Read Jeremiah 28
The False Prophet Hananiah
28 In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: 2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. 6 He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. 7 Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: 8 From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.”
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, 11 and he said before all the people, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.’” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.
12 After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. 14 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.’”
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’”
17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.
Go Deeper
In this chapter, we see a back-and-forth exchange between Jeremiah and Hananiah, the son of another prophet. Hananiah was from Gibeon, a place with a reputation for both deceit and violence. He comes along with a message contradicting that of Jeremiah in the previous chapter, saying they would be freed from the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. This sounded like great news, right? Well, it would have been–if it had been true. While Judah was longing for good news, it turns out that Jeremiah was right all along.
Pastor David Guzik in his Enduring Word commentary says, “When Jeremiah prophesied exile and captivity, Hananiah prophesied return and restoration. They both spoke in the name of the LORD, and it seemed that they could not both be right.” Hananiah even has the audacity to go break the yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck (v. 10-11)! As Jeremiah walked away, the crowd likely assumed Hananiah was right after all–maybe they could trust his more optimistic words instead of Jeremiah’s. As Jeremiah returns (with a new message from the Lord) with a yoke of iron, the message is clear: they were going to be yoked to Nebuchadnezzar, like it or not. Their planned rebellion would fail and Hananiah, as a result of his deception, would soon die.
As you would expect, what Jeremiah said came to pass. Within just a couple of months, Hananiah met the very fate Jeremiah prophesied about. As we read this, isn’t it interesting how desperately the people wanted Hananiah to be right? They wanted the “truth” to be the easier way–the way that got them what they wanted, which was ultimately a return home free of captivity. Something inside of us wants the easier path, and we would love to go the way the world wants us to go in order to take it. As we read this passage with the benefit of being followers of Christ in the twenty-first century, we can read it knowing that we can always test the ways of the world and the “false prophets” of our day with the Word of God. As followers of Christ, we can always trust that the Truth will win out.
Questions
- What stuck out to you on your first read through this chapter? Why?
- What is the symbolism of the wooden yoke and the iron yoke?
- What messages from the false prophets of our day are you tempted to believe? How can you test those against the truth of God’s Word?
By the Way
Jesus talks about the importance of yoking ourselves to him in Matthew 11:28-30:
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
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5 thoughts on “Jeremiah 28”
God is good! Even in the moments of wanting to wring someones neck, He shows up. Like with Jeremiah, God says walk away I will take care of things. Psalm 37:8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. Right in the middle of telling and showing Judah what is happening, here comes Hananiah saying the opposite or contradictor words. Not sure about y’all but my flesh would have been mad and spewed out of my mouth. BUT GOD!! Jeremiah just walked away. ( Way to go, dude) Then God told him what to do, say and God took care of things. Today, right now, in this moment I am too walking away. God knows how to direct my path, words to speak but not now in the heat of the moment. (Rick is fine, not going to wring his neck,LOL). God shows up with words for us just when we need it if we look, listen and obey.
God thank You for Your loving kindness. Thank You for guiding my (and Rick’s) path with right words, loving words, good guidance, gentleness, meekness, understanding and love. God You are so amazing in the beauty of this world. You always show Yourself in a gentle breeze or a forceful wind. Thank You clean, clear love goggles to see Your people today. Thank You for my ears to listen and to truly hear. Thank You God for a concise and appropriate words to share that guide all of us in the moment back to You. God thank You for hearing, listening, loving, speaking with You on my mind, in my heart and flowing through me all of these minutes in this day in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!
I’m reminded of 2 Timothy 4:3-4,“ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” As it was in Jeremiah’s day, so it is today. We tend to prefer to listen to comforting lies rather than the painful truth, to be coddled not confronted in our sin. May the scriptures be our measuring stick and the Holy Spirit be our guide to convict us of false teaching and doctrine, for it surely exists today. Remember that lies are subtle, sneaky and counterfeit parading as truth, so we must continually test them against the word of God.
2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” I’m so grateful for the BRP that equips us to know and follow the truth of scripture.
Yes, when presented with different prophecies, I also would choose to believe the more optimistic one. I get it!
This passage especially hit me today reminding me of God’s control of our political environment in this election year. In my frustration with fellow Christians whom I’ve felt have chosen lies and myths over integrity and love I tried taking the control that only God can. With His help my actions will now solely be in prayer for our nation.
Yesterday’s verse 18 includes these words. Let them plead with the Lord almighty. Prayer. It’s a powerful thing. God commands us to pray. Perhaps He will hear and come and heal our world.