Scripture Daily

Context No. 1675 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 28:1-9: in context

1That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the LORD’s house, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, 2“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3Within two full years I will bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,’ says the LORD; ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’” 5Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the LORD’s house, 6even the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so. May the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD’s house, and all those who are captives, from Babylon to this place. 7Nevertheless listen now to this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people: 8The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, of evil, and of pestilence. 9As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet happens, then the prophet will be known, that the LORD has truly sent him.”

The prophet Hananiah stands up in the temple with a comforting message: within two years, he declares in the LORD's name, God will break the yoke of Babylon and bring back the exiles and the temple vessels. It is exactly what the people long to hear. Jeremiah, who has been prophesying the opposite, responds first with a wish: Amen, may the LORD do so; may your words come true. But then he adds a caution: the prophets of old prophesied war and disaster; the prophet who prophesies peace is proven true only when his word comes to pass.

The scene sets a pleasant lie beside a hard truth, and shows how to tell them apart. Hananiah's message was attractive; it promised quick relief, an easy end to the trouble, and it was what everyone wanted to hear. Jeremiah's had been grim: submit to Babylon, the exile will be long. Which was from God? Jeremiah does not simply assert his own authority; he offers a test. The prophets before us mostly prophesied hard things, he says, war and judgment; a prophet who promises peace and ease is only shown to be true when his word actually comes to pass. In other words, do not believe a message simply because it is comforting and popular; the pleasantness of a word is no proof of its truth. Time and fulfillment will tell. There is discernment here that we need. We are always surrounded by voices offering reassuring messages, telling us what we want to hear, promising that all is well, that no hard road lies ahead, that we need not change or sacrifice or submit. And the very comfort of such messages makes them attractive and easy to believe. But a word is not true because it is pleasant, nor false because it is hard. Jeremiah, who wished Hananiah's happy word were true, still would not endorse it merely because it was welcome; he waited on the test of truth. We do well to be as discerning, to weigh the comforting messages that come to us not by how good they make us feel but by whether they are true, whether they accord with God's revealed word and prove out over time. Not every reassuring voice that says the LORD says is speaking for the LORD.

Am I inclined to believe a message simply because it is comforting and tells me what I want to hear, or can I be as discerning as Jeremiah, weighing even welcome words by whether they are true rather than merely pleasant, knowing that the comfort of a word is no proof it comes from God?

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