Jeremiah 28

REVIEW OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I. Facts to Master

Time, place, and results of the message delivered in Chapter 26.

Verdict rendered by the princes in the case of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:16).

Name of the earlier prophet who prophesied against Jerusalem in the name of the Lord (Jeremiah 26:17-19).

Name of a prophet who had been slain in the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26:20-23).

The name of the prince who intervened on behalf of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24).

That which Jeremiah sent to the neighboring kings (Jeremiah 27:2-3).

Names of five countries which had sent ambassadors to Jerusalem in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah.

The one into whose hand God had given the world (Jeremiah 27:6).

The title which is given to the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:6).

The length of time during which all nations must serve Babylon (Jeremiah 27:7).

Various types of prognosticators among the nations (Jeremiah 27:9).

Those who urged Zedekiah not to serve Babylon (Jeremiah 27:14).

The predictions of the false prophets regarding the Temple vessels already taken captive (Jeremiah 27:16).

One of the important functions of a true prophet (Jeremiah 27:18).

Specific parts of the Temple yet in danger of going to Babylon (Jeremiah 27:19).

Identity of Jeconiah (Jeremiah 27:20).

Name of a prophet who confronted Jeremiah in the Temple (Jeremiah 28:1).

That which Hananiah did to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28:10).

The fate of Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:16-17).

The two men by whose hand Jeremiah sent his letter to Babylon (Jeremiah 29:3).

The advice which Jeremiah gave to the captives in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:5-7).

Two false prophets mentioned in Jeremiah’s letter and their fate (Jeremiah 29:21-22).

The name of a priest in Jerusalem who received a letter from Babylon protesting the activities of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:24-28).

The fate of Shemaiah the fake prophet (Jeremiah 29:32).

II. Questions to Ponder

What was it in Jeremiah’s message that so upset his hearers? Jeremiah 26:1-7.

Was Uriah a faithful prophet? Why did not God protect him as he protected Jeremiah?

What is the gist of Jeremiah’s defense during his trial? Jeremiah 26:12-24.

Why the reference to Micah the Morashtite during the trial of ?Jeremiah 26:18.

Why does God have the right to appoint the World Ruler? Jeremiah 27:5.

What is so significant about the title My Servant? Jeremiah 27:6.

Why does God specify that the beasts of the field were given to Nebuchadnezzar? Jeremiah 27:6.

How is Jeremiah 27:7 to be harmonized with Jeremiah 25:11

Why did Jeremiah say Amen to the false prophecy of Hananiah? Jeremiah 28:6.

Summarize Jeremiah’s argument in Jeremiah 28:8-9.

Why did Jeremiah simply walk away after Hananiah took the yoke off his neck and broke it? Jeremiah 28:11.

Why did Zedekiah have to send an embassy to Babylon? Jeremiah 29:3.

Why does Jeremiah tell the captives to pray for the peace of Babylon? Jeremiah 29:7.

Jeremiah 28:1-4

E. A Warning to the False prophets Jeremiah 28:1-17

Alongside of the genuine prophet in ancient Israel the counterfeit prophet arose. The appearance of such fakes had been anticipated in the law of Moses and provisions were mode in the Book of Deuteronomy (Jeremiah 18:22; Jeremiah 13:1-3) for ascertaining whether or not a man was a true prophet of the Lord. In chapter 26 false prophets were named among the fanatic adversaries who sought the life of Jeremiah. Chapter 27 relates the continued opposition of these men during the reign of Zedekiah. Chapter 28 describes dramatic confrontation between Jeremiah and Hananiah, one of the false prophets. The account can be broken down into four paragraphs: (1) The prediction of Hananiah the false prophet (Jeremiah 28:1-4); (2) The response of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28:5-9); (3) The reaction of Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:10-11); and Jeremiah’s final word to Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:12-17).

1. The prediction of Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:1-4)

TRANSLATION

(1) And it came to pass in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, the fifth month, that Hananiah son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, said unto 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 shattered the yoke of the king. of Babylon. (3) Within two years I will bring back unto this place all the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and carried to Babylon. And Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon I will bring back to this place (oracle of the LORD), for I shall shatter the yoke of the king of Babylon.

