And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, [that] Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Jehovah, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
This verse opens with a date, a name and a place. Each detail counts. Hananiah of Gibeon speaks to Jeremiah in the temple, in front of the priests and all the people. Both men claim to speak for God. Only one of them does. So how do you tell a true message from a convincing lie?
The date at the start is not decoration. It ties this scene to the events of the previous chapter:
The opening verse of Jeremiah 28 confirms what has been said about the date in the previous chapter. Both events were in the reign of Zedekiah.
Commentators differ on one detail. Kelly treats the name "Jehoiakim" in 27:1 as a copyist's slip for Zedekiah; another writer keeps the name and explains it differently:
This was carried out in Zedekiah's day as verses 3, 12, and 28:1, show; but that gives no reason for altering the name Jehoiakim in 27:1 to Zedekiah, as some would do, for it simply tells us when the word came to Jeremiah.
Before Hananiah spoke, God's verdict on Judah was already final:
In the days of Zedekiah, there is no word of repentance, and no word of Jehovah relenting. His word to Judah and the nations becomes absolute, speaking as Creator and Governor... God had granted them time to repent, but they had not used the opportunity. It was now too late, and they must all wear the Babylonian yokes and bonds.
Hananiah did not just disagree with a policy. He contradicted a settled decree of God, and used God's own name to do it:
God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the Lord" upon his lips. To do such a solemn thing was to speak "revolt against the Lord", however pious and hopeful it might sound. The Lord had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and given him power and dominion. Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed 70.
Where he said it made it worse. He picked God's own house:
But the enemy grows bolder; and Hananiah dares to treat the name of Jehovah lightly in His own house.
Hananiah was not a lone crank. He belonged to a class of prophets the priests followed and the people loved:
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so.
(Bellett quotes Jeremiah 5:30–31; the ESV reads: "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so.")
Why not just accept the cheerful message? One writer draws the test out of this episode:
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy of immediate rescue from the yoke of Babylon might be true; but there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the extension of the work and blessing of the Lord. The coming of great things and pleasant things is their invariable testimony. A true prophet, on the contrary, in the day of evil warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
Hananiah then acted out his own message, and Jeremiah's answer was silence:
Hananiah gave a sign with his false prophecy, taking the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and breaking it... but Jeremiah went his way without any reply. This self-restraint is a great lesson for us; the servant of the Lord must not quarrel. Jeremiah had been like a wall of bronze. He had stood up to kings and prophets and priests face to face. Now he refuses to argue with the prophet Hananiah.
The silence was deliberate, and it had a reason:
Jeremiah did protest and warn while there was hope of repentance, or when long-suffering grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, and where men falsely claimed the name of the Lord, he goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet... He would have weakened his former testimony, if he had said one single word more.
Hananiah's lie had a short life:
Hananiah's doom was therefore sealed and carried out that same year! He had spoken a lie like the diviners and fortune-tellers — the spiritualists of the nations — and like other false prophets who tried to turn people away from submitting to the yoke of the King of Babylon.
God answered where Jeremiah stayed quiet:
It was a solemn public vindication of the truth of Jeremiah's prophecies and the falsity and deceit of Hananiah's.
- Setting. The date and place put this in Zedekiah's reign, in the temple, in front of the priests and all the people.
- Decree. God had ruled that every nation must wear Babylon's yoke. The time to repent was gone.
- Counterfeit. Hananiah fought that decree in God's own name. One writer calls it revolt against the Lord.
- Test. False prophets promise good times in a day of evil. A true prophet warns of judgment.
- Silence. Jeremiah went his way and left God to judge between prophet and prophet. Within the year Hananiah was dead.
Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Hananiah stands in the temple, in front of the priests and all the people. He borrows the same opening words Jeremiah used, which is a direct claim to speak for God. Then he announces that the yoke of Babylon is already broken. Everything in the chapter turns on one question: how do you tell a message from God from a lie that borrows His name?
He does not say this in private. He says it in the temple, in God's name, against God's own prophet. One commentator sees a new boldness in it:
But the enemy grows bolder (Jer. 28); and Hananiah dares to make light of the name of the Lord in His own house.
Hananiah was not an outsider. The false prophets of that time worked from inside the religious system. The priests backed them, and the people liked it that way: "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; My people love to have it so" (Jeremiah 5:31). (J. G. Bellett)
Jeremiah had been walking around wearing a wooden yoke on his neck as a visible sign. Hananiah's words strike at what that sign meant. That makes them rebellion, not just a mistake:
This sign of the bonds and yokes signified that God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the Lord" on his lips. However pious and optimistic it might sound, to do such a solemn thing was to speak "revolt against the Lord." God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and given him power and dominion.
Hananiah set a deadline and smashed the wooden yoke to prove it. Neither move changed God's terms:
Yokes of iron were to take the place of the yokes of wood that Hananiah had broken... Hananiah wrongly fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed 70.
Hananiah's message was pleasant, patriotic and near at hand — two years, and it would all be over. That combination is itself the warning sign:
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the extension of the work and blessing of the Lord. They always testify that great and pleasant things are coming. A true prophet, on the contrary, in the day of evil warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
The same writer adds that Jeremiah wished Hananiah's prophecy were true. The problem was not the size of the promise. It was that there had been no repentance in Judah.
Hananiah's audience would have heard him as the patriot and Jeremiah as the traitor. The opposite was true, and the reversal is worth sitting with:
In a day of ruin faith always recognises the chastening of God and bows to it. Unbelief always resists, and counts that resistance as patriotism, or even as religion. Jeremiah seemed to be in the eyes of the men of Judah a very false Jew for this reason. He always advised them to submit to the king of Babylon. They thought themselves much better Jews, because they were willing to fight the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah's first answer was "Amen! May the LORD do so." Then Hananiah snapped the wooden yoke off his neck. Jeremiah said nothing at all and walked away:
This self-restraint is a great lesson for us; the servant of the Lord must not quarrel. Jeremiah had been like a wall of bronze. He had stood up to kings and prophets and priests face to face. Now he refuses to argue with the prophet Hananiah.
He left the matter with God, and God settled it publicly within months:
In Jeremiah 28 we read of Hananiah, who prophesied falsely in the Name of the Lord. Opposing Jeremiah, he made the people to trust in a lie. "Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD. In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died."
- Claim. Hananiah spoke in God's name, in the temple itself — making light of that name in God's own house.
- Yoke. The wooden yoke Jeremiah wore stood for God's decree: the nations must submit to Babylon. God Himself had given Nebuchadnezzar that power.
- Lie. In a day of evil, with no repentance, a promise of quick prosperity carries the mark of falsehood. Hananiah fixed two years; God had fixed seventy.
- Test. Faith recognises God's chastening and bows to it; unbelief resists and calls that resistance loyalty.
- Verdict. Jeremiah refused to argue and left the verdict to God. God answered by taking Hananiah's life that same year.
Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of Jehovah's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon;
Hananiah stands in the temple, in front of the priests and the whole crowd. He sets a date on the end of the exile: two years, and everything Nebuchadnezzar took comes home. Jeremiah had said the opposite. Judah must wear Babylon's yoke, not break it — so the people must now decide which man speaks for God.
