Jeremiah (1-31) 14:13 Commentary and Bible Study

Jeremiah now considers the false prophets; they are a sharp thorn in his side. He is deeply concerned about the people, and he knows how easily they are led astray. The false prophets do not find it hard to come up with a message that flatters the people and tells them what they want to hear, that glosses over their sin, that minimises the consequences of sin, and turns God into an indulgent grandfather who pampers his children regardless of how they behave. Furthermore they attack Jeremiah and accuse him of falsehood when saying that God has determined evil against the nation. There will be no invading army with swords drawn to smite; there will be no famine or drought; there will only be peace in the land. That was a far easier message to deliver, and so the people chose to put their trust in the false and not the true prophets.Only the harshest verdict will bring any comfort to Jeremiah, and that is what he hears from the Lord. ‘Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.’ How good it is for those who have represented the Lord before a hostile world, and whose message has been criticised, to hear God make the clearest of distinctions between the true and the false. Yes, they have been faithfully representing him, and he has not ignored this. He knows the anguish his faithful servants go through when their word is opposed, and their reputation dragged through the mud. ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25:21) will make up for all. But hand in hand with this goes the exposure of the false prophet, the false teacher. What could be more serious than that they lie in the name of God? What could anger him more, than their stealing his authority to support their lies? God’s word is a most precious gift to this world. To falsify it and to ask people to trust a false message is therefore deeply offensive to him.As so often, God appoints a punishment to fit the crime. In his judgment he highlights the folly of human sin. In this case the very evil that the false prophets denied would come, will be the evil that falls on them personally. There was also a sin on the part of those who believed their false message, for they ought to have known it was not true, since it contradicted the word of God’s true prophet, and it contradicted all that their consciences told them. The message of Jeremiah will swallow them up in its fulfilment, and there will be no escape for them or their families. When this comes, they will know all the evil they have done. The fulfilment of God’s word combines with the conscience of the guilty in a most powerful sentence in their hearts.