prophets of the southern kingdom of Judah? The prophets of the southern kingdom of Judah [“the prophets of Jerusalem” (vv. 14, 15)] practiced abominations by committing adultery (v. 14). In other words, the Jerusalem prophets were morally corrupt. And they made the land “full of adulterers” (v. 10). The prophets who committed adultery were producing many people who commit adultery. Yet, instead of turning away from their wickedness, God's people who committed adultery strengthened their hands (v. 14). In a word, all the land was polluted by the polluted prophets (v. 15). The uncleanness came out of the defiled prophets and spread throughout the land (v. 15). Therefore, the conduct of all the people was evil, and their efforts weren’t right [(v. 10) “… heir course also is evil And their might is not right”]. The false prophets are evil. They did evil, even in the house of God (v. 11). The false prophets are of no benefit to God’s people (verse 32).
The false pastors don’t preach the word from God's mouth, but rather “the deception of their own heart” (v. 26). They spit lies out of their false heart. They preached a sermon of comfort to God's people who were sinning, saying, "You will have peace," and “Calamity will not come upon you” (v. 17). The false pastors scratch the itching ears of their listeners rather than preach sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4:3). There is no correction, no rebuke, no encouragement (v. 2). Rather than turning back God's people from their wickedness, they strengthened them to continue to sin (Jere. 23:14). The false pastors are misleading the church members (v. 13). It has to be because the false pastors themselves are running the wrong way (v. 21). They do evil by defiling themselves, even committing evil deeds even in the house of God. And eventually defilement comes out of them and pollutes the whole church.
Then who is the true prophet?
The true prophet speaks the word of God faithfully (v. 28). The true prophet listens to God and hears His word (v. 18). He receives the word of God and faithfully delivers it to God's people (v. 28). He never wag his tongue like the false prophets (v. 31). The word preached by the true prophet is “like fire” and “like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces” (v. 29). Therefore, the true prophet faithfully proclaims the word of power that can melt and break the hardened hearts of souls. By faithfully preaching that mighty word, the true prophet causes God's people to “turn from their evil ways and from their evil deeds” (v. 22). He causes God's people to remember God's name (v. 27) and come to Him. Therefore, the true prophet is benefits God's people (v. 32).
The prophet Jeremiah was the true prophet. He was never a dreamer like the false prophets who prophesized false dreams. As a result, the prophet Jeremiah never prophesied lies on his own accord and didn’t cause the Israelites to go astray. Rather, he was a prophet who received the word of God and diligently preached the word of God in order to lead the Israelites to the right way. But the Israelites didn’t listen to the prophet Jeremiah. Rather, they persecuted the true prophet Jeremiah. Nevertheless, whether they heard it or not, the prophet Jeremiah delivered the word of God to the Israelites who persecuted him. He faithfully obeyed the word of God. The word of God that came out of the mouth of the true prophet Jeremiah was the truth, and the life of the true prophet who preached the truth was true.
I wonder if I am a true pastor like the prophet Jeremiah or a false pastor like the false prophets who prophesized the false dreams. Can you tell the difference between the false pastor and the true pastor?