by
Kathleen Fox
*NARRATIVE*
Again we encounter the difficulty in studying a deep, rich book of 53
chapters, spanning decades of history, in only a few lessons. It is
difficult for the context of any given lesson to be established, and
considered. Chapters 23-26 lay the groundwork for Chapters 27 and 28, and
need to be studied by the Leader.
The cumulative effect of following a false premise is also taking hold in
this study. By lesson 6, we are ingrained in the difference between this
being JEREMIAH’s word and story, or being GOD’s word to the people, God
himself being the primary figure, as pointed out in Lesson 3’s supplement.
In the earlier chapters 23-26, we have heard the prominent theme in the book
of Jeremiah, that false prophecy is a threat to the integrity of the true
prophet, and serves to undermine the force and clarity with which the word
of God is heard (R.E.Clements, pp142-143). False prophets make it
difficult…to make judgments between the competing claims of contradictory
prophetic messages.
‘Only a sensitive and morally alert understanding of the nature of God,
awake also to the facts of the contemporary religious and political scene,
could hope to recognize the true prophet from the false.” See Deuteronomy
13: 1-5
The outrage at Jeremiah’s message in chapter 27-28 was that he would dare
proclaim that the presence of the temple of God in Jerusalem was not enough
to deliver Judah from judgment. This is significant because the destruction
of the temple in 587 B.C looked to the people as proving God’s powerlessness
against the gods of Babylon. It must be shown instead that the Lord God had
warned the people of what he was about to do, that distressing circumstances
defeating his people did not mean He was not in control.
This is significant to Jeremiah 28, as the people weighed out the
conflicting prophesies. Their criteria for believing a prophet’s word
included what they understood of God’s character and nature. They believed
that HE believed his chosen, particularly his temple, were special objects
of his protection. They found it condemning that Jeremiah would suggest that
God would destroy the Holy Dwelling Place, the Temple. Therefore, Jeremiah
must be the false prophet.
This is a profound opportunity to consider together the nature of God’s
sovereignty, and his ultimate purpose.
Questions to Ask:
Start with the premise! Often, the question posed to focus our study, is the
wrong question, or starts with assumptions we would not accept The Key Idea:
‘Information surrounds and confronts us every day, and the truth is not
always easy to discern or accept.” Was the conflict between Jeremiah and
Hananiah just ‘more information”? What significance then is it that they
each claimed, ‘Thus says the Lord.”?
*WHO DO WE LISTEN TO? WHY? HOW DO WE DECIDE?*
In the Introduction, p.2 of this Horizon study, Bellis promises, ‘we will
learn how he [Jeremiah] discerned God in the midst of this chaos.”
This lesson brings us back to Jeremiah’s question: How DO we know when we
are hearing God’s voice? The prophet heard then spoke; the people had to
decide if he was truly a prophet of God. Lesson 6 gives us a head-on
collision between two prophets saying opposite things, both claiming God’s
voice. HOW DO WE DISCERN? Does the study help us learn that?
The role of Prophet was an established, identified function in the
Israelites’ relationship with Yahweh. Determining the truth between two
prophets at odds, was a more essential issue than simply ‘information”
surrounding the people.
The stated ‘Key Idea” belittles the responsibility of the believer to
discern false prophets, and undermines the authority and expectation of the
Word of God as other than mere ‘information surrounding us.” This is
another way in which the prevailing attitude toward Scripture is watered
down, undermined, and divested of its place of authority and therefore
power.
‘Is the truth always easy to discern or accept?” Of course not! Is this
statement an excuse to hear other voices than God’s? Are we so overwhelmed
today with ‘information” that we cannot be expected to sift through false
words and to resist and reject false teaching? Was this Eve’s excuse for not
rejecting the false word of Satan?
How we avail ourselves of God’s instructions for discernment is at the heart
of the question. What can we learn from Jeremiah’s encounter with Hananiah,
his argument, and the people’s response?
Without robbing Jeremiah of a mind of his own, and opinions and political
convictions of his own, build back into the language of your study the truth
that this is GOD’s Word, not Jeremiah’s own.
‘Jeremiah had the foresight to understand that God was using the …events
of his day…” (P. 35) Was Jeremiah simply insightful? Or had God revealed
to him the truth and entrusted him to deliver it to the people? ‘His
position was too subtle to make sense…” (P. 35) His position was God’s
position. ‘My ways are not your ways, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 )
Often, God’s ways seem unwise or illogical, ‘subtle.” What do we know of
God that explains that mystery? What do we learn of God’s sovereignty and
involvement in our daily lives, from the experience of Jeremiah and the
people of Judah at this time? Do we recognize God’s subtlety any more easily
than did the people? How can we grow in our ability to hear and recognize
the True Word of God?
In the 27th chapter, Jeremiah continues and develops the theme of false
prophets. In verses 5-7, there is the concise presentation of what had
happened, what was happening, and what would eventually happen in the
conflict between Judah and Babylon. It brings out clearly the understanding
o f the plan of God that had brought punishment upon Judah thorough the
imperial might of Babylon.
Jeremiah 27:5-7 is a central key passage to study. ‘It is I [God] who by my
great power…I give..I have given…” Says R.E.Clements: ‘For any nation
or individual to resist this is to run counter to the plan of God…the Lord
God is the …controller of the destiny of all nations.”
Jeremiah 27:16-22 reminds us that it was simply difficult for the people of
Judah, both at home and those in exile, to consider a prolonged period of
exile. So, any prophet who proclaimed the early return of the treasures as a
sign of hope, was readily accepted, because the people longed to hear that
word. However, this false word was dangerous; it served to feed their sense
of hopelessness. Jeremiah stood against these prophets with a sound
awareness of the need for faith to be built on firm foundations, not wishful
thinking or prevailing hopes.
