Jeremiah 27:14 (ESV)
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you.
As Jeremiah was prophesying to Judah, so, too, were other prophets. But they did not convey the same message that Jeremiah has been conveying. Just prior to the above text, Jeremiah has just completed an object lesson for Judah. God told him to make a yoke out of wood and wear it. His message was, “Just as I am wearing this yoke around my neck, so too, you will all wear one as Nebuchadnezzar takes you captive back to Babylon.”
The false prophets did not like this message and prophesied that God would defeat Nebuchadnezzar and bring peace to our lives once again. They even had warnings for Jeremiah that he would be destroyed. Yet, that is not what happened. Instead, doom fell on them. Note:
1. Hananiah: In chapter 28 we read about Hananiah and his warning to Jeremiah in the 5th month of the year. But, note what happens to him two months later:
Jeremiah 28:17 (ESV)
In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.
2. Shemaiah: In chapter 29 we read about Shemaiah. He too objected to Jeremiah’s prophesy that they all should give in to Nebuchadnezzar. Here is what happened to him:
Jeremiah 29:29-32 (ESV)
Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the LORD, for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.’”
There will always be false teachers. We should oppose them. But, in the end, God will protect both His message and His messenger. God does not allow false teaching to continue. Note what Peter told the church a thousand years later:
2 Peter 2:1-3 (ESV)
False Prophets and Teachers
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
God’s destruction of false teachers is His responsibility. And that destruction does not sleep and has not become idle.
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