The boldness of this speech lies in its setting and in the name it borrows. One commentator marks the step up:
But the enemy grows bolder (Jer. 28); and Hananiah dares to treat the name of the LORD lightly in His own house.
That borrowed authority made the message a crime, not just a mistake. God had handed the nations over to Babylon, so promising release was a call to revolt:
In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the LORD" (v. 11) on his lips. However pious and optimistic that might sound, it was a solemn thing to do. It was to speak "revolt against the LORD" (v. 16). God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and had given him power and dominion.
The temple vessels were the heart of the promise. Hananiah said they would be back inside two years. God's answer ran the other way:
Part of the vessels from the temple had been carried away. The false prophets said that these vessels would soon come back. The Lord sweeps this lying message away. Through His prophet He reveals that the vessels still left will also be taken to Babylon.
The real timetable was thirty-five times longer, and the gap itself carried meaning:
The sacred vessels were carried away to Babylon, and king Belshazzar defiled them. Part of them will come back, when Cyrus orders it, and will be put in the restored temple (Ezra 1:7-11). These vessels represented the worship rendered to God. The prophet announced seventy years between their removal and their return. That long gap underlines how much they stood for.
Nothing in Hananiah's message was ugly. That is the point. A message can be cheerful, patriotic and religious, and still be a lie. The sign is that it offers relief where there has been no repentance:
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy of immediate rescue from the yoke of Babylon might come true. But there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the extension of the work and blessing of the Lord.
These messages are popular for a reason that lies in the hearer, not the speaker:
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and lies. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God approve its own cravings. And so came the popularity of the prophets who said, "Thus says the LORD," when the LORD had not spoken.
Jeremiah does not shout the man down. He says "Amen" — and he means it, because he would have loved the promise to be true:
Hananiah bore this false witness of restoration in front of Jeremiah. He predicted that Judah's yoke under Nebuchadnezzar would be broken within two full years. Jeremiah answered with great meekness, "Amen, may the LORD do so" (verse 6). If such was His will, the true prophet was content.
Later Hananiah snapped the wooden yoke off Jeremiah's neck. Jeremiah walked away, and his silence was deliberate:
He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet. If Jeremiah was true, Hananiah was false. He was fully sure that he himself was true. So he lets Hananiah's word and act stand before the consciences of the men of Judah. He adds nothing of his own. One more word would have weakened his earlier testimony.
Hananiah set a two-year clock running. God set a shorter one for the man himself, and a far longer one for Judah:
Hananiah's doom was therefore sealed and carried out that same year (Jer. 28:17). He had spoken a lie, like the fortune-tellers of the nations, and like other false prophets who tried to turn men from submitting to the yoke of the king of Babylon. Yokes of iron would replace the yokes of wood that Hananiah had broken. Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed seventy.
- The yoke — God had put Judah under Babylon on purpose. Promising to break that yoke was not encouragement. It was revolt against Him.
- The lure — false prophecy always sounds better than true. It promises prosperity in a day of evil, and comfort where there has been no repentance.
- The market — such preachers stay popular. The human heart loves to hear God approve what it already wants.
- The restraint — Jeremiah said "Amen" to the good outcome, then refused to argue. He left the two messages before the people's consciences, and the verdict with God.
- The verdict — Hananiah's two years never came. The vessels waited seventy. God's word, not the louder voice, proved true.
and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah that went to Babylon, saith Jehovah for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Hananiah promises a broken people everything they want: their king home, the temple treasures back, Babylon's yoke snapped — all within two years. But a promise is not true just because it comforts us, even when it carries God's name.
Hananiah announced the end of Babylon's rule. But who put Babylon over Judah in the first place?
Notice the place God gives to the king of Babylon, as Creator of the earth, of man and beast. God has handed the nations, and even the animals of the field, over to Nebuchadnezzar for a set time. God sets up this central, worldwide power. Any nation that refuses to submit to it would be in rebellion against God Himself, and would be destroyed... The kings of the surrounding countries seem to have been plotting with Zedekiah to throw off the yoke of the king of Babylon... God declared that He wanted everyone to submit to this yoke, because He Himself had imposed it.
God had decreed the yoke. Hananiah spoke against it, and stamped it with God's own name: "declares the LORD."
In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the LORD" (v. 11) on his lips. That was a solemn thing to do. However godly and hopeful it sounded, it was "rebellion against the LORD" (v. 16), who had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and rule. So Hananiah's doom was sealed, and it came on him that same year (Jer. 28:17)!
Jeconiah's homecoming is the heart of the promise. But God had already spoken about this king, who is also called Jehoiachin and Coniah. What He said pointed the other way — and yet David's line was not finished.
A remnant, however, stayed behind. Jehoiachin was carried into captivity. The last chapter of this book tells us his fate. He never returned. Note the curse spoken over him. Jeremiah pronounced it on Coniah (Jehoiachin). "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah" (Jer. 22:28-30). He had children, but no descendant of Solomon's line was ever to sit on the throne of David. There were, however, descendants of David through another line, Nathan's, and no curse rested on that line. Mary, the mother of our Lord, came from David through Nathan (Luke 3:31).
The temple vessels would come back. Hananiah's mistake was not the hope but the clock he put on it.
The seventy-year captivity in Babylon begins in the year 606, as the prophet announced (25:11). After that, a remnant will come back with Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple, as the first chapters of Ezra tell us. King Belshazzar desecrated the sacred vessels that were carried off to Babylon. Some of them will come back, in obedience to the decree of Cyrus, and will stand in the restored temple (Ezra 1:7-11). These vessels stood for the worship given to God. The seventy years between their removal and their return, announced by the prophet, show how much they meant as a sign.
How can anyone tell a false prophet from a true one? The test is not how hopeful the message sounds.
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in an evil day they promise prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress, and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing. Great and pleasant things are always coming, they say. A true prophet does the opposite. In an evil day he warns that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
Jeremiah does not shout Hananiah down. He answers with one word, and leaves the matter with God.
Hananiah predicted that Judah's yoke under Nebuchadnezzar would break within two full years. Jeremiah answers with great meekness: "Amen! May the LORD do so." If that was His will, the true prophet was content.
- Yoke — Babylon's rule over Judah was God's own doing. To promise its end was to resist Him, not to rescue Judah from an enemy.
- Name — Hananiah put God's name on his own hopes. That is what turned a popular speech into rebellion against the Lord.
- King — Jeconiah never came home. God had already said that no descendant of his would rule in Judah again.
- Clock — the vessels were coming home, but after seventy years, under Cyrus, not two. A true hope with a false date is still a lie.
- Answer — Jeremiah answered with "Amen." He wanted God's mercy more than his own vindication, and left the verdict to God.
And the prophet Jeremiah spoke unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of Jehovah.
Jeremiah has been wearing a wooden yoke as a sign that Judah must submit to Babylon. Hananiah has just promised the opposite, and here the true prophet answers him in the temple courts, in front of the priests and the whole crowd.
Hananiah had chosen the most sacred spot in the nation and attached God's own name to a message God never gave.
But the enemy grows bolder (Jer. 28); and Hananiah dares to trifle with the name of the Lord in His own house.