COMMENTS

Later in the same year in which Jeremiah preached his famous yoke sermon the clash between the true and false prophets occurred. This is specifically designated as the fourth year of king Zedekiah. As the present event occurred in the fifth month, the events of the preceding chapter must have occurred sometime during the first four months of that same year. The two prophets involved in the clash are Jeremiah and Hananiah. Jeremiah has alluded several times thus far in the book to the false prophets. Here for the first time he actually names one of them. The name Hananiah means Yahweh has been gracious. Nothing is known of him except what is here recorded: he was a prophet; he was son of Azzur; and he was from the priestly city of Gibeon some eight miles northwest of Jerusalem. Because of this latter circumstance some have suggested that Hananiah may have been a priest as well as a prophet. Hananiah chose well the place of his showdown with Jeremiah. The confrontation took place in the Temple in the presence of the priests and the people. Perhaps it was on some Sabbath or festival day when the courts of the Temple were crowded with people. Jeremiah showed up with the yoke about his neck which symbolized submission to Babylon. one cannot determine from the brief account whether Hananiah’s action was preplanned or whether he simply was roused to action by the appearance of Jeremiah.

Hananiah was not secretive about what he did. He boldly approached Jeremiah and in a loud voice, no doubt, announced that he had an oracle from the Lord: Thus says the LORD of host, the God of Israel. It sounded authentic. Either this solemn introductory formula was usual with all who claimed the prophetic gift or Hananiah assumed it as implying an equal claim to inspiration with Jeremiah. The oracle is brief, but Hananiah made three distinct points. First, Hananiah announces that God had broken the yoke of the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 28:2). Of course this is exactly opposite what Jeremiah had been preaching. Note that Hananiah used the so-called prophetic perfecthe described the breaking of the yoke of Babylon as an accomplished fact. This was a technique which was frequently used by true prophets in predicting the future.

Hananiah’s second prediction concerned the Temple vessels (Jeremiah 28:3). Since Babylon was to shortly fall, nothing would prevent the return of the Temple vessels to Jerusalem. The return of the Temple vessels seems to have been a prominent theme in the prognostications of the false prophets. Perhaps the capture of those sacred vessels by a foreign king created real theological problems for the priests and religious leaders. Within two full years, Hananiah confidently predicted, the Temple vessels would be returned to Jerusalem. Jeremiah had been saying just the opposite, i.e., that shortly the remaining sacred vessels would be carried away to Babylon. The basis for the figure two years is not stated. Possibly it was derived from the time-table of the nations which were plotting revolt against Babylon.

Hananiah’s third prediction concerned those who were in exile in Babylon. When the yoke of Babylon was broken, Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and all the other captives from both the 605 and 597 B.C. deportations would be permitted to return. Jeremiah had been predicting an exile of long duration (see e.g. Jeremiah 25:11). Furthermore Jeremiah had explicitly predicted that Jehoiachin would never return to Judah and would never have descendants to follow him upon the throne (Jeremiah 22:24-30). Because King Zedekiah is not mentioned in the prediction of Hananiah some have concluded that there is here personal hostility toward the present king. While it is true that many seemed to regard the exiled Jehoiachin as legitimate king there is no reason to search for subtle undertones of political dissatisfaction in this forthright prediction.

Jeremiah 28:5-9

2. The response of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28:5-9)

TRANSLATION

(5) Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD, (6) and Jeremiah the prophet said, Amen! Thus may the LORD do! May the Lord establish your words which you have prophesied, to return the vessels of the house of the LORD and all the captives from Babylon unto this place. (7) But hear please this word which I am about to speak in your presence and in the presence of all the people. (8) The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and great kingdoms of war and famine and pestilence. (9) The prophet who prophesies of peace can be recognized as a prophet truly sent of the LORD only when the word of that prophet comes to pass.

