REFLECTIONS TODAY
Scriptures attest to the phenomenon of persons claiming to be prophets alongside the authentic prophets sent by God. The latter call them “false prophets.” Since they come in “sheep’s clothing,” acting like the real prophets, they are hard to distinguish. Some indicators that they are false ones are: their oracles do not come true, they give a false sense of security, they avoid speaking of the “hard truth” of the divine oracle.
With regard the Christian message, the false prophets are bent on preaching the easy way, hence the easier way of following Jesus that guarantees good feelings and rewards. They embrace that part of the Gospel which makes life easy and exciting: they have little or nothing to say of the demands of Jesus. They do not mention the cross. They love the advantages which leadership brings them.
Believers should beware of leaders who say only nice things and hide the painful truth about the faith. True prophets—like true friends—should be honest, even if honesty sometimes hurts.
First Reading • 2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3
The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the temple and have consigned them to the master workmen in the temple of the Lord.” The scribe Shaphan also informed the king that the priest Hilkiah had given him a book, and then read it aloud to the king. When the king heard the contents of the book of the law, he tore his garments and issued this command to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, Achbor, son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah: “Go, consult the Lord for me, for the people, for all Judah, about the stipulations of this book that has been found, for the anger of the Lord has been set furiously ablaze against us, because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our written obligations.”
The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned together before him. The king went up to the temple of the Lord with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great. He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the Lord, read out to them. Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the Lord that they would follow him and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book. And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.