The crowd named in the verse was not a neutral jury. The prophets of that day held real power over the priests and the people. They had already agreed among themselves to silence Jeremiah.
A second feature was the influence these prophets had among the people. "The priests rule at their direction." "Then they said, Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words" (Jer. 18:18).
Jeremiah's first word in reply is "Amen," spoken to a prophecy he knows is false. One writer explains what he meant by it.
In one instance the exclamation does not mean more than "may it be." Hananiah prophesied falsely that within two full years all the vessels of the Lord's house would be returned from Babylon. Jeremiah said, "Amen, the Lord do so." Though he knew it was a false prophecy, he could well hope that such a thing might be. Jer. 28:6.
Another writer points to the spirit behind those words.
Jeremiah with great meekness says, "Amen, Lord do so." If such was His will, the true prophet was content.
The difference between the two men lay in what each offered a nation that had not repented.
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy of immediate deliverance from the yoke of Babylon might be true; but there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the spread of the work and blessing of the Lord. A true prophet, on the contrary, in the day of evil warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
A public confrontation like this one can end with the honest man looking defeated. That outcome is normal, not a sign that God has changed course.
False prophets as well as false teachers oppose the truth in this very point on which God tries His people. They can use every other part of truth to deceive, and appear to have greater faith in them. It is clear that the secret of the Lord is never with them. But whatever appearances may be, they neither stop nor turn away God from the path He takes. Yet the true prophet's position is a painful one. For a time he may seem to fall silent, because the popular falsehood has taken hold of the hearts of the people.
Jeremiah speaks here. But a few verses later, when Hananiah breaks the yoke off his neck, he walks away without a word.
Jeremiah did argue back, and he warned while there was hope of repentance, or when long-suffering grace called for it. But where there was no conscience at work, and where there was a false pretence of the name of the Lord, he goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet... He would have weakened his former testimony, if he had said one single word more.
God did not wait even the two years Hananiah had staked his reputation on. The false prophet died within months, and God replaced the wooden yoke he snapped with one of iron.
God is not mocked. His word remains for ever. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him. The meek He will guide in judgment; and the meek He will teach His way. But the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
- Setting. Hananiah told his lie in the temple, before priests and people. He used the Lord's name in the Lord's own house.
- Answer. Jeremiah's "Amen" means "may it be." He truly wished the good news were real, and was content if such was God's will.
- Test. Smooth promises of prosperity mark the false prophet, above all to a people who have not repented. The true prophet warns of coming judgment.
- Appearance. Truth can look beaten while popular falsehood holds the crowd. But it never moves God off the path He has taken.
- Verdict. Where no conscience is at work, the servant stops arguing and leaves God to judge. God judged Hananiah within the year.
And the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen, may Jehovah do so! may Jehovah perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again from Babylon, into this place, the vessels of Jehovah's house, and all them of the captivity!
Hananiah has just announced in the temple, in front of the priests and the whole crowd, that Babylon's yoke is broken. The temple vessels and the captives, he says, will be home within two years. Jeremiah has said the opposite for years. Yet he answers with a single word of agreement. Does he believe it? And if not, why does he say "Amen" at all?
The word Jeremiah uses is a wish, not a verdict. A Bible dictionary treats this verse as the one place where the word means no more than a hope:
In one instance the exclamation means no more than "may it be." Hananiah prophesied falsely that within two full years all the vessels of the Lord's house would come back from Babylon. Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the LORD do so." Though he knew it was a false prophecy, he could well hope that such a thing might be.
So the answer has two layers. One writer sets them side by side:
Jeremiah said "Amen"—let it be so! But he knew it could not be so, because the Lord had spoken to him. So he gives a test.
Hananiah's claim contradicted everything Jeremiah had preached. Jeremiah's reply was meek:
This was the false witness of restoration that Hananiah bore in front of Jeremiah. In answer Jeremiah only said, "Amen! May the LORD do so" (verse 6). Hananiah predicted that Judah's yoke under Nebuchadnezzar would break within two full years. Jeremiah says with great meekness, "Amen! May the LORD do so." If such was His will, the true prophet was content.
Jeremiah carried a conflict inside him all through his ministry:
Grief overwhelmed the prophet's heart, because he loved the people. At the same time he felt deeply what their relationship with the Lord meant. This sense produced a continual conflict in his soul. On one side lay the value of the people as the people of God. On the other lay a holy jealousy for the glory of God and His rights over His people — rights they were trampling under foot.
Jeremiah wanted the wish to come true. Judah's own condition stood in the way, and a pattern shows up here that marks every false prophet:
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy might be true — that Babylon's yoke would come off at once. But there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promise prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress, and of the spread of the work and blessing of the Lord. Their message is always the same: great things and pleasant things are coming. A true prophet does the opposite. In a day of evil he warns that the Lord is coming to judge those who reject Him.
Hananiah did not offer his words as opinion. He put the Lord's name on them, and that is what made them so serious:
The sign of the bonds and yokes meant that God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "this is what the Lord says" (v. 11) on his lips. However pious and hopeful such a claim might sound, it was "revolt against the Lord" (v. 16), who had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and gave him power and dominion. … Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed seventy.
Jeremiah did not have to win the argument. God settled it in public before the year was out:
"Therefore this is what the Lord says: Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month" (verses 13-17). It was a solemn public proof that Jeremiah's prophecies were true, and that Hananiah's were false and deceitful.
- Amen means "may it be." In this one case the word carries no more than a hope. Jeremiah wished it true, and he knew all along it was a false prophecy.
- Hope, then test. His heart said, let it be so. But the Lord had spoken to him, so he knew it could not be. He gave a test.
- Love pulled both ways. He grieved because he loved the people. He also held a holy jealousy for God's rights over them, which they were trampling under foot.
- Smooth things mark the counterfeit. False prophets promise prosperity in a day of evil. A true prophet warns of judgment.
- God closed the case. Hananiah fixed two years; God fixed seventy. Hananiah died that same year, and everyone saw which word was true.
Nevertheless, hear, I pray thee, this word which I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people
Hananiah has just announced in God's name that Babylon's yoke will break within two years. Jeremiah answered him with a polite "Amen." Then comes the turn. Before the crowd can settle into the good news, Jeremiah asks them to hear one more word, said in front of everyone.
Jeremiah does not start by attacking. He starts by agreeing with the outcome Hananiah described. He had no wish of his own for his nation's ruin.
Hananiah predicted that Judah's yoke under Nebuchadnezzar would be broken within two full years. Jeremiah answers very humbly, "Amen! May the LORD do so." If that was His will, the true prophet was content.
The "yet" of verse 7 is the turn from warm feeling to God's word. Jeremiah could bless the hope and still know it was empty. So instead of shouting Hananiah down, he offers a test.
Jeremiah said "Amen"—let it be so! But he knew it could not be so, for the Lord had spoken to him; he gives a test.
God had handed world rule to Nebuchadnezzar for a time. Refusing that arrangement meant refusing God.
God sets up the central and worldwide power. Any nation that refuses to submit to it would be in rebellion against Him, and would be destroyed... It was a government appointed by God. He had left Jerusalem, and would no longer protect her unless she submitted to this government... God declared that He would have everyone submit to this yoke, for it was He Himself who imposed it.
