“They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.” (Jeremiah 23:17)
FALSE messages by false ministers offer false hope. Our verse speaks of the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day who gave false hope to people through their false messages. The false messages by these false ministers gave false hope by saying the people could have peace without piety, and they could have protection without purity.
Peace without piety. “They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace.” This message is still proclaimed today. It is the message that thinks we can have peace as a nation even though we oppose honoring God in our nation. Many politicians talk about peace and how to have peace in the world, but none of them ever tell us we can have peace only when we honor God. Thus they would give mankind a false hope by their peace proposals. The “peace with honor” plan regarding Vietnam was a sham because it left out God. You cannot have “peace with honor” when you refuse to honor God. True peace will never come until piety is present. If you despise God, you will experience punishment from God, not peace from God.
Protection without purity. “They say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come unto you.” This false message by the false ministers sounds like the eulogies given the ungodly at their funerals. No matter how ungodly some famous people have been, when they die, some minister will get up and preach them into heaven. It is the same as saying that even though you walk after the imagination of your heart (which is walking in an evil way), you will not experience judgment in eternity. Many false ministers have given false hope to people because they preached this false message of protection without purity. The true message about protection says we can only be saved from judgment by being purified through the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7; Hebrews 9:12).