Thursday after Cantate

Scripture: Jeremiah 8:4-13 (NKJV)

8:4 “Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return?

5 “Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return.

6 “I listened and heard, but they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, as the horse rushes into the battle.

7 “Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord.

8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.

9 “The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; So what wisdom do they have?

10 “Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will inherit them; Because from the least even to the greatest everyone is given to covetousness; From the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

11 “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.

12 “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment they shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

13 “I will surely consume them,” says the Lord. “No grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.”’”

Devotion

This lesson about false teachers is one of the most important warnings in Scripture. The lie of “Peace, peace!” is more dangerous than the fool’s message that rages against God or denies His existence. The deception of false peace attributes lies to God’s name (breaking the Second Commandment), and makes a mockery of His true teaching (breaking the Third Commandment).

This lie was a problem in the time of the prophets, and it is still a problem in our own age. That is why faithfulness to God’s Word is so important. Truth is more important than outward peace. Satan offers the illusion of peace to those who compromise the truth of God’s Commandments. The pretense of unity and walking together can be achieved if repentance is not preached. But if the blessing of God’s message of repentance is taken away, then the Gospel of forgiveness in Christ is also snatched from people, because they are fooled into thinking they have peace when they are actually sick and in peril from sin.

Sometimes the Lord takes away our peace in order to teach us repentance, humility, and trust in His grace. This holy blessing is better than resting quietly in the death of Satan’s falsehoods. Thanks be to God that Christ Jesus is our Way, Truth, and Life, and that He may be found in those humble congregations and fellowships that uphold the truth, rather than proclaim a false peace.

We pray: O God, who makest the minds of the faithful to be of one will, grant unto Thy people that they may love what Thou commandest and desire what Thou dost promise, that among the manifold changes of this world our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.