So Hananiah's confident promise was more than a bad forecast.
In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the LORD" (v. 11) on his lips. However godly and hopeful such a solemn claim might sound, it was to speak "rebellion against the LORD" (v. 16). God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and rule... Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed 70.
There is a mark that gives such messages away. A cheerful forecast, offered when nothing has been put right, is itself the warning sign.
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promise prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have glowing dreams of progress, and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing. Their message is always the same: great and pleasant things are coming. A true prophet does the opposite. In a day of evil he warns that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
Jeremiah's appeal to all the people did not win the crowd. He went away in silence.
Yet the true prophet's place is a painful one. For a time he may seem to be silenced, because the popular lie holds the hearts of the people. Jeremiah had to go away. Still, in the battle between truth and error God often steps in with a striking testimony, and so it was here.
That silence was deliberate, not defeat.
He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet. If Jeremiah was true, Hananiah was false. He was completely sure that he himself was true. So he leaves Hananiah's words and actions before the consciences of the men of Judah, without adding a word of his own. He would have weakened his former testimony, if he had said one single word more.
- Amen — Jeremiah agreed with the hope Hananiah held out. A true servant takes no pleasure in his people's ruin.
- Yet — one word turns the scene. What we wish were true never settles what God has said.
- Hear — he does not argue in private. He puts the matter before the same crowd, so the whole nation must weigh it.
- Yoke — the real question was submission to the rule God Himself had imposed. A comforting promise that denied it was rebellion against Him.
- Judge — Jeremiah then went his way and let God decide between the two prophets. The unpopular word looked beaten, but God stepped in with a striking testimony.
The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old, prophesied also concerning many countries and concerning great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
Hananiah had just promised, in the Lord's name, that Babylon's yoke would break within two years. Jeremiah did not match the claim; he pointed back to the prophets who came long before them both.
Hananiah did not whisper. He spoke in God's own house, and he used God's own name to do it.
But the enemy grows bolder (Jer. 28); and Hananiah dares to treat the name of the Lord lightly in His own house.
This was not one bad man in an otherwise clean age.
The prophets in Jeremiah's time included some of the very best, though there were also some of the worst. The bad ones moved among God's people and prophesied falsely, and yet they used the Lord's name, though He had not sent them. In Jeremiah 28 we read of Hananiah, who prophesied falsely in the Name of the Lord. Opposing Jeremiah, he made the people trust in a lie.
Jeremiah's argument rests on a pattern. The prophets of old announced war, famine and pestilence, not comfort. What decided their message was the condition of the people.
There had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecy that in a day of evil it promises prosperity. When the people of God have left Him, false prophets promise comfortable things. They have their glowing dreams of progress, and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing. Great things and pleasant things are coming: that is always their message. A true prophet does the opposite. In a day of evil he warns that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
Jeremiah's day was not unusual. False prophets tend to appear at one particular moment.
The false prophets appeared mostly, if not entirely, when judgment was about to fall on the nation. We learn this from the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These false prophets opposed the true prophets of God, who preached the message God had given. The false prophets rejected the Word of the Lord and belittled it. They spoke out of their own hearts, and what they spoke was empty and false (Ezek. 13:2, 8). Their message was "peace" when there was no peace.
Jeremiah did not answer Hananiah with a louder claim. He answered with something anyone could check later.
Jeremiah said "Amen"—let it be so! But he knew it could not be so, for the Lord had spoken to him; he gives a test.
Jeremiah then left the matter with God instead of pressing his case.
He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet. If Jeremiah was true, Hananiah was false. He was perfectly sure that he was true himself. So he lets Hananiah's words and actions stand before the consciences of the men of Judah, and adds nothing of his own. One more word would have weakened the testimony he had already given.
The hardships those earlier prophets announced were not random misfortune. They were God's correcting hand.
We can make two mistakes in relation to discipline. One is to "faint" under it, the other is to "despise" discipline (Heb. 12:5). Hananiah, and many others with him, clearly despised it. The only right course is to let it train us. That is the message of the "bonds and yokes". When God disciplines us and we let it train us, it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11).
Hananiah had given himself two years. God did not wait that long.
Evil seemed now to have a full and easy victory over good. But God did not even wait out the short time that Hananiah, at Satan's prompting, had set for himself. The Lord sent Jeremiah to him with this word: "This year you will die, because you have taught rebellion against the Lord." So Hananiah the prophet died that same year, in the seventh month. God is not mocked. His word lasts forever. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him. He will guide the meek in what is right, and teach the meek His way. But what the wicked expect will perish.
- Pattern — Prophets before Jeremiah spoke of war, famine and pestilence against many nations. That long, steady note is the measure for any new voice.
- Preference — When God's people go wrong, false prophets promise good times. A true prophet warns of judgment.
- Proof — Jeremiah did not argue. He set a test and left God to judge, and let the people's own consciences weigh what they had heard.
- Purpose — The hard message was discipline. Do not faint under it, and do not despise it. Let it train you, and it bears the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
- Payoff — God did not wait out the two years Hananiah had named. Hananiah died that same year. God is not mocked, His word lasts forever, and what the wicked expect comes to nothing.
The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, shall be known as the prophet whom Jehovah hath really sent.
In this chapter two men both claim to speak for God, and the people listening cannot tell them apart by confidence alone. Jeremiah's reply gives a rule anyone can use: a message of peace has to wait for events to prove it.
Hananiah, the rival prophet, promised a swift return from Babylon. Jeremiah does not sneer at it. He wishes it were true, and says so — while knowing it is not, because God had already told him otherwise.
One of these lying prophets became very bold. He declared that he had a message from the Lord: the king of Babylon's yoke would be broken, and within two years the temple vessels would come back. Jeremiah said "Amen" — let it be so! But he knew it could not be so, for the Lord had spoken to him; he gives a test.
The verse singles out the prophet of peace. Judah had not turned back to God, so comfort was just what a lying voice would offer.
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy might be true — that Babylon's yoke would be lifted at once. But there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have glowing dreams of progress, and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing. The coming of great things and pleasant things is their invariable testimony. A true prophet does the opposite. In a day of evil he warns that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
Jeremiah's rule is not new, and it is not only his. Jesus' accusers could not use it against Him, and Moses had already stated it from the side that condemns.
They accused Jesus of using Satan's power. They could not prove the charge by the old scriptural test of a prophet whose words fail to come true. Moses had written the opposite case: "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him."
The Old Testament also records prophecies that did come true.
Prophecies were fulfilled during Old Testament times. Jeremiah predicted seventy years of captivity, and the people's return to their country after those seventy years. Isaiah predicted the coming of Cyrus. Daniel predicted the four world empires. In fact, the fulfilment of a prophet's words was the test of whether he was genuine.
A test that waits on events frees the true prophet from having to win the argument on the spot.
Jeremiah did protest and warn while there was hope of repentance, or when long-suffering grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, and where men falsely claimed the name of the Lord, he simply went his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet. If Jeremiah was true, Hananiah was false. He was perfectly sure that he was true himself. So he lets Hananiah's words and actions stand before the consciences of the men of Judah, and adds nothing of his own. He would have weakened his former testimony, if he had said one single word more.
