Jeremiah 23: 23 - 29
After wheat is threshed, the wheat kernels are completely separate from the straw. Wheat kernels or berries can be ground into flour to make bread and cookies, or made into cereal like Cream of Wheat or Wheaties.
Straw has no feed value at all, even for animals. About all straw can be used for is bedding for animals.
Jeremiah is talking about the difference between the people of God (who bear lasting fruit) and the false prophets who try to mislead them for their own gain and offer nothing of value.
False prophets lead people away from God. They offer emptiness and fear, instead of hope.
Some of the signs of false prophets are setting a calendar date for the Second Coming of Christ, using small parts of the Bible to prove that they are right and that everyone else is wrong, or saying that God speaks directly only to them.
1. How close is God to us?
[God is always near by.]
2. What do the false prophets preach?
[The false prophets preach lies and their own desires.]
3. How do we know what God says and what he wants us to do?
[We know what God says through his word, the Bible.]