Chapter 28: Jeremiah versus Hananiah…or..’Good news, or bad new…whose ya
gonna choose?”
Often in God’s mercy, we must experience the depths of the bad news’ in
order for God’s purpose and good news to be brought about. The easy way
Hananiah’s proposition would seem to the people more characteristic of God’s
ways. Yet Jeremiah’s harsh message was truly the hope-filled one.
It all comes down to the radical at-the-root danger of accepting false
prophecy. The true word of God can only be grasped and acted upon through a
process of responsive and critical discernment. ‘The prophetic word [is not]
a means of escape from the pain and agony of serious decision making. It
actually demands that such decisions be made in the most informed and
responsible way. God does not override the plans and intentions of his
creatures. Rather it is intrinsic to the nature of the divine glory that God
share this process of decision making with his creatures, enabling them us
to fulfill their necessary role of participation in the fulfilling of
creation and the shaping of human history.
The report of Hananiah’s false word, and the resulting damage, drives home
the deep danger of falling for the voice one prefers to hear. It shows us
again that prophecy, though coming through the mouths of specific people at
specific times across centuries of God’s dealing with Israel, is God’s
consistent voice, calling his people to judgment, repentance, and obedience.
It will be consistent. And to accurately and appropriately interpret the
word calls for it to be heard and responded to in the light of truths
already known concerning the nature and will of God.
God will act in accord with his own honor and righteousness; this may
necessitate fearful judgment on his people. This passage demonstrates that
divine election does not mean that God protects his favorite people Israel,
but rather that Israel’s destiny was a specific instance of the universal
providence of God.
*II. Definitions and Questions to Ask*
Hermeneutics (p.37) ‘The branch of theology that deals with principles of
exegesis, the critical interpretation of a text.”
The author’s definition again begins at the wrong end. We do not interpret
the Biblical text to ‘find meaning” for our culture and experience. We
interpret Scripture to learn the revelation of God. Then, we define our
culture and experience by the meaning of the Biblical revelation and
teaching. Any ‘hermeneutic” must be used to address, correct, inform our
incomplete understanding of the heart and mind of God. Any hermeneutic must
include a principle of divine revelation and authority of Scripture.
The author’s identification of Jeremiah’s hermeneutic or principle of
suspicion is sound. Yet her conclusion leads subtly to her statement, p. 37,
‘God’s truth is constant, but human understanding never grasps the whole
truth at once. Words that are comfortable because they are familiar may be
true, but they may well be false.” The opposite is also true; that we must
never be so ‘suspicious’ of the Word of God as we find it in Scripture that
we opt for the ‘new” BECAUSE it is new.
*III Suggestions for Leaders*
A. Preparing the Lesson
Read Jeremiah chapters 23-26, or a commentary’s summary of these chapters,
for background to the specific incidents of chapters 27-28. The issue of
false prophecy is necessary groundwork.
Suggested commentaries:
Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Reaching, R.E. Clements
The Communicator’s Commentary Vol.17 Jeremiah, Lamentations, John Guest
Read the lesson and the scripture lesson Jeremiah 27-28.
Author Terry Schlossburg gave us foundational principle when in the
Preparation Section in Lesson 3 she wrote:
‘A word about focus….Jeremiah helps us understand historical events from a
heavenly perspective: as God’s action. Judah did not succumb to political
and military forces. She was overtaken by God’s judgment. The book’s
principal themes are the persistence of sin in the face of God’s warning,
his continual calls to repentance, and his promise of mercy, forgiveness,
and love. Through our study we should be discovering God’s redemptive action
in history.”
B. Connecting with God and with One Another
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, ruler of the nations, we are sinful people, and resist your
voice, preferring the easy word, the familiar word. Give us eyes to see,
ears to hear, and make us obedient to that which we see and hear in your
Word. Through Christ the Lord we pray, Amen
Invite participants to share a time when they wanted to believe something
they knew was not true.
C. and D. Discovering the Scripture and Exploring the Scripture
Chapter 27
Read the author’s summary in italics, page 39.
Read Jeremiah 27:1-7
Why does God say, ‘Make for yourself thongs and yoke-bars and put them on
your neck.”? What does this mean in terms of God’s intentions? Who is in
charge, God or Nebuchadnezzar? What would the yoke represent to the people
of Judah?
Read verses 8-11
Who beside Judah is subject to God’s word?
How does God characterize those who say, ‘You shall not serve Babylon”
Why would God allow disaster to befall the people of Judah? How do you
understand God’s purpose in his instruction to submit to Babylon?
Read verses12-15
What is the result of listening to the false prophets?
In what areas of our faith do false prophets speak today? What might be the
results of listening to the false prophets?
Chapter 28
Ask two volunteers to read alternately:
A Jeremiah 28: 1-4
B 5-9
A 10-11
B 12-16
A 17
Name other incidents, Old and New Testament, when the false confronted the
true, when the popular wisdom or strength of the day seemed sure to prevail.
(For instance, Goliath’s strength in the face of David’s conviction that God
sent him to slay the giant; Elijah and the prophets of Baal; Herod’s request
of the Wise Men to return to him with the Baby’s location…)
The confrontation between Hananiah and his prophesy, and Jeremiah and his
prophecy, has been described as the battle between faith and wishful
thinking. In what ways is that a confrontation that must take place within
every one of us?
Read James 1:5 and Ephesians 4:11-15 How are we instructed to discern the
teachings we hear? Can you think of other Scripture passages which help?
When we ‘break” the yoke bars of wood God has instructed us to wear, he
replaces them with iron (V. 13). What does that teach us about our accepting
false teaching, and disobedience?
E.Closing Time Together
Use the Horizons prayer on page 38.
F. Reflecting at Home
Use the Horizons reflection suggestion on page 38