Hananiah had staked his credibility on a two-year timetable. God did not let it run.
Evil seemed now to have a full and easy victory over good. But God did not even wait out the short time that Hananiah, prompted by Satan, had set for himself... "In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died." God is not mocked. His word stands for ever.
The rule did not expire with the exile. Writers apply it both to voices that promise a brighter world and to any claim of a fresh message from God.
There are not wanting those who prophesy smooth things. In Jeremiah's day some said "Peace, peace" while the Lord's sword hung suspended over the land, and we have similar false prophets among us at the present time. If such may be believed, the upheavals that are going on in every sphere are the birth pangs of a new and better day.
Suppose that what we are told is the voice of God in the church has said something which has not come to pass, or which events have proved false. This must be a real prophecy — not just a warning of judgment that repentance turned aside, but a definite prophecy that has turned out untrue. Then we can say at once that it is not the testimony of God, and we are done with it as no true light.
- Claim. Two men spoke in God's name in public, and the name alone settled nothing.
- Suspicion. Comfort offered to a people who have not repented is the classic false message. It brings glowing dreams of progress where a true voice warns of judgment.
- Test. Fulfilment decides. Moses stated the negative side. A word that does not come true is a word the Lord never spoke, and you need not fear the man who said it.
- Restraint. Time would settle it. So Jeremiah answered "Amen," walked away, and left God to judge between the two prophets.
- Verdict. God did not even wait out the two years Hananiah had claimed; he died in the seventh month. God is not mocked, and the same test still disqualifies any prophecy falsified by events.
And the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it.
Hananiah does not just argue with Jeremiah. He lifts the wooden yoke off the prophet's neck and smashes it in the house of the Lord. It raises a simple question: when someone tears God's word apart in public, who answers, and how?
Jeremiah was not wearing the yoke as a personal statement. God told him to make it and wear it, and the sign spoke to every nation.
He was told to make bonds and yokes to send to the kings of the nations around Israel. The prophet himself was to wear this sign, for it pictured the great burden of his whole prophetic message... This sign of the bonds and yokes marked his whole ministry; it was not a one-off. It meant that God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does it with "thus says the Lord" (v. 11) on his lips. However pious and hopeful it sounded, to say such a solemn thing was to speak "revolt against the Lord" (v. 16). God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and had given him power and dominion.
Where Hananiah did this makes it worse.
But the enemy grows bolder (Jer. 28); and Hananiah dares to trifle with the name of the Lord in His own house.
Jeremiah says nothing back. He walks away. That is a strange response from a man who had faced down kings.
Hananiah gave a sign with his false prophecy, taking the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and breaking it... but Jeremiah went his way without any reply (verse 11). This self-restraint is a great lesson for us; the servant of the Lord shall not strive. The same man, Jeremiah, who had been like a bronze wall, who had stood up to kings and prophets and priests face to face, now refuses to argue with the prophet Hananiah.
The silence was not weakness. Jeremiah had a reason for it.
Jeremiah did protest and warn while there was hope of repentance, or when patient grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, where a man falsely claimed the name of the Lord, he simply goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet... So he lets the word and the act of Hananiah stand before the consciences of the men of Judah, without adding a word of his own. He would have weakened his earlier testimony if he had said one single word more.
Hananiah's message was attractive: freedom now, and no more foreign rule. That very attraction is the warning sign.
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy of immediate deliverance from the yoke of Babylon might be true; but there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promise prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. Great things and pleasant things are always what they promise. A true prophet, in a day of evil, warns instead that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
Breaking the sign did not break God's word. The attack served the message it tried to destroy.
Hananiah might oppose the truth of this last sign and break the yokes of wood. But it only made the word of the Lord more impressive. It called out the prophecy about the yokes of iron, and Hananiah's own doom. We know how all this came to pass, and in a way that leaves no room to doubt either what God predicted or how He fulfilled it.
Hananiah had given himself a short deadline. God did not wait that long.
Evil seemed now to have a full and easy victory over good. But God did not wait even the short time Hananiah had set himself at Satan's prompting.
The yoke was God's discipline on His people. There are two wrong ways to meet discipline.
We can make two mistakes in relation to discipline. One is to "faint" under it, the other is to "despise" discipline (Heb. 12:5). Hananiah, and many others with him, clearly despised it. The only right response is to let it exercise us. This is the message of the "bonds and yokes". When God disciplines us and we let it do its work, it will bring the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11).
- The yoke was decreed. It was God's sign that every nation must submit to Babylon, so breaking it struck at His decree, not at Jeremiah's opinion.
- The yoke was denied. Hananiah used the Lord's name in the Lord's house to promise release — and that pious-sounding optimism was rebellion.
- The yoke's bearer stayed silent. Where no conscience was at work, Jeremiah left the act in front of the people and let God judge between prophet and prophet. One more word would have weakened his testimony.
- The yoke came back in iron. The broken wood only made God's word more impressive, and God did not wait even the short time Hananiah gave himself.
- The yoke is still the test. We can faint under God's discipline or despise it. Hananiah despised it. Let it do its work in you instead, and it will bring the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah So will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
Hananiah has just smashed the wooden yoke from Jeremiah's neck in front of the crowd, and announced in God's name that Babylon's power would fall within two years. Two hard questions follow: how do you tell a true word from a confident lie, and what do you do when the lie wins the room?
Hananiah did not argue with Jeremiah. He attached the words "Thus says the LORD" to the opposite message. One writer shows why that was so serious. God had decreed Babylon's rise, so opposing it was revolt.
This sign of the bonds and yokes was typical of his whole message, not a special one-off. It meant that God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "Thus says the LORD" (v. 11) on his lips. It might sound pious and hopeful. But to do such a solemn thing was to speak "rebellion against the LORD" (v. 16). God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and given him power and rule.
Another commentator notes where this happened — not in a street corner debate, but in the temple, in front of the priests and all the people: "Hananiah dares to trifle with the name of Jehovah in His own house."
The wooden bar Jeremiah wore was farm equipment used as a picture. In the Bible a yoke is not always a bad thing.
The harness that secures an animal to a cart or plough... It is employed as a symbol of servitude and slavery. Jer. 28:2-14; 1 Tim. 6:1. It also stands for the heavy bondage of being under the law. Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1. The Lord Jesus invites the believer to take His yoke and to learn from Him. That means giving up self-will, submitting to the will of God, and being content with the lowest place. Those who do will find rest for their souls.
The verse ends with something strange. Jeremiah, who had faced down kings and priests, says nothing at all.
...Jeremiah went his way without any reply (verse 11). This self-restraint is a great lesson for us; the servant of the Lord must not quarrel. This same Jeremiah had been like a wall of bronze. He had stood up to kings, prophets and priests face to face. Now he refuses to argue with Hananiah.
The silence was not defeat. It was a judgment about when words help and when they do harm.
Jeremiah did protest and warn while there was hope of repentance, or when patient grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, and where the name of the Lord was falsely claimed, he simply goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet... He would have weakened his former testimony, if he had said one single word more.
