Tickling Ears

Jeremiah 5:12-13
(12) They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, 'He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.
(13) The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!'"

Apparently there were the same problems in Jeremiah's day as there are now. There were so-called prophets who told the people what they wanted to hear. They would not preach a message of repentance of sin. Instead they told them that God loved them and wanted them to be happy. They reassured the people of God's steadfast love and ignored the consequences of their idolatry.

You don't have to look very far to see the same thing today. And what's particularly pernicious is that folks are going to these "churches" every Sunday and they leave with a false sense of security. They figure that they've got their Jesus booster shot for the week and don't have to worry about changing their lives. I suspect that there is a big surprise waiting for them someday.

As an aside, my ESV Study Bible pointed out the pun in this passage. In Hebrew the word for "spirit" is the same as for "wind." So while prophets were supposed to have God's Spirit these prophets only had wind. This makes me pray for God's Spirit in my teaching and not just my own wind.