Read Joshua 16-17 and Jeremiah 8.
This devotional is about Jeremiah 8:7e-8: “But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord. “‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?”
Here God is mystified by the unnatural actions of his people. If they are his people, they should follow his ways. It should be instinctive, just like the instinct we have to get up when we fall down (v. 4) and the instinct that birds have to migrate (v. 7). The instincts of “God’s chosen people,” however, was not to follow the Lord’s ways. Instead, their instincts were to pursue “their own course like a horse charging into battle” (v. 6e-f).
They did not know, however, that they were off course when it came to following the Lord. They thought they were doing well; verse 8a records them as saying, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord.” God’s response, however, was, “But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.” Their instincts were bad and their lives were off course because they didn’t know God’s word, even though they thought they did. And who was faulted in this passage for their ignorance of God’s word? The scribes: “…the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?” This interesting phrase is not explained in Jeremiah’s prophecy. Did they intentionally change the manuscripts they were copying? Or is this referring to some kind of teaching material they wrote?
We don’t know. But, the point of this statement is that God’s people can be led astray when God’s word is distorted. Distortion can mean mistranslation, misinterpretation, miscopying or outright changing God’s word. It reminds us how important careful, faithful handling of God’s word is. Be careful, then, about who you listen to or who you read. When you pick up a book for spiritual nourishment, find out if the author is a capable and faithful handler of God’s word. Even if he or she is, be a believer who evaluates what you’re reading carefully.
Is what you’re reading scriptural or is it falsely handling God’s truth?