Jeremiah 24 contains this great verse. "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord."

What a great promise. Just as God promised the exiles of Judah, whom He compared to good figs, He wants to give us a heart to know Him.

In the LETTER TO EXILES (Jeremiah 29) Jeremiah warns the exiles not to listen to the dreams they encourage the prophets and diviners to have.  The exiles were encouraging the prophets and diviners to report good dreams for them.

We hear verse 11 in Jeremiah 29 quoted often. The only problem is people don’t want to read the verses prior to verse 11 or after verse 11. While God certainly does have plans to prosper us, plans to give us hope and a future, He tells the people of Judah that they will go into captivity (70 years to be exact). Sometimes God sends us places that are uncomfortable and unpleasant. But ultimately they are plans that will prosper us and give us hope and a future, even though we may not see it at the time. I heard someone say once that trouble is a blessing when it makes us stronger. Prosperity is a curse when it takes us away from God. Verse 13 says we need to seek Him. How exactly are we supposed to do that? What does it look like to seek Him?  As we examine the Hebrew word for "seek" we understand that "to seek" Him means that we crave being in His presence.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Hananiah (a false prophet) foretells a portion of the truth. He soft pedals and tells Judah that they will only be in captivity for two years, something that the people really wanted to hear! (Remember the people were warned not to encourage them to report only good dreams).  Hananiah was trying to soften the blow. God calls this a rebellion against Him. That should tell us something about how God feels about false prophecy and false teaching. Often there is an element of truth. False teachers tell enough of the truth to make it believable and enough lie to make it wrong.

Often people take Scripture out of context and make it say what they want it to say.   Reading Scripture is a great thing to do and we will always be blessed when we do.  But even better is to study Scripture using the 5 Cs method; content (what does it say), context (reading the verses in context using all surrounding verses), culture and customs of the day in which they were written, and the fifth C is current (how does the Scripture relate to our current situation).  An easy task?  Hardly!  Worth every second we spend?  Absolutely!!!