Rejecting a Prophet Losing a Reward

Greetings in the Lord!

Today's word comes from Jeremiah 29:24-32;
"Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 'This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, "The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any madman who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce."
"Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 'Send this message to all the exiles: This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has led you to believe a lie, this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among his people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against me.'"

Is it a small thing when we reject the words of the Lord? No it is not. But you say, "Maybe they are a false prophet?" We must remember this, in the Greek there are two words for "test": 'dokimazo'--which means to approve of; and 'peirazo'--which means to examine to reveal the good and bad in something. In 1 John 4, we are told to "test the spirits," and in this case it is the Greek word 'dokimazo.' John is thus saying there that as Christians we should test and either give the approval or not of a teacher of the word--not condemn them. In fact, the Lord always "tests" in the dokimazo, never in the "peirazo." Only the tempter does that. In today's church there are many who will run the risk of losing their "prophet's reward" because of their own rebellious attitude and their decision to reject the words of a prophet just because they speak words not suiting to their ears. That is exactly why Shemaiah rejected Jeremiah. However, I am concerned too, because in today's scripture the Lord also promises a swift reprisal for rebelling against a prophet...for who are you really rebelling against? Make wise decisions, my beloveds; for with the Lord, nothing can be done in secret.

~Christ's peace be upon those who receive Him.

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