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?