Jeremiah 23:9-40--Lying Prophets

Jeremiah 23:9-40
English Standard Version

Lying Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me;
    all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
    like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
    and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
    because of the curse the land mourns,
    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
    and their might is not right.
11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
    even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the LORD.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
    like slippery paths in the darkness,
    into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
    in the year of their punishment,
declares the LORD.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
    I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
    and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
    so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
    and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

18 For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD
    to see and to hear his word,
    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 Behold, the storm of the LORD!
    Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

21 “I did not send the prophets,
    yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
    yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
    and from the evil of their deeds.

23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.

33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

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The LORD says that His heart breaks for those that call themselves prophets (and priests) who are ungodly.  Jeremiah wishes that he didn't have to deliver these particular words from the LORD, but His words are holy, and Jeremiah cannot change them.  Those that are to warn and teach the people are part of the problem.  Those that are to be lights and guides are themselves in darkness, so the people are in greater darkness and are at greater risk of stumbling and of injury.  The "prophets" of Samaria were false prophets of Baal and there were some that called themselves prophets of the LORD but were in it for themselves.  They used their gift and the word of the LORD to make themselves rich and powerful.  It was not long that they were acting like the false prophets and acting like they could control the words that they said--whether blessings or curses--and they were willing to say anything for the right price.  The prophecy that comes from the LORD is not meant for material gain, nor to be something that the rich and powerful can control or manipulate.  This was the error of Balaam in the book of Numbers and king Balak who hired him to curse the children of Israel, but Balaam could only speak the words that the LORD put in his mouth.

The "prophets" of Judah are just as bad as the prophets of the northern kingdom of Israel though.  They live lives like they are pagan, even if they don't bow themselves down to these idols.  They do not fear and truly worship the LORD--if they did, they would obey Him and walk according to His commandments and statutes.  They instead commit adultery and walk in lies.  They take advantage of the weak and poor and make it easier for evil men to do what is evil.  The LORD compares them to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were destroyed with fire and brimstone as a sign of the fiery torment of hell the awaited those who gave themselves over to evil and wickedness.  Because of this, the LORD is going to curse the people in order to show them that their prophets are worthless liars.  They are powerless to stop the coming judgment, and they cannot bring the blessings of God when God is set on bringing about the curses established by the Law of the LORD.

Jeremiah and the LORD together tell the people not to listen to these false prophets.  They are not speaking the word of the LORD, but figments of their own imagination and lies given to them by demons.  If they were true prophets, they would not despise and abuse the LORD's true prophet, Jeremiah, and the LORD would be giving the same message to them as He did to Jeremiah as the LORD does not contradict Himself.  The people should not believe the false prophets when they proclaim a message of peace and prosperity (think of the prosperity gospel of today) when the LORD has proclaimed exactly the opposite.

The LORD testifies against them that none of them have come to Him to hear His true Word and message.  If they had asked, maybe He would have told them what was going to happen (or maybe He would have sent them to Jeremiah).  The LORD points to the thunderstorms that are powerful and something to be feared--a symbol of the LORD's judgment.  You often see them forming with enough advance warning to take cover, but they come up quickly and are extremely destructive and no one can stop them or stand against them if they become the target of the storm.

The LORD says that if the prophets had sought His counsel, He would have given them His words to share with His people.  If that would have happened and the people didn't have false hope to cling to, then perhaps they would have repented, and the LORD once again would have blessed them and given them victory over Babylon instead of giving them into the hands of a pagan nation.  Today the "prophets" of this age speak their words through music, videos, movies, TV and radio programs, podcasts, and all kinds of social media.  They try to present an alternative to the truth of the gospel and the Word of God.

The LORD says that He is not like the pagan gods.  He is everywhere in all places at all times and sees all things.  They cannot hide from Him.  The false prophets lie and say that they had dreams and visions that He never sent to them.  Their goal is to cause the people to forget the name of the LORD and to turn to the pagan gods (false gods and idols) like Baal.  The LORD says they may both call themselves prophets, but they are as different as wheat and straw.  One is for food and the other is for fodder.  The LORD is therefore going to judge these false prophets who have lied about Him and His word and made it hard for His true prophets to share His true Word with His people.  He will show the people how worthless these men are that have given them false hope.

When Jeremiah is asked by the wicked prophets or priests or even the people what "the burden of the LORD" is (a phrase they seemed to use to convey what message the LORD had given to them that was weighing on them so heavily that they had to share it), Jeremiah is to tell them that they are burdensome to the LORD.  The LORD says that any of them that use this phrase to ask people to speak impressions and feelings that they themselves interpret will be judged and their families will be judged (listen to the false prophets of today and see if they too don't talk about feelings, impressions, auras, weights and burdens, but they rarely have a clear message from the LORD).  The LORD will judge not only the false prophet, but his entire household because those who were false prophets were to be condemned under the Law and put to death.  Those who have allowed this grave sin to exist are themselves culpable.  The people should be careful to ask, "What has the LORD spoken?" or "What is the LORD's answer?" The LORD speaks clearly when He wants to convey a message to His people and the people should demand clarity from a true prophet.  If the prophet says "The vision is not clear" then that vision is not from the LORD.

The LORD commands everyone to stop using the phrase "The burden of the LORD," whether prophets or priests or common people.  They are all to put an end to this nonsense that has its roots in false gods and false prophets.  If they continue in this, they will be uprooted and cast away from the Land--away from Jerusalem and the Temple and The City of the Great King.  The LORD will bring on those that continue to speak their own imaginations in His name and everlasting reproach and perpetual shame which will not be forgotten (we are still talking about them today and how bad they were for themselves and all the people around them because they kept the people from seeing and knowing the truth).