False prophets promise peace to those living at peace with sin.

“From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:13-14) Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34) For the word of God is… Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)”

No one says, ‘Actually, I’d like things to get a bit harder at the moment.’ Everyone wants things to be easier. All of us are on the lookout for a way to rest from difficulties. This leads us to do harmless things like taking a holiday (if we’ve had the 2 vaccinations and the 19 boosters the government requires!), or change jobs etc.

Most of us endure some discomfort but sometimes we may reach a point where we’re willing to do absolutely anything to feel better. People who feel like that become vulnerable to making bad choices such as having an affair, committing a crime, or even deciding to believe the most bizarre promises.

This desire for an escape from hardship creates a ready ‘market’ for those who peddle promises of ease. This is why in poorer countries the purveyors of demonstrably false promises of health, wealth and prosperity do such a roaring trade because desperate people are so eager to believe.

In Jeremiah’s day God’s people were going through the hardest test of all: prosperity. They were healthy, wealthy and relatively at peace. So the false prophets and priests preached a palatable message of even more health, wealth and peace – just what the people wanted to hear. All the people had to do was carry on as they were. ‘You’re fine just as you are. Just keep doing all those sacrifices, keep observing the religious rituals, and this peace will last.’ Their message was: God wants to bless you even more!

But God denounces this false gospel in the harshest terms. God’s true message is this: there can never be any peace so long as people are living comfortably with sin. God is at war with sin but we don’t truly appreciate how infected we really are. We usually think the evil around us is worse than the evil within us.

Most sin isn’t obvious because it lies buried in the heart. Like white ants, sin eats us deep inside. On the surface we may enjoy peace and prosperity but inwardly the white ants hollow out our souls. There is no quick remedy to this. There is no shortcut. There is no painless alternative. War is the only option.

Trials, troubles, discomfort, these are the firm hands of God rooting out the sin that, if left alone, will kill our souls. Over time, as we are pruned and our faith refined, we remain steadfast in trials and start to enjoy true peace, not the false peace that comes from a sin-placating cessation of hostilities, but a peace that is genuine, soul-permeating – a peace that passes all understanding. This peace then guards our hearts – hearts that were previously occupied by the rebel forces of sin.