COMMENTS

It is not hard to imagine the reaction of the crowd to the forthright and positive predictions of Hananiah. Thunderous applause and joyous shouts of agreement clearly indicated where the sentiments of the crowd lay. But eventually the audience hushed. Everyone strained forward to hear what Jeremiah would say in response to this direct attack from a fellow prophet. Jeremiah rises to the occasion. Like an iron pillar he courageously and calmly gave reply to his antagonist. Jeremiah’s initial response must have shocked the audience and temporarily disarmed his opponent. Amen, he said. May the LORD establish your words. May your prophecy be fulfilled. These words are not sarcastically spoken. Jeremiah truly desired in his own heart that the captivity would speedily come to an end. He dearly loved his people. He had prayed on behalf of his nation on more than one occasion. Nothing would please him more than to hear that Babylon had fallen and the exiles were coming home. But while in his heart he wishes Hananiah was right, in his mind he knows that Hananiah is dreaming the impossible dream.

Jeremiah’s personal response is followed by his official response (Jeremiah 28:7-9)He calls upon his opponent to hear the true word of the Lord. He alludes first to the precedent of past prophecy. True prophets of God in the past prophesied against many countries and against great kingdoms of war and of evil and pestilence. In other words the tenor of preceding prophecies has been judgmental. Now of course Jeremiah did not mean that the pre-exilic prophets were completely negativethat they had no positive word of hope. It is a misuse of this verse to argue from it, as some of the older liberal scholars did, that all notes of hope found in the pre-exilic prophets must be later interpolations from after the time of Jeremiah. The earlier prophets did foresee a Messianic age; but the people to whom they spoke were unfit to enter into that golden age without first experiencing a terrible judgment. The point that Jeremiah is making is that his own condemnatory-type prophecy is part of the main stream of Israelite prophecy. Jeremiah implies that Hananiah’s unconditional peace prophecy has probabilities strongly against it. It is interesting that Jeremiah speaks of many countries and great kingdoms. He obviously felt that the horizons of Israelite prophecy were not limited to Israel and Judah. In the preserved writings of all the prophets who preceded Jeremiah (except Hosea) oracles against foreign nations stand side by side with oracles against Israel and Judah. The present verse gives early and authoritative testimony to the genuineness of these so-called foreign nation oracles which have often been questioned by modern liberal scholars.

After establishing a presumptive case against the prediction of Hananiah in Jeremiah 28:8, Jeremiah proceeds in Jeremiah 28:9 to indicate the criteria by which such a prophecy can be judged true or false. If contrary to the analogy of previous prophecy a prophet speaks unconditionally of peace, then that prophecy can only be authenticated by the actual fulfillment. In effect Jeremiah is suggesting that everybody simply wait and see if Hananiah’s prediction will be fulfilled. The word peace is not used here in the sense of salvation but of national peace and in particular deliverance from exile. God had made very clear in the law of Moses that return from exile was conditional. Only after return to the LORD and heart-felt obedience to His word would God bring His people home (Deuteronomy 30:1-5).

Jeremiah 28:10-11

3. The reaction of Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:10-11)

TRANSLATION

(10) Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from upon the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and smashed it. (11) And Hananiah said before all the people, Thus says the LORD: Like this I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two years from upon the neck of all the nations. Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.

COMMENTS

Hananiah, instead of any rejoinder to Jeremiah, resorts to an act of violence which will impress the multitude. Apparently he could not answer the prophet’s quiet and convincing argument. Violence grows in inverse proportion to the number of reasonable arguments which can be offered to bolster one’s position. The air was tense already. Those assembled in the Temple listened eagerly as the two prophets exchanged their verbal blows. Probably no one there including Jeremiah was quite prepared for the dramatic action which followed, Without any warning Hananiah tore the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah (one wonders how much physical violence this would have involved), and shattered it before them all (Jeremiah 28:10). As he smashes the yoke Hananiah dogmatically and dramatically declared that the yoke of Babylon would be broken within two full years. This is just a repetition of what Hananiah had previously said except that this time he adds the climax from off the neck of all nations.

Jeremiah submitted to the indignity of the moment. He simply went his way (Jeremiah 28:11). No explosion of anger. No hastily spoken word of rebuttal. He simply went his way. Perhaps it was obvious that Hananiah had swayed the audience with his dramatic action and words. To attempt to answer Hananiah further at that time might have placed his life in danger. Perhaps under the circumstances he felt it useless to repeat the admonition which he had earlier made.

