Jeremiah and Hananiah
1 ① Early in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah spoke to me. Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon proclaimed in Yahweh’s House in the presence of the priests and the people, 2“This is what Yahweh the God of hosts and the God of Israel says: I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3Within two years I will bring back to this place all the objects that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from Yahweh’s House and carried to Babylon. 4I will likewise bring back Jekoniah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all who were taken from Judah and deported to Babylon. For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon – word of Yahweh.”
5Then Jeremiah replied to Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people, 6“So be it! May Yahweh fulfill the words you have spoken and bring back from Baby lon to this place the objects taken from the House of Yahweh and all the exiles. 7Yet hear now what I say in your hearing and the hearing of all the people.
8The prophets who came before you and me continually prophesied war, disaster and plague to many nations and great kingdoms. 9So the prophet who prophesies peace will not be recognized as truly sent by Yahweh, until his predictions are fulfilled.”
10Then Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah and broke it. 11Hananiah proclaimed in the presence of all the people, “Yahweh says this: In the same manner within two years will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from the neck of all the nations.” Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.
12Some time later, a word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, 13“Go and tell this to Hananiah: This is what Yahweh says: You have broken a wooden yoke but in its place you will get a yoke of iron.
14For this is what Yahweh the God of hosts and the God of Israel says: I am placing a yoke of iron on the neck of all the nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.”
15Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah, “Listen! Hananiah, you have not been sent by Yahweh and yet you have deceived these people, giving them false hope with your lies. 16That is why Yahweh says with regard to you: I am removing you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against Yahweh.”
17And in the seventh month of that year Hananiah died.
- Jer 28,1 As we saw in 22:1, the ten years separating the two sieges of Jerusalem, from 598 to 588, were times of madness and false illusions. People were always predicting the collapse of the empire of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and the return of the exiles. Jeremiah rises courageously against such false hope and predicts submission to Nebuchadnezzar and so the Jewish leaders consider him an enemy of the nation. Jeremiah confronts the false prophets. When prophets do not agree, how can people know the authentic prophet? See Dt 13:6 and 18:22 on this. The prophet who prophesies peace will not be accepted until his predictions are fulfilled (v. 9). Jeremiah says something more than Deuteronomy. Ever since Elijah (see 1 K 19:18), the mission of the prophets had been to predict the gradual fall of the kingdom of Israel and to announce that another kingdom would come later. They predicted a few victories, but these would not stop a continuous slipping towards destruction. Therefore, the Jews should have distrusted Hananiah who was promising prosperity more than Jeremiah who insisted on Yahweh's threats. The prophets were sent to a sinful people to form their conscience regarding sin and not to put it to sleep. When we live in the midst of injustice, we must distrust those who promise prosperity.
