Context No. 3857 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Jeremiah 27:8-15: in context

8“‘“‘It will happen that I will punish the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon,’ says the LORD, ‘with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9But as for you, don’t listen to your prophets, to your diviners, to your dreams, to your soothsayers, or to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon;” 10for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, so that I would drive you out, and you would perish. 11But the nation that brings their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, that nation I will let remain in their own land,’ says the LORD; ‘and they will till it and dwell in it.’”’” 12I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 13Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to you. 15For I have not sent them,” says the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

Jeremiah brings a hard and unpopular word: God has, for a time, given the nations into the hand of Babylon, and the way of life is to submit to that yoke, not to resist it. Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, and live, he tells King Zedekiah.

Meanwhile other prophets are saying the opposite, the comforting message the people wanted, that they would not have to serve Babylon; and Jeremiah warns plainly, do not listen to them, for they prophesy a lie. Here is a sobering contrast between the hard truth and the pleasant lie. The false prophets told the people what they longed to hear, that deliverance was near and no submission was needed; but their comforting message was false and would lead to ruin. Jeremiah's message was unwelcome but true, and it was the way to life. We too are often drawn to the voices that tell us what we want to hear, and resistant to the harder word that calls us to submit and repent. But the pleasant lie leads to death, and the hard truth to life.

Am I drawn to the voices that tell me what I want to hear, or am I willing to receive the harder, unwelcome truth that calls me to submit and repent, knowing that the pleasant lie leads to ruin and the hard truth to life?

Sources

Jeremiah 27:12: "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live."
Jeremiah 27:14: "Don't listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you."
Jeremiah 27:15: "For I have not sent them, says the LORD, but they prophesy falsely in my name."