4 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares the Lord,
“Then you should return to Me.
And if you will put away your detested things from My presence,
And will not waver,
2 And you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
In truth, in justice and in righteousness;
Then the nations will bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they will glory.”3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“[a]Break up your fallow ground,
And do not sow among thorns.
4 “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My wrath will go forth like fire
And burn with none to quench it,
Because of the evil of your deeds.”5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 “Lift up a standard toward Zion!
Seek refuge, do not stand still,
For I am bringing evil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 “A lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To make your land a waste.
Your cities will be ruins
Without inhabitant.
8 “For this, put on sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.”9 “It shall come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord [b]God! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the [c]throat.”
This section ends with a very strange verse, where Jeremiah says, “Woah, you really pulled the wool over their eyes! You told them they could have peace, but judgment is right on the threshold…” In light of this passage, it seems even stranger. Yet God does tell them in the first few verses, if they will repent and not waver, they will glory in God once more.
And in v. 4 God also calls them to repentance, to circumcise their hearts–also a funny thing to say, but circumcision to them was a way of being set apart to God. So in this case, He tells them to go more than skin deep and devote their hearts to Him. It’s another instance of God reminding His people that He doesn’t just want hollow actions, but He wants unwavering hearts.
At any rate, some commentators have noted that there were false prophets declaring peace, and this could very well be what Jeremiah referenced in v. 10. However, were they also from God? There is the case of King Ahab where God sends a lying spirit to the prophets so that Ahab would go to war and meet the judgment God had decreed.
Now, these weren’t really prophets, as a real prophet would speak God’s words, and only Micaiah was honest enough to do that, and he did. Still, Ahab ignored the word of God delivered by Micaiah and decided to believe all the false prophets he had gathered around him. So it may have been here, that Jeremiah recognized God’s plan being fulfilled through these false prophets.
Jeremiah was out there proclaiming the word of God, that judgment was imminent, but with all the false prophets declaring peace, the people chose to believe that everything was fine. So, if God did really send the false prophets, why? I think it is because God knew their hearts, so He gave them once last choice: believe His prophet(s) who preached repentance, or believe in a lie because it suited their own fancy and selfish desires.
We already know how that turned out, but the lesson for us is something that’s been coming through time and again. Don’t just go through the motions, and don’t choose to believe in a lie even when you know it is so. We can rationalize incredible things when we want to salve our conscience, but it doesn’t change what God is telling us.
Listen instead for God’s voice among the clamor of dissenting opinions. It’s there, and we know it in our hearts. Choosing to believe His message isn’t just figuring out fact vs. fiction, it’s a matter of the heart. Do we actually desire to follow His message? If we’re wavering, we should ask God for strength and wisdom to endure. It reminds me once more of a passage written by James:
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [h]without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a [i]double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Don’t be unstable and double-minded, but ask God for wisdom, and He will be glad to show you the way in which you should walk. Without His guidance, we will be boats tossed on the waves, driven by the winds of our culture. Stand firm instead, and stand for God’s truth, no matter what comes.