Jeremiah 28:12-17

4. The final word to Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:12-17)

TRANSLATION

(12) And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had shattered the yoke from upon the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, (13) Go and say unto Hananiah, Thus says the LORD: You have shattered yokes of wood but you have made instead of them yokes of iron. (14) For thus says the LORD of hosts the God of Israel: I have placed a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. Also I have given to him the beasts of the field. (15) And Jeremiah the prophet said unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear please, O Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you have caused this people to trust a falsehood! (16) Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have spoken rebellion against the LORD. (17) And Hananiah the prophet died that year in the seventh month.

COMMENTS

Hananiah did not have the final word in his confrontation with Jeremiah. Shortly after the incident in the Temple the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah with instructions to seek out Hananiah and deliver the divine reply to him, While Scripture does not reveal whether the second meeting of these two prophets was public or private, the likelihood is that the two men were alone on this occasion. The oracle which Jeremiah pronounced to Hananiah is two-fold in thrust. He first replies to the public prophecies of Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:13-14) and then he has a prediction concerning Hananiah personally (Jeremiah 28:11-16).

It was easy enough for Hananiah to break the symbolic yoke which Jeremiah had been wearing about his neck; but by so doing he shall create a yoke of iron for the people (Jeremiah 28:13). The act of Hananiah would serve to excite the Jews to resistance against Babylon and thereby cause their servitude to be the more harsh. What irony! Instead of hastening the deliverance of his people by his dramatic act of smashing the yoke he had actually made the situation worse. Perhaps Jeremiah is hinting here that the action of Hananiah in breaking the wooden yoke was not altogether inappropriate. Cheyne comments: Jeremiah’s wooden yoke was really an inadequate symbol; the prophet was too tender to his people. Thus God made the truth appear in still fuller brightness from the very perverseness of its enemy. Jeremiah 28:14 seems to support this view. God has now placed a yoke of iron about the neck of the nations that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar. On the idea of the beasts of the field serving Nebuchadnezzar see comments on Jeremiah 27:6.

As regards Hananiah personally, Jeremiah had some rather harsh words to say. In Jeremiah 28:15-16 there is a stern word of indictment and a prediction of imminent death. As for the indictment, three charges are made: (1) Hananiah is an impostor. God has not sent him and therefore he is not entitled to call himself a prophet. He is called throughout the chapter Hananiah the prophet because that was his official title. But he was not a prophet by the will and call of God. (2) Hananiah has caused the people to trust in a lie. His optimistic but unfounded prophecy of the imminent fall of Babylon had created false expectations in the hearts of the people. National policya policy of rebellion against Babylonwas being formulated on the basis of these false expectations. While Hananiah’s motives might have been quite sincere and even patriotic his words were leading the people down the road to national suicide. (3) Hananiah has spoken rebellion against the Lord (Jeremiah 28:16). To advocate revolt against God’s appointed ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, was tantamount to advocating rebellion against God Himself. Others take these words to mean that Hananiah has perverted the word of the Lord. In either case it is a serious accusation to make.

Because of these crimes against God and the nation Hananiah must be punished. The law of Moses clearly states that if a prophet is guilty of speaking rebellion against the Lord he should be put to death (Deuteronomy 13:5). To advocate rebellion against God was a capital crime. The Great Judge announces the verdict: Behold, I am about to remove you from upon the face to the earth (Jeremiah 28:16). God did not send Hananiah to the people of Judah (Jeremiah 28:16) but He now will send him away to die. The same Hebrew word is used in both verses. The prophets were quite fond of using paronomasia or play on words. This year you shall die! What an awesome thought. One can only wonder how Hananiah received this word from the Lord. The crowds which had bolstered his courage in the Temple encounter are no longer present. Surely in his own heart he must have realized the emptiness of the prophecies he had been so bold to deliver on other occasions. Now he must have been trembling as the finger of Jeremiah pointed in his direction and those solemn words were uttered.

In the seventh month of that same year Hananiah died. This would have been about two months after the Temple episode (cf. Jeremiah 28:1). Not only did the death of Hananiah serve as a punishment for this teacher of lies, it also served to vindicate Jeremiah as a true prophet of God.