Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
In Jeremiah 23 the Lord turns on the men who claimed to speak for Him, and says He is against them for taking words He never gave them. So what is the difference between passing on God's word and helping yourself to someone else's?
Before the "I am against" comes a description of what these men were doing. They promised peace while God's judgment was already on the way.
So the Lord of hosts commanded His people not to listen to the prophets who made them empty. Those prophets spoke a vision of their own heart, not words from the mouth of the Lord. Peace, and no evil, they cried, when a whirlwind of the Lord has gone out in fury, to fall heavily on the head of the wicked. They had no authority at all. If they had made His people hear His words, they would have turned them from their evil way. The Lord, who filled heaven and earth, was not indifferent; He marked those who prophesied lies in His name. If they had His word, let them speak it faithfully.
Theft is a strange word for preaching. These men did not have to invent everything. They picked up the language of the true prophets and reused it for their own ends.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth and deceitful things. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval for its own desires. That is why people loved the prophets who said, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken. These prophets were not always inventing lies. They corrupted the word of God and made it suit man's taste (2 Corinthians 2:17). They had to imitate the real prophets in many of their expressions. Yet in the end they only produced their own empty speculations.
Verse 30 is not the only "I am against" in this chapter. The same charge falls three times, and it still fits people who speak for God today.
They prophesied lies in the name of the Lord; they were prophets of the deceit of their own heart. They tried to make the people forget the name of the Lord. The same is true today of teachers who have abandoned the faith. They speak out of the deceit of their hearts, they prophesy lies, and they take aim at the Name that is above every name. How different is the word of the Lord from the idle dreams of these false prophets. Three times the Lord declares He is against these prophets (verses 30-32).
If borrowed words can sound identical to God's words, how would anyone tell them apart? God's word needs no one to vouch for it.
And this book, like every work of God, shows itself for what it is. It is its own witness. "Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" All other words stand in contrast — all words or writings that are not His. Of them the Lord says, "What is the chaff to the wheat?" (Jeremiah 23).
(Older translations read "chaff"; the ESV renders the same line, "What has straw in common with wheat?")
Being busy for God is not the same as being sent by Him.
They should have stood in the council of God and made His people hear His word (v. 22). Instead, they go out according to their own thoughts. How dangerous is that unfaithfulness! It twists, or even falsifies, the message of God's word by bringing in one's own opinions. "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied" (v. 21).
The same danger shows up whenever someone speaks for God out of borrowed material.
To talk about Him from what others say is to misrepresent Him, and to damage the soul of the speaker. To trade with what others write is dishonesty. To take the place of an "ambassador" without being long in His company is to be false to the One you claim to represent.
- Stolen, not invented. The sin is not new heresy but recycled language. They copied the true prophets and produced only their own ideas.
- Stolen because popular. Borrowed words fit man's taste, and the human heart loves to hear God approve what it already wants.
- Stolen means unsent. These men ran without being sent; energy and confidence are no proof of a commission.
- Stolen words cannot do God's work. His word is fire and hammer, wheat and not chaff. It is its own witness, and imitation has no such power.
- Stolen goods bring the owner. Three times over, the Lord says He is against them — the theft is personal, and He answers it Himself.
Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that use their tongues, and say, He hath said.
In Jeremiah 23 God confronts the men who claimed to speak for Him. Here He names those who wag their own tongues and then stamp His name on what they say. The verse raises a practical question: what makes a message God's word and not a man's?
The offence is not always making things up. It is dressing your own opinion in God's language, because that language is popular.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and lies. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval for its own desires. That is why people loved the prophets who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken. We should not think these prophets were always inventing lies. Instead, they corrupted the word of God and made it suit man's taste (2 Cor. 2:17). They had to copy many of the real prophets' expressions. Yet in the end they only produced their own empty speculations.
A tongue that speaks without being sent is still busy. Activity is not the same as commission, and the same chapter says these men ran when God had not sent them.
God had to say of men who claimed to serve Him, "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran" (Jer. 23:21). Plenty of activity — yet the Lord had not sent them there. His will should have satisfied them. So they claimed to be His servants, but they did their own will. They dreamed their own dreams and chose their own messages. In truth they "forsook God who made" them.
God Himself takes up the case. He tells His people not to listen to men who speak from their own heart instead of from His mouth.
The Lord of hosts commanded His people not to listen to the prophets who made them empty — men speaking a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord. No one authorised these men. If they had made His people hear His words, they would have turned them from their evil way. The Lord, who fills heaven and earth, was not unaware but took note of those who prophesied lies in His name. If they had His word, let them speak it faithfully.
There is a test hidden in that sentence. A real word from God changes how people live. A message that leaves its hearers where it found them shows where it came from.
How can an ordinary listener tell the difference? The answer in the same chapter is a comparison: chaff against wheat.
The false prophets, the profane priests, and all the other dreamers brought forward their words to deceive. But the Lord stands by His own words. How? Why should they pay attention to it? On what ground? On its own inherent power. "What is the chaff to the wheat?" (verse 28). Nutritional value decides.
