When the Majority Is Wrong

Ancient Israel in the time of Jeremiah the prophet was not much different in many ways than our culture today.  Over the years it had been continually evolving.  From a nation that honored God and worshiped Him according to the sacrificial system He gave them through Moses they had descended into all types of idolatry and sexual sins and even practiced sacrificing their children to heathen gods.

In turning away from the one true God they had lost their moral compass, calling good evil and evil good.  Yet, they continued to have a form of religion that had the outward trappings of worshiping God and honoring the temple but without sincerely trusting Him or obeying His laws.

As I continue to study Jeremiah 29 and its surrounding context, I keep learning more about the character of God that it reveals.  Of course, His great mercy and compassion I have experienced as He spoke verse 11 into my life through so many different sources just before my big surgery.  What a comfort and encouragement that was to me and my family.  But I have come to realize that this passage of Scripture reveals so much more. 

For one thing, God is totally in control of every situation and the outcome will be according to His plan.  The exiles would remain in Babylon for 70 years despite all the wishful thinking and false prophecies that were being proclaimed to the contrary.  It is also evident that a time comes when He removes His hand of blessing and protection from His people when they persist in rejecting Him.

But, you might ask, since this was such a slow process of falling away from God, how would the people notice they had drifted so far off course without some point of reference?  Perhaps they would have had an excuse except for the fact that God continually sent his prophets to warn them of the calamity that was ahead if they did not turn back to Him.  But what happened to these faithful servants?  Many were mocked, ridiculed, persecuted, arrested, beaten, tortured and some even killed.

When we look at Jeremiah 29, it becomes clear that Jeremiah was one voice speaking and writing in contradiction to many others, including priests and religious leaders, political authorities, and even others who claimed to be prophets.  How was the average person to know the truth if the majority of these “representatives” of the people disagreed with Jeremiah?  God had given them a simple rule: if what the prophet says does not come true, he is a false prophet.  Not too difficult to understand, right?

A quick look at the story in Jeremiah 28 tells of a prophet named Hananiah who publicly rebuked Jeremiah for saying the exile would be long and announced that God told him it would be over in two years.  God then gave Jeremiah a message for Hananiah, that he would be removed from the face of the earth before the end of the year for causing the people to trust a lie.  Two months later…no more Hananiah.

Would you guess that this outcome might have been convincing evidence for the people to accept Jeremiah as a true prophet and heed his warnings?  Guess again!  Another great lesson:  the natural state of human nature is to be in rebellion against God, to be unable to see the light (truth) because of spiritual blindness.

How then are we, living today in a culture that is also evolving away from God, going to discern the few voices that are speaking the truth from the many that speak lies?  It has been said that the way to identify counterfeits is to study and know the genuine article so well that you cannot be fooled by a fake.  To try to recognize all possible counterfeits would be an endless and foolish effort.  The answer is to study and know God’s word, the Word of truth.  To know it by living it, that is.

Jesus taught his disciples that if they would abide in His word they would know the truth.  To “abide” meant to “continue” in it, not just to read it periodically, but to get in it and stay there.  Then they would know the truth, not just mentally but experientially in the heart.

May God grant us the grace and mercy to be faithful in so abiding in His word that we are able to discern the truth in our rebellious culture.  And may He empower us to shine the light we have in such a way that others may see the truth and give glory to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus therefore was saying…”If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  – John 8:31-32