Hananiah's message was attractive because it promised only good news. One writer gives the test.
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the extension of the work and blessing of the Lord. A true prophet, in the day of evil, warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
For a short while the lie held the field. But losing the argument in public is not the end of the story.
The true prophet's position is a painful one. For a time he may seem to be silenced, because the popular lie has taken hold of the people's hearts. Jeremiah had to go away. Still, in the fight between truth and error God often steps in with a striking testimony, and He did so here.
Breaking the yoke did not remove it.
Hananiah's doom was sealed and carried out that same year (Jer. 28:17)! ... Yokes of iron were to take the place of the yokes of wood (Jer. 28:13) which Hananiah had broken... Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed 70.
Hananiah refused the correction God was giving.
We can make two mistakes in relation to discipline. One is to "faint" under it, the other is to "despise" discipline (Heb. 12:5). Hananiah, and many others with him, clearly despised it. The only right course of action is to be exercised by it. This is the message of the "bonds and yokes". When God acts in discipline and we are exercised by it, it will bring the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11).
- Yoke given. The wooden bar was God's decree in visible form: submit to Babylon. Breaking it was not optimism but revolt against the One who put it there.
- Yoke denied. Hananiah put God's own name on the opposite message, and said it in front of all the people.
- Yoke tested. The counterfeit is easy to spot. In an evil day it promises prosperity and progress. The true word warns that the Lord is coming to judge.
- Yoke left to God. Jeremiah walked away instead of arguing, and left God to judge between prophet and prophet. One more word would only have weakened his testimony.
- Yoke made iron. God answered instead. We can faint under discipline, or despise it, or be exercised by it. Only the last brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, after that the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
In public, Hananiah had snapped the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and declared in God's name that Babylon's power was finished. Jeremiah walked away without a word, and this verse records what filled the silence.
Jeremiah made no reply to the insult. The reply came, but not from his own mouth.
Jeremiah did not take it upon himself to answer this lie. We simply read that the prophet Jeremiah went his way. But God spoke: "You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron... I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, so that they will serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him." And the false prophet was judged for his opposition. He died that same year, in the seventh month.
Silence was not Jeremiah's habit. Here he chose it, and one commentator reads the choice as leaving the case with God.
Jeremiah did argue and warn while there was hope of repentance, or when patient grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, and where the Lord's name was used as a false front, he simply goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet... He allows the word and the act of Hananiah to stand before the consciences of the men of Judah, without adding a word of his own. He would have weakened his earlier testimony if he had said one single word more.
Hananiah had set his own deadline of two years. God did not wait for it.
Evil seemed now to have a full and easy victory over good. But God did not wait even for the short space of time that Hananiah had committed himself to under Satan's prompting... God is not mocked. His word lasts for ever.
Hananiah's message was welcome news: the yoke of Babylon gone within two years. That very appeal is the warning sign.
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing. The coming of great things and pleasant things is always their message. A true prophet, by contrast, in the day of evil warns that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
Jeremiah himself wished Hananiah's words were true. What made them a lie, Kelly notes, was that "there had been no repentance in Judah." Hananiah's death that same year became "a solemn public vindication of the truth of Jeremiah's prophecies and the falsity and deceit of Hananiah's."
The yoke Hananiah smashed was more than a prop. Its meaning runs through Scripture, and it reaches all the way to Christ.
The harness that fastens an animal to a cart or plough... It is used as a symbol of servitude and slavery. Jer. 28:2-14; 1 Tim. 6:1. Also of the heavy bondage of being under the law. Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1. The Lord Jesus invites the believer to take His yoke on him and to learn from Him. That means giving up self-will and being in submission to the will of God, content to be in the lowest place. Such people will find rest for their souls. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Matt. 11:29-30.
Break the wooden yoke and a heavier iron one follows. One writer draws a lesson from that about how we take God's correction.
We can make two mistakes in relation to discipline. One is to "faint" under it, the other is to "despise" discipline (Heb. 12:5). Hananiah, and many others with him, clearly despised it. The only right course is to be exercised by it. This is the message of the "bonds and yokes". When God acts in discipline and we are exercised by it, it will bring the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11).
- God's servant — Jeremiah would not argue with a man whose conscience was dead. He walked away, and his earlier testimony stood.
- God's word — Jeremiah gave no answer of his own. God gave him one afterwards, and he spoke only that.
- God's clock — Hananiah set a two-year deadline; God did not wait for it, and the false prophet died within months.
- God's test — in an evil day, where no one has repented, a promise of prosperity carries the mark of a lie.
- God's yoke — break the wooden one and you get iron. Accept His discipline and you find the yoke that is easy and the burden that is light.
Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah Thou hast broken the yokes of wood, and thou hast made in their place yokes of iron.
Hananiah, a prophet who claimed to speak for God, has just smashed the wooden yoke off Jeremiah's neck. God's reply comes after that act. It does not undo what he did. It confirms it, and makes the burden heavier. (Older translations read "yokes of wood" and "yokes of iron" where the ESV has "bars.")
The yoke was not Jeremiah's own idea. God had decreed that the nations must submit to the king of Babylon. That is why breaking the sign was more than an insult to a prophet.
This sign of the chains and yokes was typical rather than a one-off. It signified that God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the Lord" (v. 11) on his lips. To do such a solemn thing, however pious and optimistic it might sound, was to speak "revolt against the Lord" (v. 16). God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and had given him power and rule. Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed 70.
Hananiah broke the sign to oppose it. The effect was the opposite.
Hananiah could oppose the truth of this last sign and break the yokes of wood. But it only made the word of the Lord more striking. It called out the prophecy about the yokes of iron, and Hananiah's own doom. We know how all this happened. It leaves no room to question either God's prediction or God's carrying it out.
Michael Hardt reads the bonds and yokes as God's discipline. Hananiah shows the wrong response to it.
We can make two mistakes in relation to discipline. One is to "faint" under it, the other is to "despise" discipline (Heb. 12:5). Hananiah, and many others with him, clearly despised it. The only right course is to let it train us. This is the message of the "bonds and yokes". When God disciplines us and we let it train us, it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11).
Jeremiah himself would have been glad if Hananiah's word were true. But the nation had not turned back to God.
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy of immediate deliverance from the yoke of Babylon might be true; but there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecy that in a day of evil it promises prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets speak smooth, pleasant things. They have their glowing dreams of progress, and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing.
Between verse 11 and verse 13 the prophet says nothing. William Kelly explains why he did not argue back.
Jeremiah did protest and warn while there was hope of repentance, or when patient grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, and where someone only pretended to speak in the name of the Lord, he goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet… He would have weakened his former testimony, if he had said one single word more.
Hananiah had fixed two years; God had fixed seventy. The end of the story showed which prophet the Lord had sent.
God is not mocked. His word lasts for ever. The Lord shares His secret with those who fear Him. He will guide the humble in what is right, and He will teach the humble His way. But what the wicked expect will come to nothing.
Gentile rule did not end with Babylon. When the Lord came, His own people were under Rome — and His yoke is unlike theirs.
