Year 9, Day 81: Jeremiah 28

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is a favorite chapter of mine within the book of Jeremiah.  The reason that I love this chapter is because it teaches a very basic yet important message.  God won’t be mocked.  God doesn’t suffer fools.  If you get in God’s way, He’s not opposed to removing you in whatever way He deems appropriate.

Hananiah the false prophet comes before the people and professes that in two years span God will restore the fortune of the Hebrew people.  He will free them from the bondage of Assyria.  He will return the holy items out of the temple that Nebuchadnezzar took.

There’s a serious problem with this message.  This message goes against everything that the Lord is trying to do.  God is putting the people under bondage to teach them to repent.  He is putting them under bondage to remind them that God and His ways are important.  It is the freedom of the people that got them into trouble, God is removing their freedom to refocus them.  The message of the prophet is contrary not only to the hand of God but to His primary motivation for action!

There’s a secondary problem with this message.  The message gives people false hope.  God doesn’t mind the people having hope, but He doesn’t appreciate false hope!  If the people continually buy into false hope, they will miss what God is doing in their life.  If the people ever see the Babylonian occupation as an opportunity to repent, they never will!  They will simply continue their own life thinking that God will restore them, no repentance necessary!

This is the danger of false prophets who tell us what we want to hear.  When we are in relationship with people who simply stroke our egos and bring pleasing messages, we find ourselves stagnating and believing in the wrong things.  This is why Hananiah is so offensive.  He’s not offensive because he wants to believe in a better life; he’s offensive because his belief gets in the way of the repentance that will bring about a better life.

In the end, Hananiah’s message is proven wrong and God claims Him from the world.  He is punished, much like God will punish the Hebrew people under the Babylonian exile.  He gives a message that leads people away from God’s action and he is punished for it.

<><