28 Now in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I am also going to bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord [a]confirm your words which you have prophesied to bring back the vessels of the Lord’s house and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place. 7 Yet hear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people! 8 The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence. 9 The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.”
Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion to our story… Okay, maybe so, but there is something to unpack here also. We’ve previously heard Jeremiah mention prophets who were promising peace and security, but here is the first real live account. Hananiah wasn’t content to proclaim his message of peace to the people in the temple, but is bold enough to come and confront Jeremiah directly.
It’s interesting how folks love to set deadlines on things, and I think it is because it lends some extra credibility to the message. Those listening are apt to think, “Well, this must be true if they are bold enough to set a date!” On the contrary, I think they know human nature all too well, and are simply using God’s name for their own gain.
That is, these people were unlikely to remember the date when Hananiah’s words were supposed to come true, and the same holds very often today. Even more, folks who want to believe the message will accept any excuse to change that date, but Jeremiah is not so inclined. Instead, Jeremiah admits that he wishes these words were so (v. 6).
We might think that Jeremiah (v. 9) was saying that if these words didn’t come true in two years, then that would disprove Hananiah as a prophet. But God’s word through the prophets of generations before (v. 8) contradict what Hananiah was promising. Rather, they had prophesied captivity and destruction, and Babylon was already doing this very thing, and they weren’t done yet.
When we hear predictions or teaching, whatever the source, we need to compare them to what God has already said. God does not change, nor is He controlled by our whims. His truth remains the same, and if we want to know whether something is true, we need to compare it with the Bible. False teachers often select a few verses to support a claim, but they fail to line up with God’s Word when we look closer.
So what do we do? The same thing I’ve been challenged with for years–study God’s Word, daily, and do not neglect it. Read it, study it, know it, live it. When you do this, it becomes far easier to spot false ideas for the frauds they truly are. And, you draw nearer to the Shepherd who calls your name, and that’s the most important of all.