Power from God, though corrupted, is still with the Gentile nations today. When the Lord came in lowly grace to His people, they were under the Roman yoke… The yoke of kings had usually been harsh, but the yoke of this gracious King would prove easy and good.
- Wood — the yoke stood for God's decree that the nations submit to Babylon. Breaking the sign was revolt against Him.
- Broken — breaking the wooden yoke removed nothing. It only brought a plainer word, and Hananiah's own doom.
- Iron — despising discipline does not remove it; the yoke only grows heavier. The two mistakes are to faint under it and to despise it.
- Smooth — false prophets promise prosperity and progress in a day of evil, when the people have not repented.
- Easy — Jeremiah kept silent and let God answer. The one yoke worth wearing belongs to a King greater than Babylon's.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
Hananiah had just broken the wooden yoke off Jeremiah's neck. He announced that Babylon's power was over. God's answer is not to restore the wood but to name the metal — and to state who put the yoke there in the first place.
The sentence does not begin with Babylon. It begins with "I have put." Nebuchadnezzar did not seize this power. God granted it to him, and the grant includes even the animals.
And what a rebuke, especially to Judah and the guilty son of David, to hear "the God of Israel" proclaim Nebuchadnezzar as "His servant," not only to the Jews but to their non-Jewish neighbours! God's grant was as detailed as it was wide: He gave him "the beasts of the field" to serve him, as well as "all these lands." But Babylon's supremacy had a limit. It was not a plan of mercy. It was only a sovereign arrangement of God's providence, and the carrying out of the discipline Judah and the nations needed.
So the yoke is punishment, not favour. Its length is God's decision, not Babylon's.
The verse does not soften after Hananiah's protest. It hardens. There is more than one way to meet God's discipline, and Hananiah chose a wrong one.
We can make two mistakes about discipline. One is to "faint" under it. The other is to "despise" it (Heb. 12:5). Hananiah, and many others with him, despised it. The only right course is to let it train us. This is the message of the "bonds and yokes". When God disciplines us and we let it train us, it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11).
Breaking the sign did nothing to the thing it stood for. The attack only served God's purpose.
Hananiah might oppose the truth of this last sign and break the yokes of wood. But that only made the word of the Lord more striking. It called for the prophecy about the yokes of iron, and for Hananiah's own doom.
The verse says it twice: a yoke "to serve" Nebuchadnezzar, and then "they shall serve him." God had waited for Judah to repent. By Zedekiah's reign that time was over.
It is plain that the LORD is speaking in a way that allows no argument. In the days of Zedekiah, there is no word of the people repenting, and no word of the LORD relenting. His word to Judah and the nations becomes absolute, spoken as Creator and Governor. Jeremiah warns that God's judgment would fall not only on Zedekiah king of Judah, but on the Ammonites, the Moabites and the surrounding nations. God will give them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, to be under his yoke of bondage. God had granted them time to repent, but they had not used the opportunity. It was now too late, and they must all wear the Babylonian yokes and bonds.
Note who the yoke covers: "all these nations," not Judah alone. Judah's neighbours fall under the same sentence.
Hananiah's message was the attractive one. That is exactly what should have warned his hearers.
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the extension of the work and blessing of the Lord. The coming of great things and pleasant things is their invariable testimony. A true prophet, on the contrary, in the day of evil warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
What made it worse was the formula he used. He also set a date God had never set.
In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the LORD" (v. 11) on his lips. To do something so serious, however godly and hopeful it might sound, was to speak "rebellion against the LORD" (v. 16), who had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and rule... Hananiah falsely set two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God set seventy.
- Given — The yoke is a divine grant, not a foreign accident. God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant and hands him the lands and even the beasts of the field.
- Measured — The same God who gave the power set its limit. Babylon's rule is chastisement with an end date, not mercy and not forever.
- Despised — Hananiah met God's discipline with contempt instead of letting it train him. That choice turned wood into iron.
- Sealed — Earlier God waited for repentance; here His word is absolute. The opportunity had been given and not used, so the nations must wear the yoke.
- Sweetened — The lie was popular because it promised prosperity in a day of evil. It came dressed in "thus says the LORD." Smooth words spoken in God's name against God's word are rebellion.
And the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah, Hear now, Hananiah Jehovah hath not sent thee; and thou makest this people to trust in falsehood.
Jeremiah stands in the temple wearing a wooden yoke, the sign that Babylon will rule. A rival prophet has just snapped it off his neck and promised the nation freedom within two years. God then gives him a word for Hananiah by name. It turns on two facts: who sent him, and what his message has done to the people.
The charge is not that Hananiah got a detail wrong. It is that God never sent him. No man could take this office for himself.
God alone could make, fit, and send a prophet. Sadly, the LORD had to say of some, "I have not sent them, yet they ran." They were unholy intruders into the realm of prophecy, just as others intruded into the priesthood. All such men brought down the judgment of God on themselves.
Hananiah had said "thus says the LORD" out loud, in the temple, in front of the priests and the whole crowd. He used God's name, but God had not sent him.
Jeremiah himself would have welcomed good news. But comfort promised in a time of evil is the standing mark of a false prophet.
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's promise of immediate rescue from the yoke of Babylon might be true. But there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promise prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing. The coming of great things and pleasant things is always their message. A true prophet, by contrast, warns in the day of evil that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
The verse says Hananiah "made this people trust in a lie." No one forced them. They leaned on a comforting forecast, and God holds the man who offered it responsible.
God had already decided that Babylon would rule. To promise escape from that yoke was not optimism; it was resistance to a settled decree.
In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the LORD" on his lips. To do such a serious thing was to speak "revolt against the LORD," however religious and hopeful it might sound. God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and dominion... This lying spirit often shows itself among people who claim to speak the mind of God for the moment... Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed seventy.
Between the broken yoke and this rebuke, Jeremiah said nothing and walked away. The restraint was deliberate.
Jeremiah did argue and warn while there was hope of repentance, or when patient grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, where the Lord's name was falsely claimed, he simply goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet... He lets Hananiah's words and actions stand before the consciences of the men of Judah. He adds nothing of his own. He would have weakened his earlier testimony if he had said one single word more.
Everything Jeremiah says in this verse is what God handed him afterwards. He does not answer a lie with his own opinion. He waits until God gives him a word.
God's next word sentenced Hananiah to death within the year, and he died in the seventh month. The outcome did the arguing for Jeremiah.
It was a solemn public proof that Jeremiah's prophecies were true and that Hananiah's were false and deceitful.
Hananiah was told the year of his death while there was still time to repent. One writer presses that point directly.
How different the end might have been for all these men, in this life and for eternity! They could have heeded God's warning, believed His message, and asked for His mercy. Repentance and honest self-judgment could have taken the place of unbelief and indifference.
- Sent — the whole charge rests on commission. God alone makes, fits, and sends a prophet. Hananiah ran without being sent, and borrowed the LORD's name to do it.
- Smooth — the unsent message is recognisable by its sweetness. In a day of evil, false prophets promise prosperity and glowing progress. A true prophet warns of coming judgment.
- Trust — a comforting lie is not harmless, because people rest their weight on it. Hananiah promised freedom in two years; God had fixed seventy, and saying otherwise was revolt.
