God exposes the sins of the false prophets (Jer. 23:9–40)

What God said, as recorded in Jeremiah 14:14, summarizes this entire section: “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart” (NKJV). Jeremiah focused on three areas in their lives that were especially abhorrent.

I.Their disgraceful conduct (vv. 9–15).

9 My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words. 10 For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right. 11 “For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD. 12 “Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways;In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment,” says the LORD.13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err. 14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. 15 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: ‘Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”

A. True prophets know how serious it is to be called by God.

To declare the Word of God is a serious thing and the responsibility should be accepted with fear and trembling. When true prophets see self-styled prophets living like sinners, it grieves them. No wonder Jeremiah had a broken heart and trembled like a drunken man!

He realized what the false prophets were doing to the people and the land, and it made him sick. “Horror [indignation] hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake Thy Law” (Ps. 119:53).

B. The land was suffering a severe drought because the false prophets led the people to violate the terms of their covenant with God.

The false prophets were committing adultery and thronging the houses of prostitution. Then they would go to the temple and pretend to worship Jehovah, turning God’s house into a den of thieves. But the word “adultery” also includes their worship of idols, turning from the true God and being unfaithful to their covenant promises.

The land was suffering a severe drought because the false prophets led the people to violate the terms of their covenant with God. The Lord promised to send the early and latter rains if they obeyed Him (Deut. 11:10–15; 28:12), but He also warned them that He would make the heavens brass and the earth iron if they disobeyed Him (11:16–17; 28:23–24).

C. Whenever a nation needs healing, it’s usually because God’s people aren’t obeying and serving Him as they should.

We like to blame dishonest politicians and various purveyors of pleasure for a nation’s decline in morality, but God blames His own people. “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).

II. Their dishonest message (vv. 16–32).

A. The false prophets offered the people a false hope (23:16–20).

16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, “You shall have peace” ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”18 For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? 19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury—A violent whirlwind!It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.

The Lord says: You will have peace … No harm will come to you”. Of course, this was a popular message, and the frightened people grabbed it and held on to it. But the false prophets hadn’t heard that message in God’s council; they made it up out of their own hearts.

Instead of peace, a storm was brewing from the Lord. God was about to vent His holy anger on His sinful people, and when they finally understood His purposes, it would be too late to stop the whirlwind.

B. The false prophets offered a false authority (23:21–24).

21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words,Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. 23 “Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD, “And not a God afar off? 24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.

God hadn’t spoken to them, yet they prophesied. God hadn’t called them, yet they ran with their message. If they were truly prophets from God, they would have lived godly lives and encouraged the people to turn from their wickedness. Instead, they taught a popular “theology” that made it convenient for people to be religious and still live in sin.

Jehovah wasn’t a local deity like the pagan idols, but a transcendent God who reigns above all things and fills heaven and earth. Nor was He blind like the idols, unable to see the sins of the people. Because they listened to the false prophets, the people believed lies about God, and what we believe about God determines how we live.

C. The false prophets were speaking under a false inspiration (vv. 25–32).

25 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 27 who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. 28 “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the LORD. 29 “Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the LORD, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the LORD.

They depended on dreams and delusions of the mind, and they even plagiarized messages from one another! Compared to the nourishing wheat of the Word, their messages were only straw; you couldn’t eat it, build with it, or even be warmed by it.

The message of the true prophet is like a hammer that can tear down and build up and even break the hardest rocks. The Word is like fire that consumes waste and purifies whatever it touches. Jeremiah had the Word burning in his heart and on his lips. He was God’s inspector, using the fire of the Word to test the lives of the people (6:27).

There are false prophets and teachers in our world today, people who claim to know God’s will because of their dreams, their study of astrology, or their special “spiritual” gifts. Some of them have invaded the church. Whatever anyone says who claims to be speaking for the Lord must be tested by the Word of God. “To the Law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20).

III. Their disrespectful attitude (vv. 33–40).

33 “So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is the oracle of the LORD?’ you shall then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the LORD. 34 “And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ I will even punish that man and his house. 35 Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 And the oracle of the LORD you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But since you say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the LORD!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ ” 39 therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”

A. God cautioned Jeremiah not to encourage the careless attitude of the priests, people, and false prophets when they asked him, “What is the burden of the Lord?”

The phrase “burden of the Lord” was almost a cliche; it was used to poke fun at God’s true prophet. Why should the false prophets ask for an oracle from the Lord when Jeremiah had already told them what God wanted them to hear?

If they hadn’t obeyed what God already commanded, why should He tell them more? Their attitude toward God’s message was careless and disrespectful; they weren’t taking seriously God’s message or God’s messenger. The false prophets had distorted the truth to make it mean what they wanted it to mean, and yet they called their messages the “oracles of the Lord.”

B. Jeremiah was to reply, “You are the burden!”

When one of the people or one of their “prophets” or priests asks, “Well, Jeremiah, what is the sad news from the Lord today?” you shall reply, “What sad news? You are the sad news, for the Lord has cast you away!”

A worldly church puts an emphasis on “fun” and “entertainment” and forgets about tears. We now have “Christian comedians” who generate laughter for thirty minutes and then tack on the Gospel and give an invitation. While there’s a proper place for humor in the Christian life, the church today needs to hear the words of James: “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:9–10, NKJV). The church isn’t taking God’s Word seriously at an hour when the world is in serious trouble.