Jeremiah 28 reminds me of a simple concept many of us struggle with; the difference between right and wrong. There are times when decisions are between better and best, but we end up in trouble when we pretend there is no such thing as good and evil. I’ve noticed very “tolerant” people hate standards because a firm measuring stick easily exposes hypocrisy. In today’s chapter we have dueling prophets. Both claim to speak God’s truth, but both cannot be right. Remember Jeremiah had just presented a picture of Israel under the Babylonian captivity for 70 years, unless the people turned from their sin. The chapter begins, “In the fifth month of that same year… the prophet Hananiah… in the house of the Lord… ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar’”. We prefer to hear good news and we love hearing that change is not necessary. Hananiah continued, “I will also bring back… king of Judah and all the other exiles… for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon”. What was his motivation? Perhaps knowing Jeremiah was threatened with death for presenting bad news, he thought he might be given special favor for bringing happy news. Would you prefer to hear hard truth, or easy deception?
Interestingly, Jeremiah’s reaction shows that he wants to believe the people have truly repented. “The prophet Jeremiah replied… May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied”. And Jeremiah adds the standard to which all prophets are held, “the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true”. Deuteronomy 18:22 defines a false prophet for us, “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place… that is a message the Lord has not spoken”. How serious is God about people misrepresenting Him? “A prophet who presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded… is to be put to death” (Deuteronomy 18:20). To whom do you turn for trusted counsel?
The chapter closes with Jeremiah in that uncomfortable position of exposing misinformation. First Hananiah ruined the picture God created, “Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it”. Remember this was a symbol of God’s discipline. God reacted through His reliable servant, “the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah… tell Hananiah… ‘You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron… to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon’”. And he continued, “Listen, Hananiah… you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies… This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord”. True to His word; “In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died”. So how do we recognize truth? How did Jesus answer Satan? How did Jesus answer those that challenged His authority? He repeated often, “It is written”, “Have you not read”, “Is it not written in the Law”. Acts 17 commends the people of Berea because they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed”. Do you need real wisdom? Do you desire real discernment? Examine the life of anyone offering advice and go back to the source- God’s Word to learn His standard.