Jeremiah 28
February 4, 2024 3:05 PM
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com
20240204
Jer 28:1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah (Yah has favored) the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
The same year would reference the prophecy given in the previous chapter, thus placing this word around 593 BC. There seems to be another problem of dating that we need to address. How could the 4th year of Zedekiah’s reign be considered the beginning of this reign? Here are the theories:
1. The Jews liked to split reigns down the middle, the first half constituted the beginning, the second half the end. Zedekiah reigned 11 years, so year 4 would be part of the beginning of his reign.
2. Some think Jeremiah is referring to the 4th of 7 years of the sabbatical period, where the land was supposed to rest every 7th year (Lv 25:1-4, Dt 15:1).
3. The text should read from the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign until the 4th year, 5th month, all the words and doings of Jeremiah occurred up until the incident with Hananiah.
4. Jer 51:59 indicates that Zedekiah paid a visit to the king of Babylon. According to Jarchi, a Jewish commentator from a Millenium ago who collected the best of Jewish commentary, he believes that Zedekiah at this time had his puppet rulership expanded over 5 surrounding nations, which would of been a big deal at the time, and may of constituted a new beginning of dating his reign. If that did occur, everyone in Judah would certainly know of it.
Since we cannot definitively say which is correct, it probably falls to which local custom predominated during that time period. This is a great example of how customs that people take for granted when living in that era, become mysterious to those following after, if they are assumed and not explained in detail. I am sure that the above measure of time, speaking of a beginning of a reign and the 4th year all in the same sentence, made perfect sense to Jeremiah. Just like someone speaking of sending a letter by pony express made sense 150 years ago, but would be a mystery to the cell phone clutching, texting only children of today.
Hananiah had a godly name (Yah has favored). You can name a child whatever you want from the bible, a name alone will not guarantee a godly child. We know that he had a prophetic father. He decided that he would be a prophet too, perhaps like a preacher’s kid thinks he needs to be a pastor also. Did he have a legitimate calling, but was susceptible to corruption by the enemy, or was he simply expected to follow in his father’s footsteps? How many pastors are there that get sort of pressured into the ministry, only to find out that there is no real calling, and they end up being more of a liability than a blessing to the body of Christ?
Jer 1:1 states that Jeremiah was from Anathoth in Benjamin. Here, Gibeon was also in Benjamin. They were both cities of priests (Josh 21:17). It had also once housed the sanctuary of Jehovah (1 Chr 16:39). Solomon had once offered a sacrifice there (1Ki 3:4). Hananiah shared a name with one of the famous 3 Hebrew children found in the book of Daniel. It is therefore most likely that this Hananiah was also a priest. There may of been a natural competition and antagonism between the priests and prophets of these 2 cities. The prophet often had the king’s ear. If a rival priestly town had a true prophet of the Lord, the other town may of felt they needed to produce their own prophet in order to win back royal influence. They would look to the family who already had a prophet. Thus the pressure would of been on Hananiah to speak a word of the Lord, to take away the spotlight off Jeremiah and Anathoth, and bring it back to Gibeon and their priests within.
Do you have a ministry? Is it a public one? Do you even make your living at it? If someone in your line of work starts to be used by the Lord in such a way that it draws off adherents from you, do you start to feel pressure to do something to stem the tide? Does your fleshly nature rise up and tempt you to start saying and doing something in the flesh and attribute it to the leading of the Holy Ghost, just so that you stop losing followers? As we shall see, pretending to operate in the anointing, or assuming you can follow in your father’s anointing, or doing anything spiritual for carnal reasons, is not a very good idea if you want to live a long life.
Jer 28:2 Thus speaketh (utter, declare, I certify) the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
This guy needs to get the spotlight back on him, his father’s prophetic lineage, and his priestly town. So he doesn’t just mumble something in a corner of the temple, verse one says he speaks this word in Jeremiah’s face, boldly contradicting him not in private, but in front of other priests and the general population of the temple attendees.
He did not go up as a brother in the Lord and confront him privately, if he felt that Jeremiah had missed it. Nor did he take 2 or 3 other priests to get their discernment. No, he wanted to humiliate Jeremiah in front of everybody. He was confident that the mob would take his side, because the mob loves to hear the lies that these positive only pillow prophets love to make. The people would start cheering the message of blessing and victory, and quickly side against Jeremiah. This is exactly what happened at the day of prayer event in Washington in October of 2020. A real word of judgment and repentance was given. The people were moved to sorrow. But then the false prophet pops up and almost instantly makes everyone forget what God had just spoken by this false word of victory. The people instantly embraced it. Whatever God had begun to do, was halted in its tracks.
