Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our study today is taken from our Old Testament lesson for today, Jeremiah 28:5 – 9. Well, that’s not entirely true; today, we will be looking at all of Jeremiah 28, not just the 5 verses that comprise our text. Why is that? Because the context of those verses is completely lost when they’re taken out of context like they are. They were selected to reinforce our Gospel lesson: false prophets promise peace, but Jesus is the true prophet who can promise true peace with God. We can see in Jeremiah’s words at the end of our reading that when the true prophet comes, He will prophesy peace. But Jesus doesn’t say He comes to bring peace but the sword, as we discussed last week. And while we’re on earth, we aren’t going to experience peace between one another. However, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we will have peace with God. So that’s the cliff notes version of a sermon for this week. But that’s not the sermon that you’re going to hear today. Because as I was studying Jeremiah, I was interested to know the context for these verses, and what actually takes place is absolutely fascinating and speaks to our lives here today. So we will look at the whole chapter and see how this story plays out and applies to our lives here in Kansas in 2023. Let’s get started.
Let’s start with the context. Jeremiah is God’s last prophet to the southern Kingdom of Judah before the exile to Babylon. Zedekiah is the last king of Judah before the exile. He was personally appointed by Nebuchadnezzar himself to serve as a vassal and to rule the people of Israel. He is a son of Josiah, the last good king of Israel, but he is wicked. At the beginning of Zedekiah’s rule, God sends Jeremiah to him with a prophecy. Jeremiah is to come wearing a yoke and say that God has established Nebuchadnezzar and will place all of the promised land under his authority. Those who refuse the yoke that God fashioned: the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, will suffer war, famine, and sickness.
So, after this, chapter 28 picks up. If you have your Bibles with you, turn to Jeremiah 28. If you have the Lutheran Study Bible, that’s pg 1251. If you don’t, open to about the center, you’ll probably be in the Psalms. Continue to the prophets, where you’ll encounter Isaiah first and then Jeremiah. If you hit Ezekiel or Daniel, you’ve gone too far. Alright, ready or not, here we go. Jeremiah 28:1 – 4 And it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”
So Hananiah, a prophet with a pedigree whose father was a prophet, appears and offers another prophecy. One that doesn’t necessarily contradict the prophecy of Jeremiah but certainly does seem to undermine it, or at least say that this time of oppression that comes with being under the yoke of Babylon will be short. You have to wait out two years, and God will bring back the king that Nebuchadnezzar took into captivity, the young nephew of the current king, along with all the other captives that Nebuchadnezzar took with that first exile. And then, at the start of our text for today, you see Jeremiah’s reply. Jeremiah 28:5 – 6 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the Lord, and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! The Lord do so; the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the Lord’s house and all who were carried away captive, from Babylon to this place.
Jeremiah basically says, “That sounds amazing. It will be great to have back all the things Nebuchadnezzar took, especially those that prevent us from offering sacrifices and worshiping the Lord how He has commanded us.” I think Jeremiah legitimately hoped that Hananiah was a prophet sent from God and not another false prophet like so many that he had encountered during his ministry to Judah in these last days. But at the same time, something didn’t sound right about this prophecy. It was pure grace without repentance. There had been no repentance in Judah, no tearing of garments, no calling for a fast, no recognition of any of their wrongdoing that had brought God’s judgment upon them. And so Jeremiah continues in Jeremiah 28:7 – 9 Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms—of war and disaster and pestilence. As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.”
Hananiah promised peace without payment. If God isn’t righteous and just, He could have just done that. But God is righteous and just; payment for sin has to be made. That message was lacking in Hananiah’s prophecy. And so Jeremiah said as much, that the one who prophesies peace, He’ll be the one who will pay. He will be the one who will take all the sins of the world upon Himself. And that is Jesus, who doesn’t just offer an empty promise but offers you the promise that He paid for with His own blood. He offers you true lasting peace, peace with the eternal, almighty God.
Well, Hananiah didn’t take well to having his prophecy questioned, and so we see his reaction in Jeremiah 28:10 – 11 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. I’ll give you a spoiler, Hananiah is a false prophet. He’s telling Zedekiah and all the people of Judah what they want to hear, thinking that God won’t punish him for that. Jeremiah doesn’t have any direct proof currently that Hananiah is a false prophet. So after saying that this sounds too good to be true, he listens to Hananiah’s response and bounces. And I think we see two of Solomon’s proverbs at work here. Proverbs 26:4 – 5 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes. Jeremiah is the called prophet of the Lord, so he responded to this prophecy. But then, to Hananiah’s follow-up, Jeremiah didn’t know for certain if God had sent this other prophet, so he let his words stand for the moment. And in your own lives, there will be times when you need to answer a fool. For example, the foolish boy who thinks that if he holds an umbrella, he can jump off the roof of the house and be fine. If you are a parent, you answer that fool and tell them no. But what if someone is wrong on Facebook? Do you have to answer them? Probably not, there are a few exceptions to this, but typically social media arguments are pointless. The wisdom is knowing the difference between the two opportunities.
But God does have an answer, one that He gives to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 28:12 – 14 Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.” For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.”’” Hananiah’s false prophecy will lead many away from Jeremiah’s true prophecy. Those who go astray will suffer the consequences that God promised earlier: war, famine, and disease. And because of this false prophecy, this yoke will weigh heavier and be more destructive than it would have been. But our time is not immune to false prophecy. We’ve got “Christian leaders” who promise that if you just believe it hard enough that you will have health, wealth, and happiness here and now. After all, don’t you see that they have these private jets and million-dollar mansions? Now to prove that you believe in God, you need to send money to these prophets and buy their books. I will name some of these false prophets you need to avoid. Joel Osteen. Joyce Meyers. Rick Warren. Kenneth Copeland. Paula White. These people are false prophets. Stop reading their books and sending money to them. God will judge them in His proper time.
And we see the proper time of Hananiah in the last part of chapter 28. Jeremiah 28:15 – 17 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the Lord.’” So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. Hananiah prophesied in the 5th month, and by the 7th month, he was dead. Death is what awaits those who transgress against Jesus Christ. Hananiah found out firsthand. But what if Hananiah repented? He might have still died but wouldn’t be facing eternity in hell. This is why God is so serious about false prophets that He has struck them dead. But now, we have the ultimate shield against false prophets. We have God’s Word written down here, so anyone can pick it up and read it. And I hope you hold my prophecy, my speaking of God’s Will for this world, to that standard. That you hold it up to God’s Word and see if I’m speaking in accord with it. Because the prophet of peace has come, God sent His Son to proclaim peace to this world, a peace that was bought with His blood. So don’t let any false prophet take away your peace with God. Cling to His Word, take up His yoke, for His burden is easy, and His yoke is light. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, Amen.
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