Many times, as we go through life, someone or something will speak to us and we just don’t pay any attention. Thus the words and or actions fall on deaf ears.
In Jeremiah 1:4-19 God approaches Jeremiah and tells him he is going to give a speech and no one will listen. He tells Jeremiah that when he gets done the people he’s speaking to will want to kill him. God says don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. Jeremiah, approximately 15-17 years of age, tells God he is but a youth and doesn’t know how to speak. God touched Jeremiah’s lips and puts the words in his mouth. God then says to not worry because I have given you the words to say and I will be there with you. God then tells Jeremiah that He is calling all the tribes from the North. God says they have a wickedness about them for forsaking Me, they have burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. He then tells Jeremiah to stand strong and say to them everything that I command you.
In Jeremiah 7:1-11, Jeremiah, now about 30 years of age, delivers the words God had given him. Jeremiah tells them to amend their ways and their doings, and don’t trust in deceptive words. But, BEHOLD!!, he says, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. You steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Ba’al, and go after other gods you have not known. And then you come and stand before me in this house , which is called by My name, and say, “We are delivered”–only to go on doing all these abominations. Jeremiah had delivered the words God commanded of him.
In Jeremiah 26:1-9 is the reaction of the people God’s words were delivered to by Jeremiah. The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah in the House of the Lord. And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die!” Then in verse 16 the princes and all the people said to the priest and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” God said he would take care of Jeremiah and He did. The people did not see themselves in God’s message. They rationalized it away. Their gross, ugly, self deception was an abomination towards God. Yet they didn’t see it and wouldn’t change.
Faith lessons from those deceived of God: 1) Spiritual advantages can be lost quickly. 2) Lost spiritual ground can be recovered through humble repentance. Reform your ways and actions–Change your ways–Pride will fight against spiritual repentance. If your life is in a place where repentance is “Right”, then you will never be at peace until you repent. 3) False trust produces deception–Sin deceives!! The deceived believe they will NOT reap what they sow–our own desires are what produces sin. A mind led astray from pure and sincere devotion is deceived. Ultimately–Deceivers only deceive themselves!!
Jeremiah was told by God what to say–He said it–It fell on “Deaf Ears.” The people were deceived into thinking they were OK in God’s eyes. Be careful–don’t be deceived AND Don’t let God’s words fall on “Deaf Ears.”