Note how the false prophet is so easily spotted. There was no word of repentance. His message clearly indicated that their present distress was not the people’s fault. They had no responsibility. God was going to turn things around and give them victory without any need to change by anybody. Because God is good, all the time, who needs all this repentance stuff that nasty nabob of negativity Jeremiah was always yapping about? Thank God that a real man of God has finally shown up to put a stop to all this doom and gloom. Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming of self indulgence and vain worship!
See how dramatic the false prophet was! He used the wording that would directly contradict the sign of the yokes that God had Jeremiah make to send to the surrounding nations that would pictorially represent their judgment. Jeremiah spoke of the yoke of enslavement that God would force the nations to wear under his servant Nebuchadnezzar. This guy said all those yokes have been broken by the same God who had just placed them on their necks in the first place! False prophecies are always so very opposite to the true word of the Lord. All you need to do is sit back and see which comes to pass.
For those who are not entirely convinced that what I’ve been sharing in this commentary on Jeremiah is really from God, the test is easy. If our nations experience a quick turnaround to righteousness, the rule of law, the fear of the Lord, and the respect for God’s values and morals, then you can laugh at all these writings and go about your way. But if things continue to go from bad to worse, if our culture continues to plunge deeper and deeper into rebellion, obscenity, blasphemy, treachery and lawlessness, then know that God is giving you an opportunity to get ready – not only physically, but to accept this new reality deep within yourself, so that when it comes to your turn to be tested in the fire, you have already made up your mind to stand, no matter what.
Jer 28:3 Within two full years will I bring again (shoob) into this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
I find it interesting the way the translators handled the time frame. Two full years, or two years of all their days. Almost as if he wants to give his prophecy as long as he possibly can to be fulfilled. Some think he uttered this because at about this time Zedekiah had been negotiating with Egypt for some military help, so he was placing his confidence in this alliance. In any event, he wasn’t trusting in the Lord, as he certainly wasn’t hearing anything from God. The prophecies’ main purpose seemed to be to get the leaders to stop listening to Jeremiah, so he’d lose political influence.
Carnal men are always thinking politics. God is thinking about eternal souls. How many pastors made decisions during covid on purely political grounds, and gave no thought for the souls that would suffer because of their exclusive focus on self preservation.
The first thing on this earthly prophet’s mind is the stuff. Not God’s glory, his honor or his reputation. Not the people. The stuff. The temple goods. Just like a typical word of faith message. They can blither all they want about the importance of faith, but when it came down to it, 99% of their messages was always about stuff. The money. It’s all they could talk about, because that’s all that was in their hearts. You can’t talk about something that you have no knowledge of, or even interest in.
Jer 28:4 And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Jeconiah (Jehoiachin, Coniah) represented the younger, more resistant ruler that had rebelled against Babylon. With Egypt’s help, our great freedom fighter would be restored. Hananiah made up a lying prophetic word to try and make everyone support his preferred political hero. How many in America would eagerly listen to any positive prophecy about Trump, as we too wanted nothing to do with accepting the punishment from God for our sin, but wanted to support the man that would make America great again – great without any need for true repentance. No shoobing, no changing deh-rek – our course or road of living. Onward and upward, and bless all those prophetic voices that confirmed what our hearts really wanted to hear, rather than what God was really trying to say.
False prophets will always shoot themselves in the foot. He’s in the spotlight, he’s on a roll, he can’t stop now. Not only is the stuff coming back (which is the most important thing). Not only is our radical freedom fighter going to be released to lead us once again. But everyone who was taken away by our enemy will be set free. In other words, total victory! God will restore all that the locust has eaten. How many times have we heard that scripture misapplied by someone of the same spirit as Hananiah?
Jer 28:5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD,
Just because some nutbag publicly challenges you, put away your Canadian politeness and pull out some New York aggression and don’t let him get away with deceiving the sheep. Fight for your God. Fight for truth. If they challenge you publicly, it’s easy to turn the other cheek if our motivation if fear and cowardice. This is not simply a personal enemy that Jeremiah faces. Although Hananiah is most likely Jeremiah’s enemy, he is also directly interfering with the ministry task that Jeremiah has been commanded to do and thus, is now acting as God’s enemy. That changes the rules. We are to fight on behalf of God. Primarily for his honor and glory, but also for the sheep who are under our charge.
