“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,” (28:9).
It’s a public showdown. Hananiah speaks up before all the people, and this “prophet” delivers a message that is a complete 180 from all that Jeremiah had proclaimed. While Jeremiah declares God’s coming devastation, destruction and despair, Hananiah promises God’s protection, peace and prosperity.
So, who’s right? The answer of course… whoever is proven right when the future finally become the present.
But Truly, this was not a time for prophecies of peace, for God had made it abundantly clear, time and time again. Though He had given them ample warnings, though He had invited them to take His Yoke of Protection, submit to Him and be spared, they refused to listen time and time again, rejected His compassion and mocked His prophets, until their own choices brought them to a place without remedy from His wrath.
He [Zedekiah] also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem. 15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; 16 but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy, (2 Chronicles 36:11).
But the message of peace is so much more palatable, so much more desirable to the masses. So it’s not surprising that rather than embracing the hard truth of His righteous judgment, they longed to have their ears tickled and bought Hananiah’s claims lock, stock and barrel. And sadly we see history repeat itself as many today buy into a watered-down gospel that dismisses accountability to Holy God, claiming we can believe what we want, we can have it our way, and we are all on our way to heaven; after all, what kind of God would be so harsh as to engage in judgment with eternal ramifications?
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths, (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
And as though the hands of man can break God’s Will, in a display of self-righteous indignation, Hananiah drives home his loyalty to the myth he has gone after as he breaks the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck.
Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. 11 Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Even so will I break within two full years the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way, (28:10-11).
But compared to the yoke that the nation would endure under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Hananiah would now find himself in dire straits under the yoke of the mighty hand of God.
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron,” (28:12-13).
And in his refusal to turn his ear to the truth and to stop speaking lies, his deluding influence over the people would cost him his life.
Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’” 17 So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year in the seventh month, (28:15-17).
And surely there would be no question as to who the true prophet was as the people witnessed the proclamation and death of Hananiah within that year, or at least we would assume that to be the case. But their delusion ran deep, and as we know, seeing is not always believing.
But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them,” (John 12:37-40).
But Jeremiah could only speak the message God had given him. For while Jeremiah would proclaim the promises of God’s coming peace, only God can bring it to pass.
“Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth,” (Jeremiah 33:6).
And though many will not believe and tragically, it will cost them their lives, Jesus Christ came as the True Prophet Truly Sent.
Consider Him, the True Prophet Truly Sent
“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,” (28:9).
- Jesus, the True Prophet Truly Sent to come into the world.
- Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world,” (John 6:14).
- Jesus, the True Prophet Truly Sent by the Father.
- So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me,” (John 7:16).
- Jesus, the True Prophet Truly Sent to bring His prophecy of peace to pass.
- “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful,” (John 14:27).
- “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful,” (John 16:33).
- Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1).
- For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, (Ephesians 2:14).
- Because He has fulfilled His Word, Jesus is declared and known as the True Prophet Truly Sent.
- “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,” (28:9).
- So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own. But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things. 29 The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him,” (John 8:28-29).
How do we respond to Him, the True Prophet Truly Sent?
Like in the days of Jeremiah, many still chase after myths of those who speak what appeals to their own desires rather than listening and believing His Truth.
Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie, (28:15).
And like in the days of Jesus, many will question the validity of His claims, already convinced they know better, choosing to trust a lie rather than believe Him, the True Prophet Truly Sent.
“Who are You?” they questioned. “Precisely what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. 26 “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the One who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him—these things I tell the world… 44 You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me,” (John 8:44-45).
But Jesus Christ is the True Prophet Truly Sent, proven by His miracles and wonders and signs, the greatest of all being His resurrection from the dead, proving His power over death that brings His life and peace.
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power,” (Acts 2:22-23).
Today is a time to ask ourselves, “who do we believe?” If we are grappling with the claims of Christ or find ourselves in a place of doubt that He is the True Prophet Truly Sent, let us spend time listening to Him, for really, that was the root of Judah’s problem. How many times did God implore His people to listen to Him?
He has given us His Word that we would hear His Truth to strengthen our faith as we grow in the knowledge of Who He Is. Oh, that we would never neglect His Word.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence, (2 Peter 1:2-3).
Today, let us pray that we find ourselves on the side of those who hear and believe Him, the True Prophet Truly Sent, that we would be assured that the judgment of our sin we deserve was placed on Him, that we would be convinced that the future has become our present and have passed out of death into life because we listen to Him and know Truth. Today, let us turn our ears away from the myths and lies of this world that we would hear and believe Him, the True Prophet Truly Sent
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life,” (John 5:24).