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Scripture Reading: Jer. 21; Jer. 22; Jer. 23
In this message we will continue to consider Jehovah's condemnation of and punishment upon the kings and prophets of Judah.
In 23:9-40 we have a word regarding Jehovah's condemnation of and punishment upon the prophets of Judah with the priests and with the people.
In these verses we first see Jehovah's condemnation of the prophets of Judah with the priests and with the people. This condemnation is of five aspects.
In His condemnation, Jehovah said that the land was full of them as adulterers (v. 10a). So many among the people had become adulterers.
Both the prophets and the priests were profane. Even in Jehovah's house, the temple, their wickedness had been found by Him (v. 11). To be profane is to be worldly. Instead of being sanctified, separated unto God as a holy people, they were profane.
The prophets of Samaria prophesied by Baal and led Jehovah's people Israel astray — an offensive thing (v. 13). In the prophets of Jerusalem Jehovah saw a horrible thing: the committing of adultery and walking in falsehood. They strengthened the hands of the evildoers so that none turned from their wickedness. All of them had become to Him like Sodom and her inhabitants like Gomorrah (v. 14). Their profaneness had gone forth from them in Jerusalem into all the land (v. 15b).
The prophets prophesied to lead the kings with the people to vanity (v. 16a). Here vanity means idols. They also spoke a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah (v. 16b). They were continually saying to those who despised Jehovah, "Jehovah has spoken, You will have peace." To everyone who walked in the stubbornness of his own heart they were saying, "Evil will not come upon you" (v. 17). They told the people that there would be no calamities and that no bad things would happen to them. How evil were the prophets of Judah!
Jehovah did not send these prophets, but they ran forth. He did not speak to them, yet they prophesied (v. 21). If they had stood in Jehovah's council and had caused the people to hear His words, they would have turned them from their evil way and from the wickedness of their deeds (v. 22).
"Am I a God who is near, declares Jehovah, / And not a God who is far off? / Can a man hide himself in secret places, / So that I will not see him? declares Jehovah. / Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? / Declares Jehovah" (vv. 23-24). This word indicates that the prophets of Judah considered Jehovah as a God who is near and not far off, not filling the heavens and the earth.
These prophets dared to prophesy falsely in Jehovah's name; they were "prophets of the deceit of their own heart" (v. 26). As they prophesied in this way, they said, "I have dreamed; I have dreamed," thinking to cause Jehovah's people to forget His name "with their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, even as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal" (vv. 25, 27). They prophesied false dreams to lead Jehovah's people astray by their lies and by their boasting, not rendering any profit to His people. Concerning this, Jehovah said, "Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, declares Jehovah, and who tell them and lead My people astray by their lies and by their recklessness, although I did not send them or command them; neither do they profit this people at all" (v. 32).
Verse 30 says, "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, declares Jehovah, who steal My words, each one from his neighbor." When these prophets were stealing Jehovah's words, they were pretending to have received the words of Jehovah. Have you ever heard of such a stealing, a stealing not of gold or silver but of God's words? Nevertheless, such a thing happened at Jeremiah's time, and it still happens today.
Jeremiah was a genuine prophet who received words from God. Although there were other genuine prophets, most of the prophets in Judah were false. These false prophets could not have a way to receive Jehovah's word, so they listened to those who spoke for God and then stole the words of Jehovah spoken by them.
The principle is the same today. Someone receives a revelation from God through the Word and then speaks this revelation. Others then take this word and speak it as if it were their own. They do not give any credit to the one who received the revelation; instead, they pretend that they themselves have received this revelation from God and that the words they are speaking are their own. To do this is to steal the word. I know of cases where certain people used my messages on Romans and on Revelation without giving me credit. What a shame for Christians to do such a thing! Concerning this, we should be honest and have a high ethical standard. If we use the words of someone else, we should give credit to that person.
In verse 28 Jehovah says, "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell the dream; and he with whom is My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the straw to the grain? declares Jehovah." The word of God which came forth from Jeremiah was grain, but the word of the false prophets was straw, chaff. For the word to be grain means that it is food for our nourishment and that it contains the divine essence to be dispensed into our being.
The new Christian books published today contain a great deal of chaff but very little grain. Among the Christian books published after 1945, it has been hard to find even one book that is rich in nourishing grain or a book filled with the divine revelation concerning God's plan. Regarding the divine revelation, many today are in darkness and have straw instead of grain.
In verses 28 and 29 Jehovah compared His word to grain, to fire, and to a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. On the positive side, the word of God, as a grain of wheat, dispenses God as life into us to nourish us. On the negative side, the word, as fire, burns us and many of the things in which we have confidence; and the word, as a hammer, breaks down our self, our natural life, our flesh, our lusts, and our concepts. Our heart may be like rock, but the word of God can break us in pieces so that Christ can be ministered to us as life-giving grain.
Jeremiah 23 also shows us Jehovah's punishment upon the prophets of Judah with the priests and with the people. This punishment also is of five aspects.
Jehovah will make their way like slippery paths to them. In the darkness they will be driven and fall in it. He will bring evil on them in the year of their punishment (v. 12).
Jehovah will feed them with wormwood and will give them poisoned water to drink (v. 15a).
Jehovah's wrath will go forth like the storm wind, even a whirling tempest which will whirl down on the head of the wicked prophet. The anger of Jehovah will not turn back until it has executed and until it has accomplished the purposes of His heart (vv. 19-20).
Jehovah will be against the false prophets, who have perverted the words of the living God. He will punish them and their household (vv. 30-38).
Jehovah will utterly forget them and cast away from His presence them and the city which He gave to them and to their fathers. He will bring upon them eternal reproach and eternal humiliation, which will not be forgotten (vv. 39-40).