Jer 28:6 Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen (so be it): the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again (shoob) the vessels of the LORD’S house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.
You can take this two ways. Jeremiah would be sincerely grateful if God had indeed repented and decided to suddenly reverse all judgment and restore the people and the land back to its former state. Who wouldn’t want judgment averted? The second way, which I tend to agree with, is this is most likely a taunt, a mockery. He may of used a mocking tone to convey the fact that this guy is crazy, because of what he will have to say about this man as he continues to speak.
Jer 28:7 Nevertheless hear (shama) thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;
Now that you’ve completely swung over to this other side and fallen under this false prophet’s spell, please take a moment to once more hear the truth.
Jer 28:8 The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
Jeremiah will now give us the fundamental, unbreakable iron rule of all true prophetic utterances. The first point is that the typical or normal word of prophecy spoke of the theme of judgment. The main purpose of prophecy is to warn mankind that the road you are on is leading to your destruction. He appeals to look at the historical record. All the prophets in your lifetime, and in all of recorded history were sent not just to us, but to many different countries. It’s not just one historical record, if the record is honest, you will find a consistent thread. And that thread is imminent judgment of the sword, of plague, and of all kinds of evil being unleashed against wicked kingdoms.
Jer 28:9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him.
If you happen to run across a prophetic utterance that is not of the norm, that is unusual in that it speaks of peace and not of judgment, then you need to make a special effort to test it by ensuring that it did come to pass. Why would God remind the people to prove a positive prophecy but not a negative one? Shouldn’t all prophecies be tested to see if they come true? Certainly. However, the domain of false prophets will never be found in proclaiming judgments, but only in proclaiming prosperity. It doesn’t mean that God will never prophesy peace, only that both sides do so, while only one side warns. The devil has no interest in warning people who are living in sin, he has them right where he wants them. Why would he ever tell you to repent? However, if you are about to be killed and cast into hell, he will send many voices telling you that things are ok, they are not as bad as they seem, help is just around the corner.
Therefore in this most dangerous of times, please be extra careful if someone starts speaking of deliverance and victory. That God is about to save our countries and restore us back to our state of wealth, peace and security. Be very skeptical. Watch to see if things are getting better, or are they getting worse. Since 2020, things are almost continually going from bad to worse. If we keep listening to the false prophets, reality will keep disappointing and disheartening us. If we keep reading Jeremiah, we will be prepared and not be moved away from the faith that can and will save us in the end.
Jer 28:10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and brake it.
This guy just couldn’t walk away when he had the chance. He was all in. He reminds me of all our leaders who signed on to the depopulation agenda in 2020. Now that they have murdered their thousands and even millions, how can they draw back now? They are fully committed. They are all in. Don’t expect a sudden change of heart from our presidents and prime ministers at this hour of the game. That is why it is foolish and a complete waste of time, and even contrary to God’s will to pray for the truly wicked, those who are clearly the souls that Paul speaks of in Romans chapter one. Unless the Lord has clearly told you to pray for one of these degenerates, do not waste your precious prayer time on these true enemies of God. Spend them on the lost, who through blindness and fear have been ensnared to believe the worst sorts of lies, but yet have hope while they still breathe.
Hananiah was very bold in matching the demonstrative prophecy of Jeremiah by engaging in a little theatre himself. Let’s see what God thinks of those who try to mock and destroy the sign that God gives his people.
Jer 28:11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way (deh-rek).
Notice how when the wicked are exposed that they are acting criminally, they they often double down? The courts in Canada finally ruled that the war measures act invoked against the peaceful unarmed truckers in 2022 was illegal. Instead of accepting this obvious verdict by one of the few remaining uncorrupted judges left in the land, the liberals said they will appeal. Of course they will. Even losing an insignificant case in the supreme court about the illegality of banning single use plastics, the liberals cannot begin to accept that anyone would thwart any part of their demonic agenda, so they plan to essentially ignore the supreme court of the land.
So it is with this false prophet. Jeremiah laid out a clear case that this guy’s prophecy is to be given special scrutiny. Does that make him back off? No, he doubles down. Jeremiah has seen enough, he has done all he can to warn him and the people listening. Sometimes it is simply time to walk away.
