Jeremiah 14:13-15 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

Lately I have been asked to look into the issues of false prophets. To be honest I have not studied upon the issue with any great detail. I find here in Jeremiah some direct dialogue between the Lord and Jeremiah on the subject. I know it is not everything, but we all have to start somewhere when dealing with a new topic of interest which we have not studied. The right thing to do in all those cases is to see what the Lord had to say on the matter.

False vision, divination, failed promises and hidden agendas are the roots of their practices. All of them are difficult to sort out with a rational mind. Given the nature of a charismatic false prophet, he or she, is going to have a convinced following. The symptoms will not always indicate the disease in these cases.

False prophets will fail by their own words because there is no power in them. God in His just and righteous manner will cause them to fail by the lies of their own mouths. Some of these visions, divinations and failed promises are prominent within society today because of those who believed the lies and blame the failings upon members of unbelief. It is always going to be someone else’s fault.

Genesis 4:12-14 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

While exchanging dialogue with a friend this morning, this thought entered into the conversation. “What is it going to take to keep this dialogue going?” The conversation was productive but could easily turn into that moment when he would turn and no longer face me. He could like Cain hide his face from me.

Cain chose to hide his face from God. God’s punishment for killing Abel did not come with any unwillingness to keep the dialogue going. That was Cain’s choice. Cutting off the dialogue was Cain’s choice.

At that moment in scripture what were Cain’s options? He looks to his punishment and sees a bleak and dismal future. At that moment his fear of man comes into focus. What will other people think? Here is Cain after killing his brother in dialogue with his creator and cannot see the value in keeping the dialogue going.

While you have God talking to you, no matter what the circumstance, no matter what you have done, no matter how you feel, keep the dialogue going. Rather than turning your back of God, why not just ask; “What would you have me do?”

Consequences of sin does not mean God has turned His back on you. If you allow that to be the focal point then you aren’t asking the right questions. Fear of man will still be there but maybe, just maybe God has an answer for you in how to deal with that fear.

You won’t hear the answer if you don’t ask.