Jeremiah (1-31) 28:10 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.’ We read about the Lord’s instruction to Jeremiah to make yokes at the beginning of chapter 27. The use of the plural as well as the instruction to send these visual aids to various different kingdoms shows that this was something Jeremiah did repeatedly. The same visual aid is produced before Zedekiah, years later (Jeremiah 27:12). Now it is in play again. The prophet was originally told to wear the yoke as a symbol of the voluntary submission of the surrounding nations and of Israel to Babylon. This is what God had commanded them to do. As a prophet Jeremiah put on this symbol of servitude as a lesson in how God would have them respond to Nebuchadnezzar, and everyone knew what the bonds and yokes meant. ‘Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke [the visual aid] from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.’ An act like that was so unseemly in the house of God, and Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people. He raises his voice, and with greater emphasis he repeats the absurdities that he uttered before, in the name of the Lord. ‘Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’ He puts a time on it. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. He didn’t reacts; he didn't respond; not until God inspired him to do so. But in due course, God spoke to Jeremiah about this.