Jeremiah 29:24-32--Shemaiah's False Prophecy

Jeremiah 29:24-32
English Standard Version

Shemaiah's False Prophecy
24 To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: 25 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 ‘The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have charge in the house of the LORD over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and neck irons. 27 Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, 32 therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the LORD, for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.’”

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Not only is Jeremiah dealing with false prophets at home, but there are also false priests and false prophets sending messages to the exiles to try to confuse them.  You can see the hearts of the people are still against Jeremiah and his message of a long exile as they have written to this priest who has made himself to be high priest to ask why he has not punished Jeremiah who is both a priest and a prophet  Why was Jeremiah not put into stocks and secured with iron bars?

The letter from the exiles was read by one of the priests in Jeremiah's hearing, and he responded to it with his own letter which the LORD told him to write.  The LORD told Jeremiah to tell the exiles that the LORD had given no prophecy to Shemaiah of Nehelam and that the LORD would punish him and his descendants.  He and his family would not be among the living when the people returned from exile.  Why?  Because he had spoken rebellion against the LORD.  The LORD warned all the people including the priests and those that called themselves prophets that if they rebelled before or during the exile, they would surely die.  This is a specific instance of that prophecy being fulfilled for this man and his family.