The Message of the Prophets

Hey there, and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled The Message of the Prophets was written by Tim Gustafson. Before baseball's 1906 World Series, sportswriter Hugh Fullerton made an astute prediction. He said the Chicago Cubs, who were expected to win, would lose the first and third games and win the second.

Oh, and it would rain on the fourth. He was right on each point. Then in 1919, his analytical skills told him certain players were losing World Series games intentionally.

Fullerton suspected they'd been bribed by gamblers. Popular opinion ridiculed him. Again, he was right. Fullerton was no prophet, just a wise man who studied the evidence. Jeremiah was a real prophet whose prophecies always came true. Wearing an ox yoke, Jeremiah told Judah in Jeremiah 27 to surrender to the Babylonians and live. The false prophet Hananiah contradicted him and broke the yoke. Jeremiah told him, Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and added, This very year you are going to die.

Two months later, Hananiah was dead. The New Testament tells us in Hebrews Chapter 1, In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. Through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and through the scriptures and guidance of the Holy Spirit, God's truth still instructs us today. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Jeremiah Chapter 28 verses 2 through 4 and verses 10 through 16. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years, I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, removed from here and took to Babylon.

I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the other exiles from Judah, who went to Babylon, declares the Lord. For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. And now picking up at verse 10, Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it. And he said before all the people, This is what the Lord says, In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, off the neck of all the nations within two years. At this the prophet Jeremiah went on his way. After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Go and tell Hananiah, This is what the Lord says, You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations, to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they will serve him.

I will even give him control over the wild animals. Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you. Yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. Therefore, this is what the Lord says, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die because you have preached rebellion against the Lord. Let's pray. Father, so many of us have big questions today, and we need your Spirit to lead and guide us. Help us to watch and listen intently to where you're leading us and to trust you when we can't see or understand. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. I'm Stephen Tabor, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.