Jeremiah 37:9-16 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“9This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not! 10Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”

11When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. 13But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”

14“That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials. 15The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. 16So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time.

Accused Falsely of Wrongdoing

Have you ever been falsely accused of a wrong you did not commit? I have, many times, but not by the outside world, but by others who call themselves “Christians” and “Pastors” and “Elders” in “churches.” For one, I was told by two professing Christians that I deserved to die, one of whom wanted me burned at a stake, because of the biblical lessons I taught on the subject of biblical Israel today, that we are those who are of faith in Jesus Christ, and that all who reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah are not biblical Israel today.

My husband and I had a ministry to college age adults from the beginning of 1999 to mid-2006. We tried several times to connect that ministry with local “churches,” but each one failed eventually. In one we were told we needed to go someplace else because the church leadership just did not like us, not because we did anything wrong. We obeyed them. We followed their rules. We submitted to them. But just because they didn’t like us and for no other reason. But they were pretty worldly, and they compromised the gospel.

So, we tried a different “church.” This one went well until the pastor approached me privately and asked if our praise band, comprised of the students, would “draw in large crowds from the world.” I knew where he was going with this. And then he asked about replacing our band with a different group of musicians, and he wanted me to take this back to our leadership team, so I did. We then met with him. But he only said, “I would never do that,” which was a non-denial denial. So I asked him why he said that, then he reported me to the elders, claimed I lied about him, and they put me on church discipline without even giving me a chance to defend my own honor.

At another “church” (and these are not in order of occurrence), the pastor was encouraging us to utilize our spiritual gifts, so I volunteered for ministry. Nothing came of it so I asked him about it, and he accused me falsely of character traits which were not mine, and of not being “crucified with Christ.” Then his elders accused me falsely of wanting to serve the Lord from false and selfish motives, because they were judging me falsely by themselves when they didn’t even know me. It all worked out in the end, though.

At yet another “church” I was in a support group for hurting women, along with a friend of mine. She told me one day she wanted to speak out but she was afraid and she asked me if I would help her. I said I would. Then I got accused falsely by the leadership of taking over or being pushy, and so I tried explaining the situation to the leaders, but I got treated in return as though I was the enemy and as though I had some ulterior motives I did not have, and they refused to consider my own defense. They hurt the hurting.

In another situation my husband and I were training to be church planters. And we were invited to the district prayer conference, I believe it was called. My husband had injured himself and could not attend so he encouraged me to go without him. While I was there I was asked to speak before a room full of pastors and official workers of the church denomination about the ministry we had with these young adults. So I shared what the Lord put on my heart to share. And later I was called into the “principal’s office,” so to speak.

The head dudes accused me falsely of not hearing from God. Even though a good number of the pastors present told me afterwards that what I said was true, and that it needed to be said, the denominational heads did not have the same perspective. But all throughout the prayer conference the Lord was calling me to a different ministry, I believe, and so I had to make a choice to follow the Lord, or to follow these men and reject the calling of God on my life. So in 2004 I chose to go with God, and that’s why I am here now.

The Results Which Follow

Now the above are just summations of a few challenges which I faced throughout my life when I was obeying the Lord but while I was being accused of wrong I did not commit. There were more. When I asked one pastor about what he was teaching, respectfully, and by permission, he became incensed and he told me that I needed to sit back and let him be God’s voice to me. But then he told me he was warned about people like me, i.e. “people with strong convictions,” so he then invited me to leave.

Now, there will be people reading this who do not know me, and who were not there with me when these things took place, who will assume, as did Job’s friends with him, that I must have done something wrong. Now, although I do not claim to be perfect, in each of these situations I was perfectly in line with what I was permitted to do at the time in which I took the steps that I did. I did not cross any known boundaries or speak lies or speak out of turn or cause any disturbance. I submitted, but not to the lies.

So, the point here is to point out that we can be following the Lord in obedience to His commands, doing and speaking the truth of the Scriptures in the correct and appropriate setting, with permission, and still be accused of wrong we did not commit because we are following the Lord in His ways, and we are not following after the ways of this world and of human flesh. For not everyone is going to agree with us. And we who speak the truth are most likely being faced with opposition. I know that I am, but not always.

And the way things are going in our present world, for those of us who live in the USA, who are following the truth of the Scriptures, and who are speaking the truth to the people, we should be getting ready for the reality that one day we are going to come under severe persecution, and we will not be allowed to teach many of the things we are able to teach now. And we will be treated as was Jeremiah and the other prophets and Jesus Christ and His apostles. It is coming! It is just a matter of how soon it will hit.

So, we need to be ready for it. What the Lord has taken me through in my lifetime, when I was serving Him with my life, and I was walking in His ways, and I was following His leading, which I am doing, has prepared me for such a time as this when things are going to get much worse. For those of us who speak the truth of God’s Word to the people, and who call out sin for what it is, and who call sinners to repent and to obey God, one day we will no longer be allowed to do that. For it is already not socially acceptable, for it offends.

Censorship is working its way into the gospel message. Be ready for it! Christian persecution is on the rise. So be prepared to stand for the truth.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; Hebrews 12:3-12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

Falsely Accused of Wrongdoing
An Original Work / October 27, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Teach Them

Based off various scriptures
An Original Work / May 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Open up the blinded eyes of
Those who walk in sin’s darkness.
Turn them to the light of Christ
And to His righteousness.
Turn them from the pow’r of Satan.
Turn them to the peace of Christ,
So they may receive forgiveness
And eternal life.

Teach them to put off their old selves
And their former way of life,
And to put on their new self,
Reborn to be like Christ;
To not copy worldly customs;
Be transformed in life and mind;
Obey freely His word in them,
Pleasing unto God.

Teach them how to love their neighbors
Truly as they love themselves;
Be a witness; share the gospel;
Satan’s lies dispel;
Comfort all who mourn in sadness;
Share Christ’s love and joy today.
Do this through your life and witness
For your Lord always.