Deceit

 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,
Jeremiah 29:8 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.29.8.ESV

A few verses later is the very popular verse that God had plans for good for us. Surprisingly, at the time, it was unpopular, because in the context, Jeremiah was referring to life in Babylonian captivity. Understandably, the Jewish exiles in Babylon longed to return home to Judah.

False prophets were telling the exiles, 'don't worry, you'll be home by Passover'! Jeremiah on the other hand urged them to settle down because they'd be exiled for a lifetime. Understandably, his prophecy wasn't popular.

A modern day equivalent would be to say that there was going to be a lockdown not for months, but for a lifetime. As you can imagine, that wouldn't be popular. But Jeremiah was proved right and the counterfeit prophets were proved wrong

I've noticed that whenever Christians make predictions, they tend to be overly optimistic. At the start of the pandemic, I heard people say things like 'it'll all be over by Easter, and it'll spark a global revival'. To be honest, I find the Bible to be more realistic than many Christian forecasters.

'God, thank You that in the midst of our difficulties, You help us to live fulfilled lives, through Christ Jesus our Lord, amen'

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