“Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jer. 1:5). God is all-knowing. He reminded Jeremiah of this fact as He called him to be His prophet. There are a number of great truths that can be gleaned from this verse. Let’s look at two of them. (1) We cannot hide anything from God. We may cover up our sins and hide them from men’s eyes, at least for a season. However, God knows us completely. He knows what we are going to do even before we do it. Therefore it is foolish to try and mock God. (Gal. 6:7-8). (2) This verse destroys the abortionist’s view of when life begins. God knew Jeremiah as Jeremiah even before he came forth out of the womb. Life begins at the point of conception. Abortion is nothing short of murder. The wholesale slaughter of these innocent ones should have all God-fearing people up and speaking out in their opposition to this terrible crime.
“Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.” (Jer. 5:1). In Jeremiah’s day it was difficult to find a man, one who would make proper judgments and one who sought the truth. We are living in a day and time very similar to Jeremiah’s day in this respect. A real man in God’s eyes is one who fulfills the obligations that He has been given by Jehovah. Real men will assess all of the facts and then make proper judgments. He seeks the truth above everything else. But, as in Jeremiah’s day, there is a dearth of men in our land. Instead of seeking truth, many today will not listen to truth nor permit it to be taught. They are more interested in numbers than they are with truth. How about you? Are you a man who executes judgment and seeks truth?
“For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.” (Jer. 5:11-13). Notice that the prophets were accusing God of being a liar. They denied everything that He said. They declared that God’s punishment would not come upon Israel. Men today are still doing this very thing. Look at the numbers of preachers who deny the existence of a real hell even though the Bible declares it to be real. There are even a number of so-called Gospel preachers who are joining Satan’s bandwagon in denying the Lord’s plain teaching in this area. Secondly, notice that God declares that His Word was not in those prophets. The New Testament is full of warnings about false prophets or teachers in our day. Jesus said false prophets would come “in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Paul said they would use “good words and fair speeches” to “deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:17-18). Peter declared “there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious (evil) ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (II Pet. 2:1-2). He also says they will use “feigned” (false) words to make merchandise of you” (v. 3). And John demands that they “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:2). In the face of all of these warnings, we have permitted a number of smooth talking, truth-hating men to cause havoc in among the Lord’s people. The plan of salvation, proper worship, the role of women in the church, future punishment, and many other things have been perverted by these men. And the people love it so!
Brethren, it is time, yea, it is way passed time, for all who love the truth to stand up and “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3). How about you? Do you demand that the preacher where you attend preach the truth? Or would you prefer that he be like the prophets of Jeremiah’s day and “belie the Lord?”
– Paul M. Wilmoth January 18, 1944 – April 5, 2021