That test is within everyone's reach. Kelly says that knowing God's word is not a job for scholars.
I have never read a tradition that was not obviously chaff. I have never read a thought that came from man that was not worthless in the things of God. Give me something of God, and the moment my faith takes hold of the mind of God I have the wheat. In other words, the truth of God is not merely a question of historical investigation. What would become of the poor and the simple if they had to run long investigations to find out what the word of God was?
The pattern did not end with Jeremiah's generation. Ezekiel met it too, and the same charge fits any preaching that is the speaker's own mind with God's name attached.
Every man who prophesies out of his own heart is a false prophet, a blind leader of the blind. He speaks his own mind, and his preaching and teaching does not follow the word of God. What the Lord said through Ezekiel is true of all of them: "They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'Declares the LORD,' when the LORD has not sent them." They are self-called and self-sent.
And the defence is not suspicion but Scripture itself.
Suppose someone comes with a fresh revelation, some new truth that is not in the Bible. We must judge him and his message by the standard of Scripture and reject them completely. False prophets come with great pretensions, high-sounding words and a pious manner. But they cannot stand the searching power of the word of God.
- Source — The sin is not always inventing lies. It is dressing man's thoughts in God's language to suit what people want to hear.
- Sending — These men ran hard, but God never sent them. They did their own will, dreamed their own dreams, and chose their own messages.
- Standing — God makes this complaint Himself. He fills heaven and earth, and He takes note of every word spoken in His name.
- Sifting — The test is chaff against wheat. God's word feeds people and turns them from their evil way. Man's word, however polished, feeds nobody.
- Simplicity — The test is open to the poor and the simple. They need no long investigation, only Scripture, which strips false prophets of their high-sounding words.
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith Jehovah, and that tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies and by their boasting; and I have not sent them, nor commanded them; and they profit not this people at all, saith Jehovah.
God's charge against these prophets is not that they spoke badly, but that He never sent them. So how did their lies pass for God's word, and what did that cost the people who listened?
These prophets spoke in the Lord's name. One writer shows what they lacked, and what God did about it.
They had no authority at all. If they had made His people hear His words, they would have turned them from their evil way. The Lord, who fills heaven and earth, was not ignoring it; He took note of those who prophesied lies in His name. If they had His word, let them speak it faithfully. … The Lord would forsake them. He would cast prophet, priest, and people out of His presence. He would bring on them a lasting reproach and a shame that would never be forgotten.
The verse traces the trouble back to the prophets themselves. Busyness was not the problem.
"I did not send the prophets, yet they ran" had to be said of those who claimed to serve Him. Plenty of activity, yet they were not sent there by the Lord, whose will should have satisfied them. So they claimed to be His servants. Yet they did their own will, dreamed their own dreams, chose their own messages, and in truth forsook the God who made them.
One writer gives two reasons: the message was pleasant, and it sounded like the real thing.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and deceptions. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval on its own desires. That is why prophets who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken, were so popular. We should not suppose that these prophets were always inventing lies. They corrupted the word of God and made it fit man's taste. They had to copy the real prophets in many of their expressions, and yet in the end produced only their own empty speculations.
The verse judges these prophets by what their hearers gained. One writer turns that test on anyone who stands up to speak.
If people gave these things proper attention, we would not have so many running unsent. So many rush into areas of ministry they were never designed for. Let everyone who stands up to preach, teach, encourage, or serve in any way ask a serious question. Is he truly fitted, taught and sent by God? If not, God will not own his work, and it will not be a blessing to people. The sooner he stops, the better — for himself, and for those on whom he has been laying the heavy burden of listening to him.
For the speaker, the safeguard starts with care about what he says in God's name.
Preach the truth. Take care about giving your own dreams and fancies in God's name. Everything is chaff except the pure word of God. Do not stamp God's image on your own coin! … Do not make experiments on people's souls by delivering what is doubtful. It is better to feed people with sound doctrine, even if it is a plain meal. That is better than serving some exotic dish and hitting on a wild gourd that brings death into their pot.
The hearer is not left helpless either. But the safeguard is not an official title.
There was no protection from these teachers in turning to another approved and recognised class of teachers. The teachers who mark the falling away would themselves be approved and recognised in the eyes of men. The only way to meet the difficulty and escape the trap would be personal faithfulness. In Israel, only the person who followed the Lord fully had the moral ability to tell the difference. He alone could tell the wheat from the chaff — the prophet of the Lord from the prophet of his own heart.
- Not sent. The fault named in the verse is a missing commission. They were busy, but the Lord had not sent them. So they did their own will and chose their own messages.
- Not His word. They did not invent every word. They copied the phrasing of true prophets and reshaped God's word to suit people's taste. They said, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken.
- Not authorised. They had no authority at all. If they had made the people hear God's own words, those words would have turned them from their evil way.
- No profit. God does not own work He never taught and sent. It blesses no one. It only lays on hearers the heavy burden of listening.
- The test. Everything is chaff except the pure word of God. No official standing protects the hearer — personal faithfulness does. The one who follows the Lord fully can tell the Lord's prophet from the prophet of his own heart.