Jer 28:12 Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
It matters not what man says. The only thing that matters is when God shows up, and what he has to say about any controversy that we’re wondering about.
Jer 28:13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
We’re to walk away from those who are unwilling to hear. But sometimes when God is directly challenged like Hananiah challenged him, he will directly respond. It is never a good idea to challenge God openly like this. Just ask Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num 16:1-50). Hananiah had doubled down on his false prophecy, so God repays by doubling down on the severity of the punishment that he will send, to ensure that there is no doubt as to which word was from the Lord and which was not.
Jer 28:14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
Perhaps God was only gong to punish these nations to a certain extent, as represented by yokes of wood, which were a lighter yoke than those of iron. However, it’s not the fact that a false prophet rose up and contradicted the true word of God, but that there was such an audience of those who claimed to be followers of Yahweh that gave a ready ear to this lie. Instead of heeding the true word to repent, they eagerly shama’d the false word of victory with no repentance, so God in turn increased the punishment as obviously they had learned nothing yet.
I see the west acting in precisely the same manner. Just because our tyrants are more diabolical, taking away our right and freedoms without firing a single shot, we have been sleepwalking and blind to the fact that the result is just the same as if an invading army with weapons had just taken over our lands and are now occupying them. Our money and resources are being siphoned off in the same amount as if a conquering nation had come in and was stripping the land of all wealth, as all conquering nations do. Instead of taking our wealth under the barrel of a gun, they are taking it under a fake pandemic, an insanely ridiculous excuse that we are saving the planet by giving all our wealth away via carbon taxes and using retarded green technology that costs 10 times more to deliver a 10 times inferior product. Make no mistake, we have been invaded, overrun, conquered, and now we are being stripped of everything of value. Not only our wealth, but our health, our mental well being, our self respect, our culture, our sanity, and any and every thing else of value that we had took for granted all our lives, but is now suddenly disappearing before our very eyes.
This phrase ‘beasts of the field’ keeps provoking me. While it may be just as simple as saying that his dominion is total, ie, all things in the land, I feel there is something deeper here. God could of said I give Nebuchadnezzar all the people, and all its wealth, or all the lands and everything therein. Instead he makes reference to these beasts. Perhaps the evil spirits that have been held in check by the angels when we were walking with God are now loosed and given for the use of our enemies, with no restraint. Who could argue that evil spirits roam our lands today walking in unprecedented power and authority. Perhaps there’s also a reference to the evil beasts’ dna found in the jabs. I am sure more revelation will come in time as the Lord sees fit.
Jer 28:15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear (shama) now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
If you defy the will of God openly, expect God to respond. In this man’s life, though Jeremiah commands him to shama, he is not capable of doing so anymore. He can only half shama – he may be able to hear, but he cannot obey, having cast in his lot with darkness and taking such a public, irrevocable stand.
Jer 28:16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion (turning away from, apostasy) against the LORD.
God has had enough of this guy. Not only will be face judgment, but in such a way that God never has to look upon his face anymore. False prophets teach rebellion. Not error, not a different opinion, not a denominational difference that we can overlook, but apostasy.
Rejecting the word of judgment is apostasy.
Jer 28:17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
Just two months later, the mishpat (sentence) of God was carried out. In two months, he was dead. He boldly stood for unrighteousness, so in boldness God killed him.
I believe this chapter has been given to us for such a time as this. It is not hard to find the Hananiahs out there in our churches and on the internet. There is no shortage of those who would preach that which never challenges you.
On the other hand, the Jeremiah’s are few and far between. They are hard to find. You may seek them in the local church, but they will not be there. You will fire up the search engine on the internet, but very few will be found. Try to find a pastor today who will regularly challenge your spiritual condition, who will not sugar coat the terrible spiritual condition of our nation, and the danger we face. It is not easy at all. I have watched more than one who showed promise, but got distracted, deceived, and derailed along the way, especially since 2020 unleashed a dark spiritual wave unlike anything we have ever seen.
The two witnesses will soon be here. Not to perform deliverance and healing, but to smite the earth with genuine plagues, as often as they desire. Just as setting the captive free was the theme of the first coming, so the destructive, consuming power of judgment will be the theme of the second.
God has had enough of this sin sick world. Let us shoob (turn away) from the message of Hananiah and shoob (turn back) to the message of Jeremiah.
Solitary Man
https://solitaryman.substack.com/
Photos courtesy Depositphotos
