Jeremiah (1-31) 29:8 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Jeremiah (1-31) 29:8

Comments

Then comes the warning. The false prophets were in Babylon also; they had gone into exile with the other Jews to whom Jeremiah is writing. Jeremiah knows they will oppose his message and repeat the false prophecy that Hananiah had given before: that the exile would be ended within two years. But the people are made responsible for rejecting these false prophets, and Jeremiah tells them plainly that their message is false. The evidence of their being false prophets has already been given: they approve of those whose lives are disorderly; they contradict Jeremiah who has lived a consistent life and message; they give a message of peace which is contrary to all the prophets who have gone before them, and is the opposite of what should be expected, considering the state of the nation. Their intention is to deceive the people and to undermine God’s true prophet.‘Neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed’ – your dreams, your vain hopes for the future and the outcome you want. That is what makes the people vulnerable to false prophecy; they want to hear these things. What you want: it's not what you want, it's what God wants. They wanted a return to Judah and Jerusalem and to carry on with their idolatry just as they were before the invasion. ‘Don't listen to yourselves, don't listen to your prophets’, says Jeremiah.

Application

Back to the prophets again in verse 9: ‘For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.’ We need to just pause there. That is a terrible thing to do. Somebody may commit murder and take life. What a terrible sin. What a horrible and disgusting thing to tear away another person's life. What a self-considering act. There's nobody in the world but me. He or she is irrelevant. Get rid of him. He's a nuisance; he’s in my way. What an appalling sin. You can murder. You can betray your wife or your husband and smash up your family out of lust. What a terrible sin. But there's something infinitely worse and that is to set yourself up in the place of God and to claim that you have God's word and God's authority. You can tell people, ‘No, this is going to happen, not that. I know’, and you claim that God has told you. That is taking the Lord's name in vain, taking his name in a futile way, taking his place, expelling him and substituting yourself. It is lying about things that come purely from your foolish imagination. When you see the judgments on false prophets in the Old Testament and the recurring statements, you realise this is about the worst thing a human being can do – to presume to speak for God. In a way it is a terrifying thing to be a preacher, because you know you have got to stay within the word. If you go outside the word you are a false prophet. If you make pronouncements which do not come from the word you are taking the place of God. That is the most deeply offensive thing to him. Yet even some sound preachers slip into the appalling habit of doing this. You see what comes across the Internet. Whether they are men preachers or they are illegitimate lady preachers. they all seem to do it. They make statements: ‘God will do this for you; God says that.’ Some of them say some sound things. Then they say some things which are simply not out of the word; they come out of their heads, and they are foolish things and silly things, and Christians are listening to this. That is deeply offensive to God.

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Jeremiah (1-31) 29:8 Commentary and Bible Study