- Silence — Jeremiah refused to trade words with him and let God judge between prophet and prophet. One more sentence of his own would have weakened the testimony he had already given.
- Fulfilled — the word landed inside the year, and the public knew which prophet was true. God Himself settled the dispute between the two men, and the false message stood exposed.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth this year thou shalt die, for thou hast spoken revolt against Jehovah.
Hananiah had broken the wooden yoke off Jeremiah's neck and told the nation that Babylon's grip would end within two years. Verse 16 is God's answer: not a debate, but a death sentence with the reason attached.
The charge is not just that Hananiah got a prediction wrong. God had handed world power to Nebuchadnezzar for a time. Telling Judah to expect quick freedom was telling them to resist God Himself.
These three chapters show three things. First, the house of the Lord and the city will be laid waste. Second, the yoke of the king of Babylon must be accepted. Last, the prophet who speaks against this is punished, for he is guilty of "rebellion against the Lord" (Jer. 28:16). The Lord in His wisdom and power had raised up Nebuchadnezzar to be His servant for this very purpose. This shows how important it is, for anyone who serves the Lord at any time, to be sure of His way as well as His will.
Hananiah also put God's own name on his message.
In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the Lord" (v. 11) upon his lips. To do such a solemn thing, however godly and hopeful it might sound, was to speak "revolt against the Lord" (v. 16). It was the Lord who had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and rule. So Hananiah's doom was sealed, and it fell on him that same year!
(Older translations read "taught rebellion" or "spoken revolt"; the ESV has "uttered rebellion against the LORD.")
Verse 15 gives the reason for verse 16: the LORD had not sent him, and he made the people trust in a lie. Being sent is the test for anyone who claims to speak for God.
The Lord Himself called even His true prophets in the Old Testament to their work. Of other prophets, who prophesied lies in His name, He said, "I did not send them, nor did I command them" (Jer. 14:14) — words which are certainly true of many false teachers and preachers today.
Jeremiah was not against the good news itself. Something else was missing in Judah.
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy of immediate rescue from the yoke of Babylon might be true. But there had been no repentance in Judah. False prophecies always carry one mark: in a day of evil they promise prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the extension of the work and blessing of the Lord. They always testify that great and pleasant things are coming. A true prophet, on the contrary, in the day of evil warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
Notice who speaks in verse 16. Jeremiah had walked away from the clash without arguing. He spoke only when God gave him the words.
He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet. If Jeremiah was true, Hananiah was false. He was perfectly sure that he was true himself. So he lets the word and the act of Hananiah stand before the consciences of the men of Judah, without adding a word of his own. He would have weakened his earlier testimony if he had said one single word more.
The outcome settled the question in public.
It was a solemn public proof that Jeremiah's prophecies were true and that Hananiah's were false and deceitful.
The sentence carried a deadline. The chapter records how fast it came.
It was in the fifth month of the year (see v. 1) that Hananiah spoke his false prophecy and got his warning: "this year you shall die." God's record of what took place is this: "Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month." His word always comes true.
Two months. The same writer turns that short gap into a question for the reader.
Reader, have you ever thought that God may have said about you, "This year you shall die"? May I ask: are you ready to die? Are you converted? Are you prepared to meet God? Are your sins all washed away? If not, you do not have much time left.
- Sent — God says He never sent Hananiah. A message God did not send is a lie, however godly it sounds.
- Smooth — false prophets promise good times when God's people have turned away. True prophets warn of judgment.
- Submission — God Himself had put Babylon's yoke on the nation. Promising quick release taught them to revolt against Him.
- Silence — Jeremiah said nothing and left God to judge between prophet and prophet. One more word would have weakened his testimony.
- Sentence — the warning came in the fifth month; Hananiah died in the seventh. God's word always comes true.
And the prophet Hananiah died in the same year in the seventh month.
Two prophets spoke opposite messages in God's name. God had sent only one of them. Hananiah had promised freedom within two years. God gave him two months, and the last line of the chapter records how that promise ended.
The chapter dates itself twice, and the gap between the two dates is the point.
In the fifth month of the year (see v. 1) Hananiah spoke his false prophecy and received his warning — "this year you shall die." Then came God's record of what took place: "In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died." His word always comes true.
That exactness runs through the whole book, and it is why the book can be trusted.
The words of Jeremiah — or rather the words of the Lord through him — came true with such exactness that their divine origin is beyond doubt. They came true in public, private and personal detail with such precision that no honest person can question them. And what still awaits fulfilment will no doubt come to pass with the same perfection. Our God fixed the months and years, and He timed the shining of the moon and of the sun. He spoke all the words of prophecy, and His word must be done.
Hananiah is not judged for being mistaken. He had claimed God's authority against God's own decision.
God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does so with "thus says the Lord" (v. 11) on his lips. However devout and hopeful that might sound, it was to speak "revolt against the Lord" (v. 16). God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and rule. Hananiah's doom was therefore sealed and carried out that same year (Jer. 28:17)!
The two men also named different lengths of time.
Hananiah falsely fixed two years for the breaking of Babylon's yoke; God fixed 70.
Hananiah's message was welcome. It promised relief and asked for no repentance. False prophecy has that shape.
Jeremiah even wished that Hananiah's prophecy might be true — an immediate rescue from the yoke of Babylon. But there had been no repentance in Judah. It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promise prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the spread of the work and blessing of the Lord. The coming of great and pleasant things is their unvarying message. A true prophet does the opposite. In a day of evil he warns that the Lord is coming to judge the ungodly.
Hananiah made his announcement in public, and Jeremiah walked away without a word. Verse 17 shows who answered for him.
Jeremiah did argue back, and warn, while there was hope of repentance, or when patient grace called for it. But where no conscience was at work, and men used the Lord's name falsely, he simply goes his way. He leaves God to judge between prophet and prophet. If Jeremiah was true, Hananiah was false. He was perfectly sure that he himself was true. So he lets Hananiah's word and act stand before the consciences of the men of Judah without adding a word of his own. He would have weakened his earlier testimony if he had said one single word more.
The death in the seventh month settled in public what Jeremiah had refused to settle by argument.
It was a solemn public vindication of the truth of Jeremiah's prophecies and of the falsehood and deceit of Hananiah's.
One writer turns the warning Hananiah received on whoever reads it.
Reader, have you ever thought that God may have spoken about you, "This year you shall die"? May I ask, are you ready to die? Are you converted? Are you prepared to meet God? Are your sins all washed away? If not, you have not much time left.
- Sent or unsent. Hananiah used "thus says the Lord" against what the Lord had decreed. Scripture calls that revolt, not a difference of opinion.
- Sweet or true. In a day of evil, the false message promises prosperity and swift relief; the true one warns of God coming to judge.
- Two years or two months. Hananiah set the deadline at two years. God set two months — the fifth to the seventh — and Scripture records the date.
- Silence or self-defence. Jeremiah added nothing. He left God to judge between prophet and prophet, and verse 17 is the public verdict he never had to argue for.
- Then or now. The same precision that dated Hananiah's death still governs what is yet to come. So the passage asks you one question: are you ready to meet God?