Jeremiah 28:10-17 –Knowing the truth well is critical

Jeremiah verses 10-11 tells us that Jeremiah did not confront Hananiah immediately when the latter removed the yoke that he was wearing over his neck. Instead of being embroiled in his aggression, he just went away. Of course, the error that Hananiah did had to be dealt with. It must be an opportune time. So in verses 12-14 of Jeremiah 28, the opportune time came. God directed him to confront Hananiah.  Jeremiah was told to  “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron.”  The message for the false prophet was that instead of a yoke of wood, he had made the people of Judah a w yoke of iron instead. In other words, there suffering the nation had under Babylon would be intensified. They would have to undergo greater distress and despair than they had thus far experienced.

 

Jeremiah then gave a word to the false prophet Hananiah in verses 15-16 saying, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made these people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’” So as Jeremiah had prophesied, verse 17 said that Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year. God had vindicated His servant. For the words of a true prophet always come to pass but the words of a false prophet will not.  

 

Whether we are aware or not, false teachings abound in the contemporary church world. No matter how sincere false teachings may sound, they are always lethal. The problem is that those who propagate them are often friendly and respectable but misguided people. We must remember Matthew 7:22-23 when we hear any message claimed to be from God. Jesus said  that ^“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ It’s shocking to hear Jesus labeling people who claim to prophesy in His name as lawless people and workers of iniquity. It pays for us to be well-versed with Biblical truth so that we will not be hoodwinked by false teachings and end up being misled into a disaster.