I have been reading the book of Jeremiah for sometime now, and the Holy Spirit has continued to teach me and reveal the word to me. It has been an amazing journey, with some chapters not making sense and some making alot of sense, but hey! I guess this is why its said that you might read the same book in the bible 4 times or 1000 times but each time, God reveals something new about Himself and it just blows your mind away to see how God is so much more than what we think of Him.
So I woke up in the middle of the night yesterday and started reading on chapter 28 and 29, and throughout the book we see Jeremiah being used by God to talk to the Israelites while they were in exile in Babylon. Let me explain in my own words what goes on in chapter 28 and 29, this 'prophet' called Hananiah came up to God's temple and gives a prophesy saying that God will release the Israelites from Babylon within 2 years. This dude gave this prophesy in the presence of Jeremiah and Jeremiah simply told him that, his words will be proven true with time because as he is preaching peace every other prophet sent before them talked of war and disaster and goes on his way.
As soon as Jeremiah walks away, God sends him back to tell the people including Hananiah (the prophet who just prophesied to the people that God would release them from Babylon within 2 years) that He will not release them as a matter of fact, they will remain there for longer and He did not send Hannaniah to say that and for that reason Hananiah would die the same year and he did die.
Here is the interesting part, in chapter 29, through a letter to the people written by Jeremiah God tells the Israelites, to build houses and settle in Babylon, to marry and let their sons and daughters to marry so that they will increase in number, He asks them to pray for prosperity of the land because if Babylon prospers, they also prosper and the biggest shock of it all is.....He tells them He will release them after SEVENTY years!!!! In God's words He says in verse 10: " When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place"... then God goes ahead and tells them that He knows the plans He has for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them a future and a hope and promises them that they will find Him when they seek Him with all their hearts.
So what am I getting at with this, you see alot of other prophets would come and prophesy peace and release for the people of Israel from Babylon but God had not sent them, God had sent Jeremiah with a completely different message, like Hananiah had lied to the people that God would release them in TWO years while in truth God was planning for SEVENTY years.
Thing is, how many times have we gone to church and heard from preachers, statements like ..."This is the year of the Lord!","This is the year of multiplication!" etc....we tend to jump up when such declarations are made especially when you have been praying to God for certain things and He seems to be taking too long. I am not saying that all the declarations are false, but I am encouraging us to seek God on our own to hear HIS voice in our circumstances and seasons. Because how many times have you jumped up to that word and declared things over your life and the year ends without anything changing? Is God a man that He would lie? NO! He says it and does it.
In your situation right now, I hope you will seek God for yourself and hear Him concerning what you are trusting in Him for, why? because HE ALONE knows the plans He has for you, NOT your pastor, NOT your mother or father, NOT your spouse, NOT your mentor, NOT YOU! Only He does and they are plans to prosper you and not to harm you.
In the season you are in, who are you listening to? I urge you to not be too quick to jump on these declarations but to seek God, to find out His plan. It may be that you are jobless now, single, praying for finances, business, a family member, for a baby etc whatever it is, God has the answer, God will direct you and He has a purpose, the same way He told the Israelites that He will come to fulfill His good promise, He will come to fulfill it in your life but you have to wait for His timing, not the timing set by you or someone else.
I hope this post will help you in your waiting season, to ignore false voices and listen to the one true voice and wait for HIS perfect timing.
