Fact or Feelings?
7/23/25 Bible Thought (Jeremiah 26-27)
Main Idea: Truth isn’t gauged by personal feelings, but by what God has actually said.
A Look at the Text:
The chronology in today’s text jumps around again as we look at two different scenarios involving two different kings. First, Jeremiah was prophesying during the reign of Jehoiakim, the third from the last king of Judah, in chapter 26. Then the focus shifts to King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, once again in chapter 27.
There was at least one thing these two kings had in common though: an irreverence for God’s word. This attitude was common amongst the prophets and priests as well.
Yahweh sent Jeremiah to His house to call the people to turn from their wicked ways so that He would turn from coming destruction (Jer. 26:4-6). But sadly, the initial response wasn’t repentance, but a death-threat against God’s prophet (Jer. 26:8-9).
Jeremiah’s only defense was that he simply shared what God told him to share (Jer. 26:12). In response, some of the officials and the people recalled Hezekiah’s response to the prophet Micah, and Jeremiah was spared (Jer. 26:18-19). Sadly, though, one of Jeremiah’s contemporaries didn’t fare as well. Uriah the prophet was hunted down in a distant land and killed by the king for his words against Jerusalem.
Then later on, Jeremiah would plead with Zedekiah, “Serve the king of Babylon and live” (Jer. 27:17). For it was God who put Nebuchadnezzar on the throne and subjected all lands to him (Jer. 27:5-6). Yet, history reveals that Zedekiah didn’t heed Jeremiah’s warnings, and as such, he brought destruction upon himself.
Bringing it Home:
It’s not easy to hear messages we don’t like. However, at the end of the day, what matters most is not our feelings, but whether a message is true or not.
The kings and people of Judah didn’t like hearing of their need to repent. They especially didn’t like news of coming judgment. But when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, they found out their feelings weren’t relevant to matters of truth.
Unfortunately, the perennial problem of rejecting truth based upon feelings hasn’t changed. The apostle Paul once counseled his ministry protégé, Timothy, to preach the word (2 Tim. 4:2). Why? Because there was a time coming when false teaching would abound and the answer to falsehood is truth.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (2 Tim. 4:3).
The apostle knew in advance that people would find teachers who told them what they wanted to hear, not what they needed to hear.
This is an incredibly common problem in the world today, especially in the age of the internet. You can ignore conviction and find someone who will tell you that your sin is not sinful. But on the day we stand before God, our feelings won’t be factored into the equation at all.
What matters is what God actually said and what is therefore actually true.
Challenge:
Do I welcome conviction or run from it?